Tia Silverthorne Bach's Blog, page 89

Our New Baby: ROW80 Check In

My life is truly blessed. I am the oldest of three girls and now have three girls of my own. My sisters and I have all girls... seven in total. Until yesterday.

Congratulations to my sister, and Blog/Webmaster, Dana Newbrough on the arrival of her second daughter. I can't wait to meet baby girl #8!

Welcome to the world, Sydney Mae NewbroughBorn January 17, 2012 at 6:36pm7lb 3oz and 19 inches longShe joins big sister, Samantha Paige Newbrough

ROW80 Update

I arrived back in Maryland last night at 11pm, so my Sunday to Wednesday update is not too exciting. Still, I managed to accomplish some goals. More importantly, I'm rejuvenated and ready to tackle my writing in particular.

Writing: Trying to use my airport time effectively, I managed 750 words yesterday. 750 words written in a notebook. I should post a picture of the writing. So messy. The words were coming so fast, and I didn't want to try to find a plug for my laptop. I'm excited to write more tonight.

Blogging: I managed to repurpose some old posts while on vacation, but I wrote a new one yesterday for this blog and Mom in Love with Fiction. I even managed to stay on top of my ROW80 comments and sponsor duties.

Reading: Score! I read two books and several articles I've been meaning to read. One of the books was really disappointing, and I'm struggling with how honest to be in my review.

Editing: Made a lot of progress on two different projects.

Exercise: Two hour-long hikes in gorgeous Breckenridge, Colorado. It doesn't get any better than that.

Hope everyone is having a great week! I'm excited to check in with some word counts on Sunday.

Blog Tour: Come Back to Me, Melissa Foster

My love of words comes from years of reading. Few things make me happier than reading a good book. Even better, knowing the author cares about her readers and fellow writers.

One such author is Melissa Foster. This past November, I read her newest novel, Come Back To Me. It's a pleasure to share more about Melissa and her wonderful book with you today.

*****
From Melissa's website: Tess Johnson has it all: her handsome photographer husband Beau, a thriving business, and a newly discovered pregnancy. When Beau accepts an overseas photography assignment, Tess decides to wait to reveal her secret—only she's never given the chance. Beau's helicopter crashes in the desert.

Tess struggles with the news of Beau's death and tries to put her life back together. Alone and dealing with a pregnancy that only reminds her of what she has lost, Tess is adrift in a world of failed plans and fallen expectations. When a new client appears offering more than just a new project, Tess must confront the circumstances of her life head on.

Meanwhile, two Iraqi women who are fleeing honor killings find Beau barely alive in the middle of the desert, his body ravaged by the crash. Suha, a doctor, and Samira, a widow and mother of three young children, nurse him back to health in a makeshift tent. Beau bonds with the women and children, and together, with the help of an underground organization, they continue their dangerous escape.

What happens next is a test of loyalties, strength, and love.

When I think about this book, I still get overcome with emotion. I read this book in two evenings. The last evening I was clutching my IPad, tears streaming down my face, until past midnight. I couldn't put it down. I needed to be with Tess until the end.

There's so much I want to tell readers, but so little I want to give away. From the first page, we are thrown into Tess Johnson's life, a vibrant woman who has just found out she's pregnant and soon discovers her husband is presumed dead. She fights desperately to hold onto him, refusing to believe he's gone. The reader knows he's alive and trying to get back to her, but it's her desperation and heartache driving the story. Her husband, Beau, is in a foreign land, facing challenges he can only begin to understand. The family he encounters there deserves freedom, and I felt for them and their struggles, but I wanted him to make it home to Tess. He survived a helicopter crash, but could he survive the escape to freedom?

My heart ached through every phase of Tess's grieving process. Two friends stuck with her through everything: Kevin, Beau's best friend, and Alice, her co-worker and best friend. Their mutual affection brings them together, ultimately in a way they weren't expecting. A new friend, a potential client named Louie, enters the picture and helps Tess move forward.The ending is exhilarating and heartbreaking. We journey through Beau's trek home and Tess coming to grips with reality only to be thrust into them finding their way back together. The results are not cookie cutter or expected. No simple running into his arms. When they come back together, nothing will ever be the same again.

Melissa Foster crafts such a fine story woven around people we can relate to and care about, that you trust where she takes you. Every reader defines a good book differently. But if you rate yours based on memorable characters who pull you into the pages with them, like I do, this is the book for you.  

Rating: 5 stars

Please note: I read this book as an ARC and will be participating in the blog tour, but in no way was a positive review guaranteed or asked for. My opinion is just that, mine.

From Melissa's Amazon page: Melissa Foster 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 Indie Chicks, and anthology. She is the founder of the Women's Nest, a social and support community for women, and the WoMen's Literary Cafe. Melissa is currently collaborating in the film production of Megan's Way.

I am the proud owner of Megan's Way and Chasing Amanda, and I can't wait to read them. Melissa is not only a talented writer, she's someone who wants to build up other writers and give back to readers. She seems to have boundless energy! Please check out WoMen's Literary Cafe for first looks at amazing indie books.

And now, enjoy the Come Back to Me video:

Footloose: A Lesson in Voice (Rerun)

One more rerun... I'm in Colorado enjoying some me time. I hope you'll enjoy this blog post rerun from October 23, 2011.

*****
I've been looking forward to the Footloose remake ever since it was announced, back when Zac Effron from High School Musical was attached to the project. Footloose was one of my favorite movies as a teenager. So much so, it's featured as one of Krista's favorite movies in Depression Cookies .

As I sat there with my middle school daughter, memories swirled and I missed my youth. Okay, I felt old. Plus, it was surreal to be watching the same movie I saw as a teenager with my preteen. Did I say I felt old?

In a post earlier this week, I asked readers to help me with voice. Specifically, "Do you think your voice has changed much since your teenage/young adult years? How so?" Most commenters agreed the voice doesn't drastically change, but the focus does.

I remember Footloose being a fun, teenagers-teach-adults-something movie full of dancing and great music. The remake struck me differently. I'm a mom now, and I found myself focusing more on the parents and their grief, the unbearable loss of their own child, than the kids and their dancing. Again, surreal. I still enjoyed the dancing and music, although I think the original had better music, but I got teary-eyed several times. Never felt like crying watching Kevin Bacon strut his stuff in the original.

So there you go, embracing life taught me something about writing. The priceless extra... I spent a fun afternoon with my preteen daughter.

What movie from your teen years would you like to see remade?

Just Breathe: ROW80 Check In

Taking time to smell the roses, to take a deep breath of life, is important. This is day three of my five days of getting away. I can say I've finally decompressed. My body has accepted the time difference and altitude change, sea level all the way to 9,600 feet and back to 5,495. I can finally breathe, figuratively and literally.

Breckinridge, ColoradoI wish I had something more profound to say about the need to relax. Something that would convince people like me, the ones that really need it. If you are wondering who people like me are, feel free to jump over to my post about Embracing Couches.

Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to the moment my kids run to me at the airport. I'll get a kiss from hubby, and everyone will tell me how much they've missed me. I'm not foolish enough to believe I've acquired the magic key to balance while away. Nor am I foolish enough to believe my kids' promise to stop fighting if I'll just come home.

One commitment I have made to myself this year is to enjoy life, to find a balance between what I love to do and who I love to do it for. Sometimes the best way to start is to reboot. Clear the mind of clutter. I didn't realize how much mental clutter I had accumulated.

Interesting thing about taking a break, the world didn't stop spinning. These few days of getting away have been my clutter cleanse. No crazy juice diets for me... just a few days with girlfriends.

I only hope I can bring my lessons home with me, and not let myself get caught back up in the web of life. Or at least not caught up enough that I can't figure out how to break free when necessary.

What clears your mind and allows you a chance to breathe?

ROW80 Update

I'm so proud of my progress this week, yet I've written few words. I've done tons of reading and lots of laughing and bonding. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

I managed to prewrite posts and keep things running, but I've really disconnected from social media. I've realized, and it was quite the eye-opener, how much time I spend on Facebook, Twitter, emails, etc.

While I've been away, I have spent thirty minutes in the mornings and one hour during the evenings checking in. Guess what? I used my time effectively and did what I really needed to. I didn't have time to get distracted, because I wanted to get to the best distraction of all... fun.

Hoping everyone had a great week. I'm off to spend thirty minutes checking on all of you. See you Wednesday!

Rerun Saturday: YA Literature and Parent Involvement

I'm on vacation, so today is Rerun Saturday. Enjoy this post from early June 2011.

****
WSJ Article Suggests Darkness in YA Literature: I Say Parents are the Light 
I woke up to Twitter buzzing with #YAsaves and commentary on the YA publishing industry. Not only do I have YA readers in my house, I read YA and write the YA voice (I wrote the 13-year-old point of view in Depression Cookies and am working on a YA novel). Intrigued, I clicked on the Wall Street Journal article causing all the stir.

"Darkness Too Visible" had a screaming tagline: "Contemporary fiction for teens is rife with explicit abuse, violence and depravity. Why is this considered a good idea?" The article starts by identifying a 46-year-old mom of three looking for a YA book for her 13-year-old at a Barnes & Noble.

The article goes on to detail her horror at the book selections and states, "Profanity that would get a song or movie branded with a parental warning is, in young-adult novels, so commonplace that most reviewers do not even remark upon it." Then find new reviewers. I, for one, review YA books (as does my daughter) on my Mom in Love with Fiction blog and indicate if I think a book does not fit within Amazon's suggested reading ages. But, it's only my opinion. A parent should monitor what their child reads and watches on television by judging the material themselves or finding a reviewer they trust.

My other issue right out of the gate was the fact this mom was in a chain bookstore hoping for YA guidance. This is where readers are feeling the gaping hole left when smaller bookstores closed down. But, at the very least, head to your library and speak with the Librarian about appropriate book recommendations. Don't let the major chains and traditional publishers push anything down your throat, much less your child's. A great site for reviews of lesser known YA novels is my fellow Blogathoner's BooksYALove blog. She also has a great post today about this very topic.

Reading on, ". . . a careless young reader−or one who seeks out depravity−will find himself surrounded by images not of joy or beauty but of damage, brutality and losses of the most horrendous kinds." Wow! What a generalization. A careless young reader is only as careless as his/her parental guidance. Yes, a child can come across explicit material outside the parents' control, but responsible parents will follow up with a discussion.

I just read Max & Menna, a wonderful YA novel by Shauna Kelley. A great book, but not for young readers (I wouldn't let my 11-year-old read it for a few more years). The problem with the YA classification is its broadness. What category can really encompass 12- to 18-year-olds and consider 9- & 10-year-old advance readers? Movies aren't just PG and R, there's the middle ground of PG-13. Even then, a parent has to use his/her own discretion. Why should books be any different? Assuming no better labeling system is forthcoming, parents need to arm themselves with information. CSI is full of disturbing images and is ranked TV-14. It's a guideline. I've seen episodes I wish I hadn't seen, much less a young teenager.

The article then points out what they consider the flip side of the argument by stating young-adult novels "validate the teen experience, giving voice to tortured adolescents who would otherwise be voiceless." Amen. Kids suffer inexplicable horrors and some need to know they are not alone. More than that, kids (considering their maturity levels as judged by their parents) should understand we don't live in a utopian world where bad people don't exist. But wait. "Yet it is also possible . . . that books focusing on pathologies help normalize them . . ." Nothing normalizes rape, incest, abuse, etc. Nothing. To suggest that is preposterous.

As a kid, I devoured Judy Blume books. When Forever hit the shelves, I begged my parents for it. The answer was No. They did their research. I snuck a rogue copy anyway, and guess what? My parents were right. I wasn't ready. Hmmmm. I'm sensing a theme about parental involvement.

The article then goes on to respond to an author's quote comparing books to what kids see on the Internet: " . . . one depravity does not justify another. If young people are encountering ghastly things on the Internet, that's a failure of the adults around them, not an excuse for more envelope-pushing." But the material kids read is NOT a responsibility of the adults around them? I'm confused.

Finally, a ray of light. Politics & Prose, an independent Washington, D.C. bookstore, is singled out for provided a special "PG-15" area for books. An independent bookstore with a better system. Interesting. Yet the article criticizes this by saying, " . . . creating a separate section may inadvertently lure the attention of younger children . . ." Come on! Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Again, parents are you listening? Monitor what your children read.

For those who argue we need a system in place for parents who don't take responsibility for their children, I agree. Let me know what you come up with that actually replaces good parenting!

I'd love to know what you think. Please comment below.

Who Comes Up with These Days?

Superstition suggests Friday the 13th brings bad luck. According to Wikipedia, the fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga being the name of the Norse goddess for whom "Friday" is named and triskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number thirteen). So, no, it's not just the fear of a man named Jason.

But that's not all today is. January 13th is also:

* Blame Someone Else Day
* International Skeptics Day
* Make Your Dream Come True Day

Am I the only one who sees a contradiction?

Source: WikipediaMy mind conjured up the Sesame Street children's song:

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

All in one day, you are supposed to be skeptical, blame someone else, worry about bad luck, and... make your dreams come true. Maybe my mind doesn't follow.

To make your dreams come true, you must put in a lot of hard work but many times you must take a leap of faith. A very difficult task for a skeptic. I guess you could blame someone else if your dreams didn't come true, but that's not until after your attempts at success. And dreamers can't focus on such silly things as bad luck.

I choose to think of today as Make Your Dream Come True Day. For me, it will be a day of reflection. What are my dreams? What steps do I need to take to fulfill them?

Do you ever wonder who comes up with these special days?

Lessons from Wonder Woman

Earlier this week I posted about the lessons I learned from my youngest daughter's first grade basketball game. Then, last night, my oldest daughter asked me to sit down and watch Wonder Woman with her. My daughter has been obsessed with superheroes, particularly Wonder Woman, since a very early age.

Source: WikipediaThis past weekend I found Season One of the Lynda Carter television series, Wonder Woman. I was so excited to share it with my daughter. We sat down for some mom-daughter bonding and watched it.

I was struck by several things:

* Lynda Carter is gorgeous. Still is, actually, if you've seen an updated picture of her. She's a classic movie star beauty, in the same category as Natalie Wood, Doris Day, and Grace Kelley. These actresses were before my time, but I'm grateful for a mother who shared their movies with me.

* The television series is cheesy and flimsy. Really, Diana Prince is somehow in military intelligence and glasses alone keep Major Steve Trevor from figuring out who she really is. Then again, Clark Kent only hid behind glasses while surrounded by reporters. Yet my daughter loved it like I loved it. Good, clean fun.

* I get that it was campy, but I was offended by how lightly they took World War II and the Nazis. Everything was so glossed over and softened. I would rather them have made up a fictitious war than used the real thing. I never noticed this as a kid.

* In the late 1970s, woman had real bodies. At first, I found myself gawking at the size of the women. But they were gorgeous and, well, round like a woman should be. It's a shame that my daughters are growing up in a generation that thinks Angelina Jolie is the epitome of beauty. A strong wind could blow her away.

A blogger friend* recently wrote a wonderful post: Nostalgia Ain't What It's Cracked Up to Be. She nailed it. We think the "good old days" were so much better. They really weren't. They just remind us of our youth and what made us happy. But we also have to remember we looked at these events through inexperienced eyes.

I watched my daughter soaking in the fun of Wonder Woman. I knew she'd remember it as time with mom. When she grows up, she'll drag out things from her youth to bond with her child. I hope I'm around to enjoy the moment with them.

Do you ever watch shows or movies from your youth and end up amazed by your adult reaction?

*If you haven't had a chance to check out Ramblin' with AM, please do.

Embracing Couches: ROW80 Check In

There's something seriously wrong with me. I cannot sit on a couch. I'm someone who has to stay in perpetual motion or risk melting into a pile of overtired, overworked goo. I don't sit down for fear my mind will register the need to take a break.

I joke with my husband that he has a magnet in his butt that immediately engages with the matching magnet in the couch if he's within ten feet of it. This isn't entirely true, but my husband does find plenty of time in the evening and on weekends to sit on our couch.

Constant motion keeps me on task. I don't even love sitting down at my desk, but I get so mentally stimulated that it still feels like motion. When I sit on a couch, I feel tired within fifteen minutes. There's no getting back up. I know this about myself, so I rarely sit.

Soon guilt has its say... my oldest daughter was talking to me the other day, following me from room to room. She finally stopped and asked if she could just have ten minutes with me standing still. It was all I could do. I literally felt jumpy. That's sad.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to embrace life, especially time with my family and friends. I have to fight my own "get it done" personality to do this. Since I work from home (as a writer and mother), I don't get to leave work and refocus. I feel like I live at my office, constantly reminded of all the tasks I haven't completed.

I'm really working on resetting my all work and no play mindset. Just the other day, my daughter was goofing off. I needed her to get some stuff done, like her homework, reading, and trombone practice. Frustrated, I told her she'd never be on her deathbed wishing she'd sat on a couch more days of her life. After I said it, it hit me. Wait, I think the saying is supposed to go more like, "Nobody ever sat on their deathbed and wished they had worked more."

I have to find more balance, play more. I know it makes me a better person when I find time to disconnect.

What are your suggestions for striking a balance between responsibilities and living life to the fullest?

ROW80 Update

I am going to Colorado to visit my girlfriends for five days starting tomorrow. Five days! I've never left my kids for five days. Plus, I've been really focused on goals since this round started. I'm terrified of losing momentum.

I think this will be good for me, all fears and worries aside. I need to find ways to unwind and disconnect. If I don't, I'm just going to end up burning out. Hopefully I will come back refreshed and ready to balance work and family, having missed them both.

On to my update...

Writing: Surpassed my minimum 500 words a day with a total of 1,682 words from Sunday through yesterday. My goal while I'm gone is to write a couple of days. No pressure. The point is to unwind and enjoy.

Blogging: Posted daily here and already three posts this week on Mom in Love with Fiction. I'm keeping up with checking on everyone. I need to spend some time on Twitter, but I'll set that goal once I'm back. I will still post daily while I'm gone, thanks to a marathon session of prewriting and scheduling posts.

Reading: I let this slide this week knowing I'm heading to vacation with my Kindle and a couple of books. I also joined another reading challenge: 2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge. 

Editing: On hold until I get back. I'm taking my laptop, so if I'm up at night... we'll see.

Exercise: My Colorado friends are great motivators for a healthy lifestyle, so I'm not worried about keeping up my momentum here.

Hope everyone is doing well this week and finding time to work and play.

Fangs or Claws: It's All About Characters

On my review blog today, I am hosting Sallie Lundy-Frommer. She's the author of Yesterday's Daughter , "an emotionally laden paranormal vampire romance novel woven with layers of betrayal, love and loss."

Since her book is in the paranormal genre, I asked her to speak to people who don't like this new wave of paranormal books. Her post was interesting and hit the nail on the head. It's really all about characters and story. If the character is memorable, who cares if he/she has fangs or claws?

I'm always intrigued by people who only like one genre. To me, a great story is all about the characters. Even with books I love, the characters stay with me more than the plot line. The reason I never want a good book to end is because I've become attached to the characters. I want to know what happens to them after the last page.

My husband would disagree, he's all about action and story development. I can look past a slower-paced book with vivid characters. But there's never enough action for me to endure weak, one-sided characters.

Memorable Characters Need to Be:

FLAWED

No character, whether human or not, is interesting without personality traits that lead them astray. I'm a sap, so in the end I want them to come out on top. But I don't mind if that fulfilling end takes books to reveal. For me, the flaw has to be something the character can ultimately overcome, but not without hard work and dedication.

RELATABLE

Even a vampire is relatable if done right. When reading Twilight, I often forgot that Edward was a vampire and Jacob a wolf spirit. They were two boys fighting over the girl (who in my opinion wasn't interesting enough for either of them!). Love, fear, disappointment... these are things all of us can relate to on some level or another.

LAYERED

I like a good tease. Truly. A good person with shady moments is so much more entertaining than a clearly defined hero or villain. I don't mind being confused, as long as there's a believable excuse for straddling the fence between good and evil. Being one-dimensional is a death sentence for a character.

SADDLED

This goes back to the idea of the flaw, but it gives the reader a reason to love the character flaw and all. I need to know why the character struggles, not just that he/she does. Did they make a poor choice and are dealing with the aftermath? Did Fate hand him/her a raw deal? There might be a better word choice, but I see my character saddled with an event, something they can't easily shake off.

Of course, it's hard to truly define why one character stays with me and another doesn't. But the attributes described above are always part of that memorable character. Then there's a pinch of magic thrown in. Sometimes it's the mood I'm in when reading a particular book, sometimes it's something I can't put my finger on.

What makes a character memorable for you? Or do you find yourself more wrapped up in story and action?

Hype and Choice

My mind is overflowing with post ideas lately. I have at least three sitting in draft form waiting to be published. So wouldn't you know it, everywhere I turn lately something sparks a post I have to write immediately. Poor draft posts, they are just sitting there waiting for reader attention.

I'm not complaining. I'd much rather the well run over than be dried up. I hate looking at a blank screen with nothing to say. I get overwhelmed and a bit sidetracked (you really don't want to see my house right now) when I have too many ideas, but I never wish them away. I only wish for faster fingers so I can get it all down.

For my Mom in Love with Fiction Blog (my blog for the reader and book fan in me), I often answer prompts from a lovely site, Should be Reading. Today's prompt asked: Are there any "raved reads"–books that everyone seems to be talking about–that you're hoping to get read this year, yourself? What books are they, and why are you hoping to read them? Is it because you want to say you've read it? Or, would you have chosen to read it, even if you'd discovered it yourself, and no one was raving about it?

I'm influenced by hype, but I'm not driven by it. Friends, particularly those in my book club, are my top source for traditional book recommendations. My current book club has a rule that books must be available in paperback, so that alone keeps us from being too cutting edge.

Until the recent bookstore closings, my favorite thing to do was walk aisle by aisle picking up books that caught my eye. Then it was up to the back cover to seal the deal. I rarely stopped at the table of books near the front. That just seemed too obvious and too easy. It's more my personality to read books that are less known and be the one recommending than to blindly follow what everyone else likes.

My newest focus, thanks to my own publishing journey, is to read more independent and small press published books. The best source for these books: my writing community and bloggers. It also helps that I review books for a few review sites.

Another thing I realized about my book buying habits... I might pick up the book the industry is talking about (bloggers, other authors, even Amazon picks), but I'm not as quick to read them as a book that speaks to me. Almost my entire list for the 2012 To Be Read (TBR) Pile Challenge are books fitting this description. Had to have them, but didn't have to read them.

Are your book choices driven by hype? If not, what is your main source for a good read?