Sheila Deeth's Blog, page 98

Shadows from the Past: Guest Post with Ashley Dawn

It's Thanksgiving!
Thank you to all my blog readers, my book readers, and the many people who've encouraged me in writing. Thank you to my editors at Gypsy Shadow and Stonegarden for their endless patience and the wonderful lessons they've taught me. Thank you to my online friends on Gather, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Lunch, Google, Blogger, etc. And thank you to my family and real-world friends in England, the US and beyond.
Above all, thanks be to God for His wonderful gifts.
Today I'm privileged to welcome Ashley Dawn, author of Shadows from the Past, to my blog. You can find my review of Shadows from the Past here--one of the first books I reviewed online! It's lovely to read Ashley's post and learn some more about her. I wish you all the best with your Shadows books Ashley. And thank you for visiting my blog today.
Good morning!  Ithought since today is Thanksgiving, I thought a post about things I'm thankfulfor would be appropriate.  Like many, Idon't take the time to stop and be thankful as much as I should so that is whatI'm doing now!
First, I'm thankful for God. He saved me and has been with me through everything!  I can never express how thankful I am for allthat He has done for me.  
Second is my family. I have a wonderful husband and 2 great children that I don't know what Iwould ever do without.  They make my lifecomplete and I adore all of them.  Not tomention my extended family with which I am equally blessed.  My parents, grandparents, siblings, niece& nephews along with a host of cousins are all extremely supportive andloving.   
Third is the wonderful life I have.  I have a life I love and that I cannotimagine life different from this one.  Iwork, take my kids with me to the office, and write.  I spend enormous amounts of time with my kidsthrough the day and I love it.  I havethe ability and desire to home school my children and am excited aboutthat.  Writing is my passion and there istime to sit and get lost in my own stories and worlds.  Getting to indulge in my passion is sofulfilling!
Last, I'm thankful for all my friends. The ones that I'vemet both on line and in person.  You arethe best group of people that I could ever ask to be surrounded by.  Thank you so much for befriending me and forsupporting me through the different things in my life.  I love all of you!Thank you so much Shelia for having me today & I hopeeveryone has a happy Thanksgiving!!

About Shadows from the Past:"It is the price you pay for choosing to be a cop. Your brother's life." These words haunt Officer Aurora Kavvan. She must find her brothers killer."Kill her. I don't care how and I don't care where, but I want her dead now!" Someone was trying to kill FBI agent Jordan Reiley's dead partner's sister and he will protect her. Will God keep them alive long enough to find the truth?A message from Lightning Promotions:**ATTN authors*If you need help with promoting your books, Lightning Book Promotions is the place to go. We can organize book tours, write press releases, help you get set up all over the net, what ever you need we can try and help..we will promote your book while you work on another one! Contact me at stormi@lightningbookpromotion.com .

Reading on my Kindle, editing on my computer

Lessons learned from editing my novel...

Write a timeline.
Print a timeline.
Post the timeline next to my computer.
Check the timeline.
Double-check the timeline.
Print it out again whenever it changes.

My editor wasn't sure how the timeline worked in my novel, so I've been checking and fixing it. Events that took two years in the original draft clearly happen in one year now, which means the girl driving to the Christmas dance is only 15, which means I have to move her birthday back from January to November... Arhghghgh! So many mistakes! But it's coming together and I hope to meet my deadline--the end of this week. If I meet it by Thursday I'll have something extra to be thankful for. But I'm certainly thankful for a good editor who spotted the problem and gave me the confidence to believe I can fix it.

Lessons learned from reading on my kindle...

pdfs can be a pain when the fonts keep changing size.
New reading glasses help.

Here are the ebooks I've read this week. I'll post reviews of paper books later, when I've finished writing them. And meanwhile, I'll edit.

A light fun flight of paranormal fancy: No shirt, no shoes, no spells, by Rose Pressey is the first in the Mystic Cafe series--think bewitched with sprinkles of spice instead of wrinkles of the nose. Elly's grandma ups and leaves her with a magical cafe to run and no warnings of what might go wrong. Just don't mix up the spells... right. With threats of closure from the magical police, and a handsome young man suffering under the wrong spell, there's plenty of missteps and confusion in this light happy tale. Enjoy some 2-star bright lively coffee with this bright lively tale.

In a slightly darker paranormal "vein", Subspecies, by Mike Arsuaga is the first of another series, in which the curious subspecies of humankind--vampire and lycan for a start--unite to reduce the destructive nature of their presense and research a way to more safely interact with humans. Of course, eating (and drinking) humans is a bit of a problem, and this book spares no details in diet nor in sexuality. But this is a nicely balanced tale with humor, good timing, well-imagined worldview and interesting storyline. Drink a 5-star bold dark coffee with this bold dark tale.

Even Swamp Creatures get the Blues, by Hilary Goldstein, is  fascinating collection of paranormal short stories, each unique with some amazing twists, all very cleverly imagined. Savor these one at a time with a 5-star dark intense coffee and keep the lights on.

Continuing the scary sci-fi theme, the next book is Against Nature, by John G. Nelson, a scary modern tale of science and politics at war, evoking Robin Cooke or Michael Crichton. Definitely dystopian, incisively cynical, and sadly convincing, this novel raises a wealth of disturbing questions replete with detail. Drink a 5-star bold dark coffee and you'll stay up all night reading this.

There's more gritty real-world suspense in Russell Brooks' Chill Run, coming out on December 1st. The underworld of Montreal and the struggles of Canadians from Trinidad and Barbados are brought to vivid life in this exciting adventure with  likeably inept heroes chased by violent villains and corrupt cops. Another dark 5-star coffee required.

Finally a short YA novel, Oginalii, by Stephanie M Sellers, prequel to her longer Black Purse, tells of young Exilee as she struggles to reconcile her mixed heritage while her buffalo friend Oginalii struggles to balance a three-legged life. The writing and the ideas are complex but oddly compelling. Drink a 4-star complex coffee with this one.

Guest Post--creativity and CEOs

I read a fascinating little book called Creatively Ever After a little while ago (click here for my review of Creatively Ever After). I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but if you look at the cover you'll see why it intrigued me. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, and by how relevant well-remembered nursery rhymes becamse as I got involved in reading. Today I'm delighted to welcome the author, Alicia Arnold, to my blog to tell you all about Jack and Jill, CEOs and more. Thank you for joining us Alicia...


For all the CEO talk about creativity being the number one leadershipcompetency for the future there's a decline of creativity in America. But, there'sa well kept secret. What is that secret you ask? The secret is creativity canbe taught.

Not only can you learn to be more creative, but techniques like creativeproblem solving have been tested and retested over the past 50 years and provento be effective. With the goal of helping to solve the "creativitycrisis," I set out to write a how-to book on creative problemsolving. In my book, Creatively EverAfter , I set forth a business fable that weaves the fictitiousstory of Jack and Jill (yes, the two who keep falling down the hill) and thenonfiction steps of the creative problem solving process to demonstratetechniques for tackling seemingly unsolvable problems.

In thinking about the format for the book, I wanted to help readers absorbthe tools and techniques in a way that would be memorable and entertaining.This led me to write a business fable.

Through the story of Jack and Jill, readers learn hands-on tips and toolsfor solving their own challenges. The fable takes readers through visits withOld King Cole, Hey Diddle, Diddle, Humpty Dumpty and others. Along the way,readers learn how Jack and Jill managed to stop falling down the hill bytapping into the creative problem solving process:

·        Identify the goal, wish, or challenge; ·        Gather Data; ·        Clarify the Problem; ·        Generate Ideas; ·        Develop Solutions and ·        Plan for Action
I hope you enjoy the book. Creatively Ever After is my contributionto broadening awareness about creativity and a way to show businessprofessionals how to tap into their natural creativity.

Gratitude blog hop Nov 16th

Yes! It's the Gratitude Blog Hop, courtesy of WoMen's Literary Cafe. I'm thanking Melissa Foster for sharing this wondering post. Please leave a comment and enjoy a gift of Gratitude.
Gratitude, by Melissa Foster
If you are following our blog hop, then you are reading manyblogs about gratitude. I'm going to present this one from a little differentslant.Enjoy!
G – Giving withoutexpecting something in return is the best gift of all.
R – Receiving is asign that you are appreciated. Share it with someone else. Pay—it-forward
A – Appreciation canbe shown in many forms; a smile, a thank you, a gift, or even just a wave. It'seasy to do. Reach out, show your appreciation for others.
T – Thanking someoneis one way to show you appreciate them. Sometimes, a thank you is nice toreceive when you haven't done anything other than being you. Perhaps you canshare that with someone today.
I – Including othersin your life and in your success is a wonderful gift. Try it.
T – Tell someone whatyou like about them for no reason at all—you'll make their day.
U – Unhappiness comesfrom within. Helping others can help your happiness. Try it.
D – Delve deep intowhy you do things—is it for others or for yourself? If it's all for you, changeit up a bit. You might find greater results.
E – Expecting friendsto help you is not being a true friend. Expecting yourself to help others is.Know the difference. Share your love.
A little preachy? Maybe, but it's from the heart and I hopeyou enjoy it as well as the free books you receive on our gratitude blog tour.We are truly grateful for all of the support we receive from readers, bloggers,authors, and friends. WoMen's Literary Café (www.womenslitcafe.com) is all aboutgiving back. Join us!
"Melissa Foster is a wonderfulconnector of readers and books, a friend of authors, and a tireless advocatefor women. She is the real deal"—Author Jennie Shortridge
" Foster's latest novelis in the same league as books written by such authors as Nicholas Sparks,Jennifer Weiner, and Kristin Hannah." --Author Carrie Green
MelissaFoster is the bestselling, award-winning author of three novels, Megan's Way,Chasing Amanda, and Come Back to Me. She has also been published in IndieChicks, and anthology. She is the founder of the Women's Nest, a social andsupport community for women, and the WoMen's Literary Cafe, a cross-promotionalsite for authors, reviewers, bloggers, and readers. Melissa is currentlycollaborating in the film production of Megan's Way, and hard at work on hernext novel.  Melissa hosts anannual Aspiring Authors contest for children, she's written for Calgary's ChildMagazine and Women Business Owners Magazine, and has painted and donatedseveral murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissalives in Maryland with her family. Melissa's interests include her family, reading,writing, painting, friends, helping women see the positive side of life, andvisiting Cape Cod.
Melissa is availableto chat with book clubs and welcomes comments and emails from her readers.Visit Melissa on The Women's Nest or her personal website.
Website: http://www.MelissaFoster.comFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Melissa-Foster/240064542695303Twitter:@Melissa_FosterMysocial network for women: http://www.TheWomensNest.comFacebookMelissa Foster : http://www.facebook.com/MelissaFosterBooks (profile)Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3023973.Melissa_Foster


MEGAN'SWAY http://www.amazon.com/Megans-Festival-Generation-Finalist-ebook/dp/B002LISR7C/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1317083196&sr=1-1
CHASINGAMANDA 
http://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Amanda-ebook/dp/B004WF5202/ref=pd_sim_kinc1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
COMEBACK TO ME:
http://www.amazon.com/Come-Back-To-Me-ebook/dp/B005V2MWM6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1319076250&sr=1-1

One more stop on the Flower Child Blog Tour

Yes, Flower Child's still out there--ghost or angel--ereader or computer... And here's a bonus stop on the Flower Child blog tour, with an interview brought to you by Jeanz at JeansBookReadNReview: http://jeanzbookreadnreview.blogspot.com/2011/11/author-interview-sheila-deeth.html.

Many thanks Jeanz, and I wish I knew how you do those neat scrolling buttons!

Hope to see you on on Jeanz' site. I'll check in during the day to answer any questions you leave for me. Meanwhile don't forget to check out some more of Jeanz" great reviews and interviews on the rest of her site.

For those who asked, yes I will write a post on how the blog tour went, but I'm editing Divide by Zero on a deadline until Thanksgiving. I'll get there eventually...

EDIT IT !

An ocean of leaves is lapping at my door and the cupboards are growing suspiciously bare of cheese, but I got the manuscript back from my editor yesterday, so I've other games to play.

Here, for anyone interested in editing their own writing, are some of the things I've found I have to work on. Who knows, they might apply to you too.

Commas . Hey, this is a big improvement for me. I used to be told I used way too many semi-colons, but now we're down to something much less iniquitous. I try to be grammatically correct in using commas but readers, it seems, will view them as intrusive in print, so instead I must use them only when necessary. Overly profuse similes and metaphors . They may be vivid and valuable, but I might want to save a few for later books. Comic relief . The story's kind of heavy and a little light music might play well. Since there are three kids and a cat amongst the main characters, plus two dogs and other assorted children, that shouldn't be hard. Be true to other people's memories . I have a scene set outside a university dorm, but the memories I use are mine and might not apply to the time and location. Which leads to... Time and place . I left my story somewhat timeless and placeless, but the world and its readers aren't. I need some suitably neutral comments to give detail for those needing it while not intruding on the story for those who don't care. Time-line . I know two years passed during some events, but my readers might not and I need to make it clear. (Ah, memories; in my first novel--written in elementary school--I had six weeks pass between two people meeting and having their first child!) Don't name all the minor characters . I think this might be my Englishness showing. It feels impolite to say the ladies served coffee and the tall one objected to this while the short one kept talking about that. It feels unreal to have too few people speak in a committee meeting too. But I'll work on it.So that's it. My next two weeks (plus shopping, plus yard work, plus etc...). I'll let you know how it goes.

Meanwhile I'm sending a HUGE THANK YOU ! to my editor. If anyone knows how to critique while building up and encouraging, it is surely she!

Everything for Froggy Boots

I'm delighted to welcome author Jill Martin to my blog today. I reviewed her delightful board book Froggy Boots go with Everything yesterday, and today she's here to answer some questions. So, where did the book Froggy Boots come from, and who is it written for?







To me, Froggy Boots Go With Everything is for children as much as fortheir grown-ups.  Froggy Boots is a celebration of the wonderfully imaginative spiritthat drives young children in everything they do.  Children bring new meaning and new life tothe world around them in all the games they play.  
Just like other parents, I loved watchingmy young children invent and explore as they played.  In the house, in the yard, everywhere theywent, ingenuity was at work.  It was fascinatingand inspiring to catch those glimpses into their world.  Every leaf, stick and rock; toy, stuffedanimal and measuring cup; cushion, blanket and hamper – all provided endlessfun.  Clothing was no exception.  With clothes and accessories there wasinstant transformation.  There were alsothe favorites, well-worn and well loved.
For children I wanted to create anaccessible, friendly and happy book.  Ichose activities that my children loved in the hopes that other children wouldidentify with the moment and the feeling. I added elements to the book that would keep the attention of youngreaders and invite them to come back for another look.  The "Can you find" game at the end provides afun way for children to engage with the book. My children loved to search for things in books and the list of items tofind is only a start.  Grown-ups and kidsalike can identify new objects within the book and play games together tryingto find them.  
For grown-ups the book is a compilationof snapshots of precious childhood moments. I kept thinking that I wanted to remember how joyfully my kids embracedeverything around them, and I tried to capture some of that magic in Froggy Boots.  I chose simple phrases to playfully describeeach activity and an uncluttered look and feel with the intent to besthighlight the moment depicted by the illustration.  In this way I also hoped to convey a sense ofnostalgia for simple pleasures and simpler times, while bringing to life theboy's strong imaginative engagement in his activity.  
My hope is that readers of all ages will enjoythe fun adventures within Froggy Boots GoWith Everything and revisit it again and again.
I can certainly say that this adult reader enjoyed it and revisited memories of my children as I read. Thank you Jill.
About Jill MartinJill ZabkarMartin spent her early career as a technology writer and publicist in theSilicon Valley.  After becoming a motherof two, she began writing children's books. Froggy Boots Go With Everythingis her first published title.  Jillreceived a BA in English from the University of California at Santa Barbara andan MBA from San Jose State University. She lives in Los Gatos, California with her husband, two children, aguinea pig and three hermit crabs. 
Froggy Boots go with everything is available from Amazon and other bookstores: http://www.amazon.com/Froggy-Boots-Everything-Zabkar-Martin/dp/0984394605

An eclectic mix of books reviewed this week

I'm still not sure how it got to be November. Doesn't that mean it's Christmas next month? Not to mention Thanksgiving coming soon? Help! I set myself a target to finish reading my backlog before the end of the year, but I don't know if I'll meet it. Still, here goes with a fairly random selection of books, ideally suited to my (and the weather's) rapidly changing moods. Enjoy reading. Enjoy coffee!

I'll start with a nice little board book: Froggy Boots goes with Everything, by Jill Zabkar Martin. Froggy boots are perfect for splashing in puddles, and this is definitely the time of year to get this for your young one--enjoy reading, enjoy pictures, and the odd drip of coffee will easily wipe off--enjoy a 1-star light crisp cup. Plus... author Jill Zabkar Martin will visit my blog tomorrow to tell you more! Don't miss it!

The intriguing and scary teen adventure, The Hour of Tiamat, by Lisa M Taylor, is a novel that mixes Christian concepts and Mayan tradition with the dreaded 2012 to create a really fascinating, enjoyable and thought-provoking read with one of the best endings I've read recently. Enjoy a 5-star dark intense coffee with this dark tale.

Now for some sweet historical romance: Surrender the Heart, by MaryLu Tyndall is an American Christian romance, set in the high seas in the days when England and America wielded trade embargoes and threats of war as eagerly as cannons and knives. Two wounded characters persist in misunderstanding each other against a vivid historical backdrop and eventually learn to hear the still small voice. Enjoy this bright lively book with a 2-star bright lively coffee.

Next comes a unsweetened but intriguingly funny novel, Donations to Clarity, by Noah Baird: This zany tale with low-brow humor, excellent song lyrics, crazy movie references and laugh-out-loud weird situations has drugs, drink, darts and perfect dialog. Enjoy with a 4-star coffee for rich complexity.

Leaving Bigfoot country and returning to Oregon, my next review is for Jerry Banks' Vital to the Defense. Another court-room drama/mystery starring Barry O'Shea, this one's a fine addition to my collection, and very pleasingly, realistically set in Oregon. Drink a rich, complex 4-star coffee while reading.

Finally I've read and thoroughly enjoyed a completely different book, Terrorists in Love, by Ken Ballen. Sub-titled The Real Lives of Islamic Radicals, this tells the stories of young (and not so young) Islamic men who've become involved in jihad over the years. The author, an American Jew, and experienced interviewer with an extensive background in investigation, politics, government, etc, was able to use his connections and qualifications to get himself invited to personally interview these men. What results are stories of heartbreak, pathos, humor and jihad, beautifully organized into an experience that leaves you dreaming of more. Highly recommended. Drink several cups of 5-star bold, dark, intense coffee as you walk in these very different shoes (or sandals).

Why I love my editors

Denise Bartlett was my editor for each of my Gypsy Shadow books. Shirley Anne Howard is reading my novel Divide by Zero at the moment, as my editor for Stonegarden. And I couldn't be happier.

Why do I love my editors?
I love seeing the words I wrote turn into words worth writing--that diet I put my book on leaves me with something smoother flowing, richer, like tasting cream instead of milk in the coffee.I love seeing my word-pictures through new eyes and getting the chance to remove those distortions and specks I hadn't noticed--like filtering out the grounds before serving the cup.I love the comfort of knowing if I missed something obvious (me English, reader American), it will be found before it's released--the coffee blend can still turn out right, neither too bitter nor too mild.And I love knowing a second pair of eyes has spotted the unfilled holes in time-line or plot that I, being over-familiar with the tale, leapt over unseeing. Soon that precious drink of words might be served from a chip-free, drip-free cup.Of course, the novel's not there yet--there's plenty of editing still to be done on it. But after the agonizing thoughts of, "Help! It's not good enough," as I started on my own, it's enormously comforting to have a real editor and think, "No, but it will be."

Thank you, Shirley.
Thank you, Denise.
And thank you, readers, too.

I've just updated my blog

It felt like it was time...

I've finally learned what badges are there for and how to get them, so I've added a few...
And I've learned about pages...
And I've tried to gather together related blogposts into pages...
And...

There's a page of interviews, but if you've interviewed me and I forgot to put it there, I'd really appreciate a reminder. If I missed you from my guest posts page I'd love a reminder there too...

I've written way more posts than I'd realized. Sorting by labels helped me find them, but it would work work much better if I

a) spelled the labels correctly (or at least consistently--book review, boo review...),
b) didn't keep changing the words (blog tour, book tour, blog tours, tour...), and
c) remembered to use them.

Anyway, if you've time to wander, I'd really appreciate any comments on the new stuff.

Meanwhile, it's time to write...