Nancy LaRonda Johnson's Blog, page 8

Almost A Day Off, But Still Writing

Why is it that just getting one day off turns everything topsy-turvy? I mean, having Monday off (Labor Day) should have been a good thing. But then I forget that Tuesday (1st day back at work) is not Monday, which causes me to forget to do my Tuesday Journal Past Blast post! Fuddruckers! Well, I’ll make up for it next week and post something really juicyintrospective.
For this big 2 year Insecure Writer's Support Group collaboration (which I did almost forget for the same above reason), hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, I’m seeking your input on…
I love the way my WIP, Anticipating Dawn, is turning out, but there are some parts of it that I’m a bit concerned will deter people because there’s “Bible talk.” "Come on, now," I tell myself, "you are a Christian writer, one who wishes to break the boundaries of who reads Christian work." And how could I write about a gay Christian without there being some Bible discussions? I think I’m going about it well, though there will need to be quite a bit of reworking, being that it’s the first draft. I just don’t want people to skim past those parts, because there are important aspects of the story that come out during those discussions.
Anyway, I'd love your feedback on this. 
P.S. If you care to, please like my Facebook author page: 

Awards! Awards! Awards!

I’ve been remiss, but mostly too busy, in posting on several blog awards I’d received over the last several months. But I’ve been taking note of them and am so thankful to all my nominators. Today, I wish to post on those have-been-waiting-too-long-to-be-honored awards.
The first one is from Queendsheena, Thoughts and Ideas from Deanie  Humphrys-Dunne and Medeia Sharif. Thank you!


Here are the rules:Post the logo on your blogThank the person who nominated youchoose 10-12 other ladies who blog, as your nominees.Post the links to the nominees' blogs and notify them on their blog Here are whom I'm nominating:
Tara Tyler Talks - Who's so infectiously cheery, and so excited to help out fellow bloggers.Diane Wilder ...about myself, by myself... - For her wit and the beautiful photos she posts.City Muse Country Muse - They write Friday poetry, which is often inspiring and emotive.Clare Dugmore Writes - Who is inspiring with keeping with her blogging schedule, and for giving me notice of the upcoming More Than Just A Kiss blogfest.Christine Rains - Who's putting on the above blogfest with gifts included!Elise Fallson - A dedicated and lovely American blogger living the dream life in France.Kidbits - Who is a MG and sci-fi ball of joy.


This second award is from Constantine. Thank you! 
Nominees see below - I'm nominating you for this one and the Sunshine award!




 Here are the rules for this award: (Don't ask me what the "7 days" thing mean - I just copied & pasted!)The nominee of The Wonderful Team Member Readership Award shall display the logo on his/her blog.The nominee shall nominate (up to) 14 readers they appreciate over a period of 7 days, all at once or little by little; linking to their blogs; and telling them about it at their blogs.The nominee shall name his/her Wonderful Team Member Readership Award nominees on a post during 7 days.
And finally, the wonderful Yolanda over at DEFENDING THE PEN awarded me this beautiful Sunshine award:


Here are the rules: to be followed or broken as you see fit!Include the award’s logo in a post or on your blog.Link to the person who nominated you.Answer 10 questions about yourself.Nominate 10 bloggers.Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blogs, letting them know they have been nominated. 
I wanted to make up new questions for this. My nominees can use these questions or other ones. Here go mine:
1. What do you feel about Google’s Library Project, where they plan to scan and allow people to download your entire book if it’s not copyrighted or out of copyright?
The idea of my books being on a new platform, searchable, excerpts able to be read and purchase links attached is great. But it’s scary to think that if the copyright lapses and I didn’t even know it, people would be able to download my books for free. With all the other things on my list to do, I’d have to make sure my copyright is updated. I’m not even sure anymore how long a copyright lasts. Guess I’d have to look into that. It would also mean that I'd want to be more careful about publishing my book before the copyright has gone through.
2. If you were invited to be on a talk show with your favorite celebrity, who would it be, and what would you want the topic to be?
One of the celebrities I admire most is Tyler Perry. I’d want to discuss controversial topics that relate to my books, such as serial killers getting forgiven, gay Christians, and the culture of people who have a history of not reporting crimes they know about.
3. You become a celebrity author and you write a book where all the proceeds will go to a charity. What charity would it be?
It would be the Kinship Program, which is a program designated to helping people who are raising relatives’ kids. They provide support groups for the caregiver, respite care, activities for the caregiver and for the kids, and resources. I utilized them (the Lincoln Childcare Center in Hayward, CA) for years while I raised my niece and nephew.
4. Complete this sentence any way you like: “Check out this author who has…
…been able to retire from her day job early and live her dream life of writing full-time while traveling."
5. You have a gift that could help people ease their pain, physical or psychological. What is that gift, and how would it help?
My gift would be writing effective flash fiction that causes them to see life in new and exciting ways, and their psychological pain is significantly diminished.
6. Pedicure or manicure?
Definitely pedicure. Don’t care for manicures.
7. What’s one thing that bothers you that you feel you should learn to deal with?
Being in crowds and socializing for too long. Usually, after a while, I feel a great need to isolate and recoup.
8. Popcorn or chips?
Popcorn!
9. What would be more difficult for you, giving up the computer to where you have no access to one or giving up the smartphone?
I’d say the computer. That’s a hard one, but I think not having access to a computer would be like not having a limb. Whereas not having a smartphone would be more like needing to catch public transportation instead of having a car. I’d be able to do what I need, it would just take much longer and be more complicated to accomplish what I need to.
10. You have to work one day in a fast food or chain restaurant. Which would it be?
Chipotle.
My nominees for the Wonderful Team Member Readership and Sunshine Award are:
QueendsheenaJulie LuekS.K. AnthonyRachna ChhabriaMedeia SharifNick WilfordDiana WilderL. Diane WolfeSarah ChafinWriter-in-Transitand, I have to say, Klahanie

Thanks again to all my nominators, and to everyone who has taken the time to read this post!

A "Keeping-my-cool" Celebration

Here’s to VikLit’s Celebrate the Small Things weekly blog hop.
This week I’m thankful for:
Although a friend who’s separated from her husband has been living with me for the last month in my one bedroom apartment, and she talks A LOT about herself, it’s been mostly good this week. God’s working in me, again, to not be depressed about my reduced privacy time. (I don't think she will, but I pray she doesn't read this post!)My CP has been giving me lots of encouraging words (plus plenty of suggestions for rewrite time) about my WIP, Anticipating Dawn. I still hope to complete the first draft before the year’s end. (I love the serial killer - well not him, but - he's completely sick!)I’ve done yet another interview, this time focusing on Salted With Fire, on Conversations Live .Wishing all a wonderful, revealing, weekend!

Journal Past Blast: Youthful Memories

I’m cheating in this week’s Journal Past Blast. :p  You see, this entry isn’t from one of my journals, but from a letter I’d written my mom when I studied abroad in Padova, Italy, for the 1988-89 school year. I wrote this letter after taking a vacation before classes started up again.
It was so cool seeing this letter in particular, and it had the same emotional affect as reading over my journals. My year in Italy was like one of my last youthful years. Okay, that’s a lie, but it was a year of significant changes for me... I’ll just shut up. 
Here’s an excerpt from my letter to my mom. And it has a date! just a few days before my birthday. (which is the middle of the year and the middle of the month. Can you guess it?)
6-11-88
Ciao Mamma,
....Well, the next day, early, I went to Siena, which is about 45 minutes away. Siena is pretty also, but really small. I saw it in an afternoon. Then I returned to Pisa because I hadn’t yet seen the tower. When I returned, while opening my door, some guys, who were staying in a room across from mine asked me to eat dinner with them, at the mensa, which is the cafeteria of the university – they are students, quite nice and very weird, like all Italian guys.
There were three of them. So I ate dinner with them. Then they walked me to the tower. At night the tower is totally beautiful. It’s like dark around, but the tower is totally lit up, and the way it leans is so weird – it looks unreal. It’s beautiful. But I didn’t have my camera with me. So the next morning, one of the guys took me to see it again and I took pictures. The other two had class to go to. I climbed up to the top and Giovanni, the guy, took pictures of me up there....
That's enough, this was a long letter. What gets me is that I went to eat lunch with three Italian boys! Me! By myself!!! Shy LaRonda! (I go by my middle name) And I actually dated Giovanni for quite a while, when we were able to visit each other, even though he often spoke in a dialect and sometimes I, and many northern Italians, couldn’t understand him.
Well, thanks for coming by and reading my memories.

Celebrating not being too late!

Here's what I'm celebrating this week for VikLit’s Celebrate the Small Things blog hop:
I’m glad most of all that I wasn’t too late for that blogger’s book promotion - the one that I had accidentally deleted the email. S.K. Anthony’s blog tour for her book Kinectic occurs next month, and I had received a reminder email from her blog tour host. I’ll be doing an author interview. :)

S.K. Anthony had also posted on her "Next Big Thing," after being tagged by me. :) To read about it, click here.
This week has been a good work week. Among other things, I had a luncheon tour at DreamWorks Animation in Redwood City, which is the same city I work in.
In between some morning and evening fog, the days have been beautiful.
Another of my radio interviews aired on WFCO 90.9 FM Thursday: Meet the Minister
~ Here’s to a peaceful and productive weekend everybody!

Journal Past Blast: Reliving lonely times

The last month and a half have been so busy promoting other writers, and myself, that I hadn’t been able to post these Tuesday Journal Past Blast. Well, now it's back! 
Being vulnerable is a necessary trait of a writer, right? Well, I’ve come across quite a few raw-emotion journal writings, but am only brave enough to post this one, likely written between 1990 and 1993, after college but before law school: 
When I touched your chest, I gave you my history, hoping your heartbeats could make sense of the pain. I kissed your lips and shared with you my destiny’s end. Will you spend it with me and take away my fear and shame?
Will you give me a reason to stay in your arms? Since there is no truth in my eyes that suits you.
Maybe down the line, I’ll be able to post some of those previously kept secret journal entries. Truly, all of it's been secret, but you know what I mean. Until next week….

Book Review: Polar Night + Movie Review

Polar Night Review
Polar Night by Julie Flanders is a supernatural thriller about a killer who abducts women who are unfortunate enough to resemble his one true love. But when they fail to "become" her, the women inevitably die. Until one gets away. This escapee convinces cop Danny that maybe the killer isn’t what he seems and she isn’t crazy for believing so.
Polar Night has a mellow start and makes you wonder where’s the mystery going to come from. You meet Aleksei and think “interesting.” Then you get to really know Danny, a cop on a track to ruin, who runs away to Alaska after the death of his wife, and you’re hooked on the story: Crazy killer and the alcoholic cop after him. What really grabs you is the dialog, which rings harshly real and makes you feel for the characters. And the story ends with a nice finishing touch.
In the author’s words:
I am a novelist and a freelance writer in Cincinnati, Ohio. A native Ohioan, I happily cheer for the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Cincinnati Reds.
My debut novel, the supernatural thriller Polar Night, was published by Ink Smith Publishing in February, 2013. My second novel, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, is a love story/ghost story/mystery that will be published by Ink Smith in December, 2013.
I am a life-long animal lover with a passion for writing about animals. I have written features about the joy of pets and the importance of animal rescue for several media outlets including Best Friends Animal Society, Cat Fancy, and Thrive in Life.
I share my home with my cat Nate and my dog Clancy, both of whom are rescues.
Purchase Polar Nights here.
Julie's webpageJulie's blog


Movie Review: Lee Daniels' The Butler

From its premise – American history based on the viewpoint of a Black butler (Cecil Gaines) who served US Presidents from Eisenhower to Reagan – I was so looking forward to seeing Lee Daniels' The Butler. And the movie did not disappoint. It is a riveting story of not only rarely portrayed character aspects of the presidents, but is a dedication to Gaines’ amazing life and the struggles, triumphs and (yes, my favorite thing) transformations of his family. Oprah Winfrey is, of course, excellent in her portrayal of Gaines’ wife. The chemistry between Winfrey and Forest Whitaker is the core of what makes this movie exceptional.
Being one who rarely cries in movies, what does get me crying is when characters come to a breakthrough... and bust through it. So, yes I did unashamedly cry during the movie at one point. As I reviewed in Flixster, The Butler is an “EXCELLENT movie, worthy to be part of Black movie history.”
Now go on and see it for yourselves!

Celebrating a Great Week

This has been quite a good week, but one which has zapped my energy. In acknowledgement of the goodness of it, I have to do my part in VikLit’s weekly blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things.This week, I truly enjoyed the Anti-blogfest Gary Fest. It got my imagination going wild. And it was great to meet Gary this past week. It was nice to be tagged for The Next Best Thing again. Heads up! The magnificent Sheena-kay, who's so willing to help promote others, will be posting her Next Big Thing on Monday over at Queendsheena. Be sure to head over to her place to see what she’s up to.I’d done two more interviews. One will be aired next week, while the other one was live on a blog radio/tv show called X Zone out of Canada on topics like alien abductions and loch nest monsters. It was a fun interview. Being so tired while listening to it over, I truly don’t know if I made any sense. If you’re interested, here’s the podcast of the show: X Zone interviewLastly, I need help! I was so glad to assist a fellow blogger with her book promotion, and had added myself to her link to do so. She had emailed me the info, but I accidentally deleted it and can’t remember who it was for. If you know who it was, or if you are her, please email me again! I’m so sorry.Happy celebrating. Be waiting for my visit over the weekend!

The Next Big Thing... Again

I was involved with this blog hop, The Next Big Thing, in 2012, but have been tagged again for it. I don’t mind updating my old post. It’s still a WIP, but has definitely had some developments, which I’m happy to talk about.
**I was tagged by Graeme Brown over at A Fantasy Writing Journey. Check out his blog and his new, exciting WIP.
Here are my responses to The Next Big Thing:

1. What is the working title of your book?
Anticipating Dawn
2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
It is the sequel to my first book, Anticipation of the Penitent, and delves into the idea of what happens when a relative of a serial killer has guilt about the harm the serial killer caused the victims' families. It also speaks of how someone who is gay and lives in a Christian community learns to accept himself.
The idea of victim reunification came from my job. As a probation officer, I often deal with victims and how the criminal can pay back for the harms their crimes caused. The idea of the gay male in a Christian community came from my beliefs of how God views gays, which are different in some aspects than what many Christians believe God feels.



3. What genre does your book fall under?
Christian speculative fiction.
 Literary fiction, maybe. 
4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Searching the web and just going by looks, because I don’t know the up-and-coming young actors, I’d say Christian Keyes would be great as Michtam (ain't he beautiful?). And as Gent, Paul Butcher (he ain't bad neither). 
           
 Christian Keyes as Michtam    Paul Butcher as Gent           










5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Haunted by a relative’s criminal past, a young man fights to mend those harmed, but risks causing more ruin to their broken lives; whereas his best friend searches for God’s truth while being true to himself as a gay man.
6. If you plan to publish, will your book be self-published or published traditionally? 
I will try the traditional route first, but will self-publish if after some time I hadn’t caught an agent.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
The first draft is not complete, but I’m hoping to be done this year. I’ve been very busy with promoting Anticipation of the Penitent, as well as with work, church, family and blogging, that I don’t get to write everyday.


8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I really don’t know. I haven’t yet come across much Christian fiction that deal with these topics, especially in a literary fashion. Prayers for Bobby by Leroy Aarons, is non-fiction, but deals with the ideas of Christianity and homosexuality in an honest and heart-felt manner. (I only saw the movie, however. The book is on my to-read list.)
9. Who or What inspired you to write this book?
The victim reunification idea came from an inmate reentry meeting I attended for my job. Someone spoke about how she studies victim reunification programs in prisons, and that struck me as what Michtam would try for the families of Thomas’ victims.
The gay Christian idea came from being involved with my church, which, in general, is conservative. I don’t agree with many conservative Christian social beliefs, including the idea that being gay automatically means you are not saved and are not going to heaven.


10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
While reading Anticipating Dawn, you will follow Michtam and Gent as they go through trials when they enter the lives of distraught people who battle daily struggles. Their discoveries will change their own lives, the lives of their loved ones, and the lives of others who have given up hope. 

In the midst of these discoveries, a serial killer even more harrowing than Thomas (the serial killer in Anticipation of the Penitent) has surfaced and changes the direction of Michtam's life forever.
--I am excited to say, unlike what I thought initially, there will be a killer in the midst! Whoopee!!
The bloggers I'm tagging next (and who will post at a later date; I'll keep you informed when) are:
Left and Write        Sheena-kaySKAnthony  Rewritten
Thank you Graeme Brown for the tag!

Yay! It's Anti-blogfest time....

Yes, it is time for the Anti-Blogfest Gary Fest. That’s the prolific and encouraging, and maybe a little strange, Gary over at Klahanie.
This crazy little blog hop is hosted by Mark “Madman” Koopmans, Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, “Life is Good” Tina, Rockin’ Robyn Engel and Morgan “The Morg” Shamy.
Here’s the rules to this could-be-very-funny-or-disgusting anti-blogfest:
Create the titles of three PG-13 rated blogfests you would never join - and then add a descriptive sentence or two.
Here are my blogfests you would kill not to join:
The Constipation Effect: An educational blogfest where you describe the worst symptoms you’ve ever had while constipated, and post a depiction (photo/drawing/sculpture) of that symptom.If I Were a Wart: Many of us dream of being someone else, usually someone beautiful, rich and famous. Since that can’t happen, in this blogfest you tell us, instead, on whose butt you would want to be a wart.I Can Live With This Instead of That: In this most transformative blogfest, you agree to give up something on your body you normally wouldn’t live without and trade it for something you normally would sell your children to not have. Be sure to post your before and after pictures. 
 For example, I’ve agreed I can live with having a “Kuato”, you know, like in Total Recall (the original), and will give up my tongue… in fact my whole mouth, since Kuato is smart enough to talk for us both. (You've just got to be patient, because he talks kinda slow.)

How great are these blogfests? You know you’d love to join and not anti-blogfest them!

Click here to find more anti-blogfests.