Robin E. Mason's Blog: Robin's Book Shelf, page 172

BLOGWORDS – 22 May 2017 – NEW WEEK NEW FACE – GUEST POST – KRISTEN HEITZMANN

BLOGWORDS – 22 May 2017 – NEW WEEK NEW FACE – GUEST POST – KRISTEN HEITZMANN

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NEW WEEK NEW FACE – GUEST POST – KRISTEN HEITZMANN

 

 

[image error]Recently I was asked to name my favorite mother character in literature. I mentally went through the zillions of books I’d read, sure that the very best mother would be difficult to single out. Imagine my surprise when I was unable to recall a single one that shone. From the evil stepmothers of fairytales, to the cold, negligent woman who dropped Heidi on the Alp Uncle’s doorstep, to the drug-addicted bring-the-bad-boyfriends-home sort of woman who impacts so many modern novels, it struck me how many mothers were portrayed as villainous.

The second most common thing I found was the missing mother. This is different from the nasty ones. She is gone due to circumstances, personal sacrifice, or death. Those of us who have lost a mother know that emptiness doesn’t end. So it’s no wonder authors choose that route.

 

No one has such an impact on our personal development as a mother does. If we have a close mother-child bond we will develop differently than if it is distant or critical. A character-building motif in stories often revolves around a difficult parental relationship or a wonderful relationship cut short. Either creates a mother shaped hole the character periodically falls into.

There are, however, some stories with great mothers. In Jojo Moyes’s One plus One, Jess is a single mother trying to make her little girl’s dream of attending a top “maths” school come true. She has collected a goth teenage son whom neither her ex-husband nor the boy’s mother wants. Her generosity (though impoverished) honesty (though cheated and deceived) and compassion (though mistreated) are a beautiful example of a mother’s heart. When she fails in one of these it becomes a lesson to her loved ones and together they make it right.

In The Monk Downstairs / The Monk Upstairs by Tim Farrington, the mother character named Phoebe sees through people’s outer clutter of faults and insecurities to the soul within. Her love is unconditional. She also has a zest for life and delights in the absurd. You can’t read her and not want to be like that.

What stands out for both these characters is their acceptance of their offspring’s natures, desires, fears, and wounds—whether children or adults. Their willingness to protect and develop without forcing their own will and desires resonates in characters like Marmee in Little Women—the Proverbs 31 idealized mother. My tomboy self preferred the story of Jo March in Little Men and her creative parenting.

BLOGWORDS – Sunday 21 May 2017 – FRONT PORCH FELLOWSHIP – A GOOD WORK

BLOGWORDS – Sunday 21 May 2017 – FRONT PORCH FELLOWSHIP – A GOOD WORK
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FRONT PORCH FELLOWSHIP – A GOOD WORK

 

Woke up to a lovely text from my friend this morning.

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Before I was awake even.

 

What a powerful thing, to know that my friend is not only thinking of me but is praying for me even as I’m sleeping. And in this season, when things have been languishing so badly, I know Father will see me through to complete it.  All of it. Because He set me to it.

 

My writing? Yes, but not just. He began a work in me to make me who He designed and created me to be.

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I am not an incomplete leftover or reject. I am a work in progress. And Father places his brush strokes with great care, He selects only the finest clay and spins the wheel just so, He chooses the word or phrase that conveys the essence simply and eloquently.

And with every brush stroke or spin or word, He is drawing me closer to Him, to His image.

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And when stuff of the day threatened to overtake me, it did not because I know Holy Spirit is faithful to complete what He has begun. And the world isn’t my standard, He is. His character, His nature, His heart. And I am transformed, I am renewed.

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I am His, and I rest in Him.

 

 

 

#Blogwords, Front Porch Fellowship, #FPF, Sunday Devotion, A Good Work, Philippians 1:3, Ephesians 2:10, Genesis 1:27, Romans 12:2, Transformed, Renewed

BLOGWORDS – 20 May 2017 – NEW WEEK NEW FACE NEW MONTH NEW ME – SPECIAL EDITION – SWAMP MODE

BLOGWORDS – 20 May 2017 – NEW WEEK NEW FACE NEW MONTH NEW ME – SPECIAL EDITION – SWAMP MODE
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NEW WEEK NEW FACE NEW MONTH NEW ME – SPECIAL EDITION – SWAMP MODE – writing recovery continues

 

Bronchitis is GONE—PRAISE GOD—and RECOVERY MODE

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is now SWAMP MODE,

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aka CAVE TIME

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as in WRITING CAVE, which we writers are notorious for hiding out in to get some words done, as in writing.

 

This story, though, this series, is set in a tenuous, as in fabricated setting, sort of a mash up of river and marsh / swamp, otherwise known as black river which is prevalent in the South. Saisons is a town somewhere between Columbia and Charleston, along the Santee River, close enough to the ocean to host marshes.

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Ergo, SWAMP MODE!! Ergo, WRITING MODE. As in #AMWRITING, gotta make some words.

 

Interviews are back with a fun feature this Thursday (contain your excitement) but Wreading Wednesdays and What’s in Your Kitchen are still suspended. RemApWriMo flopped, sort of, but I have designated June as a second chance, RemJUWriMo!

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Did I mention, IT’S GOOD TO BE INDIE!!!

 

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#Blogwords, Special Edition, Swamp Mode, Writing Recovery, It’s Good to be Indie, RemJuWriMo, Seasons, The Long Shadows of Summer, The Tilting Leaves of Autumn, #AMWRITING

 

BLOGWORDS – Friday 19 May 2017 – FIRST LINE FRIDAY – A WRINKLE IN TIME by MADELEINE L’ENGLE

BLOGWORDS – Friday 19 May 2017 – FIRST LINE FRIDAY – A WRINKLE IN TIME by MADELEINE L’ENGLE
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FIRST LINE FRIDAY – A WRINKLE IN TIME by MADELEINE L’ENGLE

 

 

Reading is My SuperPower
http://cafinatedreads.com  |   Singing Librarian   |   Bookworm Mama

Faithfully Bookish    |   Radiant Light    |   Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen

   |   Fiction Aficionado    |   Bibliophile Reviews

Kathleen Denly    |   Lauraine’s Notes    |   https://joyofreadingweb.wordpress.com/

https://abakersperspective.wordpress.com   |   With a Joyful Noise   |  

http://momentsdippedinink.com    |   http://cjaneread.blogspot.ca

 

 

 If you’d like to join us on your blog for First Line Fridays, shoot Carrie @ Reading is My Superpower an email and let her know!

 

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THE BLURB:    

This is Book 1 of the Time Quintet Series

It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.

“Wild nights are my glory,” the unearthly stranger told them. “I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I’ll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract.”

A tesseract (in case the reader doesn’t know) is a wrinkle in time. To tell more would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Miss L’Engle’s unusual book. A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newbery Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O’Keefe (athlete, student, and one of the most popular boys in high school). They are in search of Meg’s father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem.

A Wrinkle in Time is the winner of the 1963 Newbery Medal.

 

THE FIRST LINE:   

It was a dark and stormy night. In her attic bedroom, Margaret Murry, wrapped in an old patchwork quilt, sat on the foot of her bed and watched the trees tossing in the frenzied lashing of the wind.

 

MY THOUGHTS:    

Can’t even remember when I first read this book, but the story has stuck with me for the better part of five decades—love conquers all.

 

GENRE:

Fantasy / science fiction

 

STARS:

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#Blogwords, First Line Friday, #FLF, A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle

BLOGWORDS – Thursday 11 May 2017 – CHAT THURSDAY – AUTHOR INTERVIEW – TERESA TYSINGER

BLOGWORDS – Thursday 11 May 2017 – CHAT THURSDAY – AUTHOR INTERVIEW – TERESA TYSINGER
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CHAT THURSDAY – AUTHOR INTERVIEW – TERESA TYSINGER

“They say “write what you know.” I’m fortunate to know grace and love pretty well – the grace of a heavenly Father who forgives me without my deserving it, and a love deeper and wider than my vast imagination can comprehend.”

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“I yearn for connection – as I’m sure many of you do. It’s part of our make-up as human beings. True relationship building takes time and effort.”

 

rem:  Hello, Teresa, welcome to my little nest. Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?

TERESA:  My twin sister and I were born in Honolulu, Hawaii (father was stationed there in the Navy) and raised in Central Florida. I then spent more than ten years in North Carolina attending college and marrying my husband. We now live in North Texas with our daughter and fur baby. I work full time as a director of communications for a large church—a career I’ve enjoyed for about 14 years.

rem:  Remind me to ask for some twin antics…

Wednesday Wisdom – MELODY

Source: Wednesday Wisdom – MELODY

BLOGWORDS – 17 May 2017 – NEW WEEK NEW FACE NEW MONTH NEW ME – SPECIAL EDITION – SWAMP MODE

BLOGWORDS – 17 May 2017 – NEW WEEK NEW FACE NEW MONTH NEW ME – SPECIAL EDITION – SWAMP MODE
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NEW WEEK NEW FACE NEW MONTH NEW ME – SPECIAL EDITION – SWAMP MODE – writing recovery continues

 

Bronchitis is GONE—PRAISE GOD—and RECOVERY MODE

[image error]

is now SWAMP MODE,

[image error]

aka CAVE TIME

[image error]

as in WRITING CAVE, which we writers are notorious for hiding out in to get some words done, as in writing.

 

This story, though, this series, is set in a tenuous, as in fabricated setting, sort of a mash up of river and marsh / swamp, otherwise known as black river which is prevalent in the South. Saisons is a town somewhere between Columbia and Charleston, along the Santee River, close enough to the ocean to host marshes.

[image error]

Ergo, SWAMP MODE!! Ergo, WRITING MODE. As in #AMWRITING, gotta make some words.

 

Interviews are back with a fun feature this Thursday (contain your excitement) but Wreading Wednesdays and What’s in Your Kitchen are still suspended. RemApWriMo flopped, sort of, but I have designated June as a second chance, RemJUWriMo!

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Did I mention, IT’S GOOD TO BE INDIE!!!

 

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#Blogwords, Special Edition, Swamp Mode, Writing Recovery, It’s Good to be Indie, RemJuWriMo, Seasons, The Long Shadows of Summer, The Tilting Leaves of Autumn, #AMWRITING

 

BOOK RELEASE EVENT – MINI-REVIEW – WINGS OF THE WIND by CONNILYN COSSETTE

Wings of the Wind

How many times have we gone against God and He rescued us anyway? How many times have we set our minds on the destruction—or defilement—of what He says is holy, and He saved us anyway?

Alanah is a Canaanite and she loathes the Hebrews. When she is rescued on the battleground instead of dying, by a Hebrew no less, her life course is changed.
As Yahweh speaks to her heart through the standard of His law—love—can Alanah shed a lifetime of teachings of Ba’al, shed her every notion of what a man is like and what women are worth? Can Yahweh truly use her for His purpose as He whispered to her that He would? Will Alanah ever accept the word of a man who has vowed to love and protect her and not abuse her?

Once again, Ms. Cossette has brought to life the culture of the Hebrews in the wilderness. Through Alanah, the reader is given a glimpse into the ugly and vile standards of pagan gods, and the destruction wrought on the lives of their followers.

And yet Yahweh’s gentle hand gave wholeness to once-broken Alanah. This reviewer knows the struggle to accept love without condition, and through every page I both chastised Alanah for fleeing and felt her need to escape—felt the fear that it would not last. I felt her sense of undeserving and worthlessness, so eloquently portrayed on every page and with every word.

Remarkable Tobiah, who stood by his oath to this enemy of his people, whose heart swelled with love and who refused to deny that love. I applaud Tobiah’s honor, and yearn for a man of such character. I felt the pain as his heart shattered and I walked with him through the emotions of torment, and commitment in spite of it.

Thank you, Ms. Cossette, for another story to cherish, a new depth of understanding of Yahweh’s sovereignty and the force that His Word is.


This book was given to me as a gift. I offer my review of my own volition, The opinions expressed in my review are my own honest thoughts and reaction to this book.

BLOGWORDS – 15 May 2017 – NEW WEEK NEW FACE – GUEST POST – CARRIE SCHMIDT

BLOGWORDS – 15 May 2017 – NEW WEEK NEW FACE – GUEST POST – CARRIE SCHMIDT

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NEW WEEK NEW FACE – GUEST POST – CARRIE SCHMIDT

 

Mother’s Day has come and gone now.

And if you’re like me, the day is always a little bittersweet.

 

On the one hand, I love the chance to celebrate my Mom because a) she’s awesome and b) we’re great friends as well as being mother and daughter. This year, we attended a high tea just for something girly and fun!

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On the other hand, I’ve been married for nearly 17 years and have no children. Given my age and my health issues, it is almost a certainty that no one will ever call me “Mom”. Except my dog Zuzu, of course, but she doesn’t really count

BLOGWORDS – Sunday 14 May 2017 – FRONT PORCH FELLOWSHIP – WHY I’M A MOTHER

BLOGWORDS – Sunday 14 May 2017 – FRONT PORCH FELLOWSHIP – WHY I’M A MOTHER
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FRONT PORCH FELLOWSHIP – WHY I’M A MOTHER

 

25 November 1978, 1:37 in the afternoon. The moment that changed my life forever, the moment I became a mother. The moment my first born breathed his first breath. Douglas Harper McClinton, II, my ginger boy, my studious pensive one, you feel deeply and love generously.

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8 August 1980, 8:09 P.M. My delight doubled, two fledglings in my nest, two boys in my arms and my heart. Russell William McClinton, my tow-headed one, my comic, my tender hearted boy, you make me smile and always think of others first.

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14 September 1982, 2:20 in the middle of the night. My girl, the third strand in the cord of my heart strings. Margaret Andrea McClinton, your white blond pigtails, your infectious smile, my silly loves everybody and everything, tender heart for kids everywhere girl.

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I always wanted to be a mommie, always thought I wanted a house full of kids, thought I’d have more when I got remarried. But ya know what? Father gave me the three kids He picked for me. He gave me the perfect kids for me because—and this blew my mind when He whispered to me just now—I’m the perfect mom for them. I’m who they need in their lives and they’re who I need in my life. For all the “honorary kids” I’ve had, Father gave me these three. And they’re what I need, they’re who I need. They’re my heart and my everything.

 

Happy Mother’s Day to all moms everywhere.

 

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#Blogwords, Front Porch Fellowship, #FPF, Sunday Devotion, Why I’m a Mother, Doug, Russell, Maggie

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