Chris Sorensen's Blog, page 5

The Royal Harvest - Part 3 (Sentence to Story #25)

“We’re going where?” asked the farmer's wife, slouching down into the chair in the middle of the rented room.



“I don’t know if that’s where we will live, but that’s where I’m going to be working,” he said, kneeling down to pick up his son and walking to the window.   “Can you believe it?” he continued.  “Caring for the Kings land – the cream of the crop, literally!” he said with a small laugh.



His wife smiled briefly, then added, “I don’t know what to believe.”  He fe...

I Am A Happily Chained Man!

I wish to take a moment to express my undying devotion and head-over-heals love to my number one fan: my wife.  We have been married for almost 14 years and I can't imagine my life without her.





Amanda, I love you with all my heart...and would rather be chained to NO ONE else;-)

Check the Box (Sentence to Story #24)

Henry wiped his palms on his jeans a couple of times to clear the sweat.  He slid the paper from off his desk and held it in his lap while the teacher was still teaching.  It was secret.  Very secret.



The better part of a week had been spent ditching cartoon time, basketball with his friends, and even a trip to the ice cream store when he brought home good grades at the end of first semester.  Being in the third grade, it was his first time getting real grades - which wer...

Surreal (Sentence to Story #23)

I am fairly certain mirrors are supposed to reflect reality.  But mine must be broken.  It's been broken for a while now.  Every morning I see the same thing - fiction, fantasy, pretend...whatever you want to call it.  I haven't seen anything resembling reality since...




"Hurry up," comes the loud voice through the speaker above me.



I close my eyes to try and find some peace - anything resembling peace - but it never comes.



I turn, looking over my shoulder,...

Self Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing (Tips on Writing #10)

First off, lets describe what it means to be published.  Simply put - your book makes it into print.  Period.  That is the definition of publishing in its simplest form.  Somebody has taken the financial risk, the time, and the energy to believe in your work enough to at least pay an editor, cover designer, and printer to bring your book to the world.  That is the publisher.







If you did those things, then you are self-published.




If you had an agent, who found a...

Review of 'Bitterblue' by Kristin Cashore (Through the Shelf Thursday #9)

Title:  Bitterblue

Author: Kristin Cashore

Genre: YA Fantasy

Description from Goodreads:













Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck's reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outsi...

The Royal Harvest - Part 2 (Sentence to Story #22)

“Next,” said the aging, long haired clerk from behind the
counter.  It was the first day of the
first week of the month, apparently when all the new help came to town.  The young man had been waiting in line for more than an hour. 
Finally, he walked up to present his certificate.






The clerk read through it.  “Well,” he peered up over his spectacles, “you have come a
long way my friend.”  He looked back at
the paper, nodding.  The eyes around the
room wer...

Shall We Dance? (Maiden Update #4)

So I finished the working draft for Maiden before Christmas and sent it out to a few beta-readers, including my wife.  When you hear one thing, you can dismiss it.  When you hear it again, there might be something.  But when multiple people give you the same exact feedback...you listen.





What was the feedback?




"For the love of all that's holy we (the reader) need to know how Corwin and Jeanette feel about each other?  Don't leave it so bottled up.  Give us SOMETH...

A Better Understanding (Sentence to Story #21)

Eric reluctantly walked into Mr. Walker's class.



"I'm glad you decided to stay for detention instead of making it worse," Mr. Walker said, looking up from his desk.  Eric walked past his seat in the front row to the back of the room and sat down, not responding.  Mr. Walker looked at Eric, as if to say something, but he went back to working on his papers.



"Well, I'm here," Eric said, throwing his hands up.  "You won.  Give me some work or something."



Mr. Walker put his...

Building Worlds with Guest Writer Lana Krumwiede (Tips on Writing Tuesday #9)

Today, I welcome wonderful author Lana Krumwiede to share some writing tips on 'world building.'  Lana's debut middle-grade novel, Freakling, was published by Candlewick in October, 2012 and if you haven't checked it out...well you should (see my review here).  In fact, you should check out Lana's website here and check out Freakling either on Amazon or Goodreads.





Take it away, Lana...








I had the pleasure of acting as guest author for one of the summer writing camp sessions...