Joyce DiPastena's Blog, page 21

Tuesday Teaser

Tuesday Teaser is a weekly bookish meme (rhymes with “cream"), hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare at least two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!
I'm adapting the rules slightly. I'll be quoting some random lines from the last chapter I read before I post a teaser. I'm a slow reader, so you may get multiple teasers per book from me. Here's a teaser from The Eagle of the Ninth , by Rosemary Sutcliff.
Craddoc did not look at the fibula. He was looking at Marcus, rather as though the young Roman was a horse whose mettle he wished to gauge, and Marcus, facing the cool stocktaking, felt himself flushing. The hunter noticed the angry colour, and the arrogantly raised head, and a queer little twisted smile lifted one side of his mouth.
(From The Eagle of the Ninth , p 14)
If you'd like to share a teaser from a book you're currently reading, I'd love you to do so in the comment section. And you don't even have to share it on a Tuesday! Be sure to include the title, author, and page number in case others would like to check out the book you're reading.

What Am I Reading Now?

I finished Soulfire by Betsy Love and enjoyed it! Now I've noticed that I've fallen behind on my goal to reread at least 4 old favorites before the end of the year. (How did it get to be the end of September already?!!) So for my new "old" read, I've chosen  The Eagle of the Ninth , by Rosemary Sutcliff. Since I've already read it once for this blog, I'll just give you the link to last time to read about it.

What Am I Reading Now: The Eagle of the Ninth

Drop by on Tuesday, though, and I'll share a new Tuesday Teaser from it with you!

Summary Sunday

I'm afraid that "life" interfered this week, and I only got four days of writing in on The Lady and the Minstrel. Here is a sampling of what I accomplished.


Monday: “Well, that was an ugly scene. You’d think after nearly fifty years, I’d be accustomed to watching a Plantagenet swearing and blaspheming and frothing at the mouth while he destroyed the furniture with his bare hands and threatened to lop a man’s head from his shoulders.”
Tuesday: ’Twas not the first time Gunthar had tried to lure him into talking of Marguerite. As always, Robert dodged.
Wednesday: And Robert continued to wonder what Gunthar would do when his vassal finally pointed a condemning finger at Gunthar’s secretary and asked his liege lord to fulfill his own feudal obligations by sending his “property” back to Beck Manor.
Thursday: Richard gave Robert a playful jostle with his elbow before slurping his stew rather noisily.

Tuesday Teaser

Tuesday Teaser is a weekly bookish meme (rhymes with “cream"), hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare at least two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!
I'm adapting the rules slightly. I'll be quoting some random lines from the last chapter I read before I post a teaser. I'm a slow reader, so you may get multiple teasers per book from me. Here's my third teaser from  Soulfire , by Betsy Love. (It'll be my last one. I'll have a new book going by next week.)
His eyes rolled back in his head, and a strange gurgling sound came from his mouth. He touched the bleeding wound on his chest, then held his hand out. The rain washed the blood from his fingers.
(From  Soulfire , pp 225-226))
If you'd like to share a teaser from a book you're currently reading, I'd love you to do so in the comment section. And you don't even have to share it on a Tuesday! Be sure to include the title, author, and page number in case others would like to check out the book you're reading.

Summary Sunday

This week we're back with my hero, Robert, in Poitou, trying to wind things up so he can get back to his beloved Marguerite in England. There are still a few more pivotal events that have to take place before this war of King John's can end, though. Here are a few new lines from The Lady and the Minstrel.


Monday: “If I cut those down myself,” Robert said, his finger aimed steadily at the larger stack, “it will save you the trouble of sizing more like this—” his other hand flicked the bundle on the table “—for Lord Strode’s secretary, or even the king’s. And for sparing you the labor and time, I will only ask one-half off the price.”
Tuesday: The quickest way back to his destination was through the apothecaries street, but someone’s pigs had gotten free and were foraging so noisily through the refuse in the drainage channels that a perfume maker, a spice seller, and an herbalist came charging out of their respective shops shouting obscenities and swinging their brooms.
Wednesday: Robert’s hair prickled along the back of his neck, some instinct flaring into recognition before the active thought flashed into his mind. Kit.
Thursday: “He suspects I am involved in something . . . let us say, subversive, but he’s no notion what and said he’d ask no questions if I helped him to remove ‘an obstacle in his path.’”
Friday: He caught Kit one moment off-guard, a look of cold hatred stripping away the smugness Robert had heard through the shutters.

Tuesday Teaser

Tuesday Teaser is a weekly bookish meme (rhymes with “cream"), hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare at least two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!
I'm adapting the rules slightly. I'll be quoting some random lines from the last chapter I read before I post a teaser. I'm a slow reader, so you may get multiple teasers per book from me. Here's my second teaser from  Soulfire , by Betsy Love.
"Alma?" She went to him and turned his face to the moonlight.
He looked up at her. "Where were you?"
She couldn't believe this was the same man who had protected her in the forest only a few days before. The smell of balche clung to his clothes and wafted about him.
(From  Soulfire , p 128)
If you'd like to share a teaser from a book you're currently reading, I'd love you to do so in the comment section. And you don't even have to share it on a Tuesday! Be sure to include the title, author, and page number in case others would like to check out the book you're reading.

Summary Sunday

These sentences this week from The Lady and the Minstrel all take place while Marguerite is visiting her beloved tutor, Odo of Wedmore, on her late grandfather's estates in Northumberland, England, still waiting impatiently for Robert to come home from the wars in France. Her betrothed, the Earl of Strode, has sent his squire to attend--or perhaps, spy--upon Marguerite in his absence. The squire is speaking in the Monday sentences. If you were Marguerite, how would you respond to the squire here? ;-)

Monday: “But the earl will not be so liberal with his wife’s conduct. I really cannot allow you to enter that cottage.”
Tuesday: She blinked rapidly and hard until the vision of that horror retreated. Let him think the sun’s brilliance stung her eyes.
Wednesday: It should have been Robert standing here, holding her, kissing her . . .
Thursday: It was the one weapon Odo possessed to wound her, and he had used it.
Friday: (Marguerite thinking of her grandfather) But you did not live. You left me alone and I have found someone to love me and I cannot live my life for a memory, however dear.

Tuesday Teaser

Tuesday Teaser is a weekly bookish meme (rhymes with “cream"), hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare at least two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!
I'm adapting the rules slightly. I'll be quoting some random lines from the last chapter I read before I post a teaser. I'm a slow reader, so you may get multiple teasers per book from me. Here's a teaser from Soulfire , by Betsy Love.
Zephenia crept deeper into the underbrush and wrapped her arms around her legs. A bird's piercing screech echoed through the jungle--or was it the cry of another enemy?
For many minutes the silence and darkness around her reminded her of another time. She tried to push them away, but images of that evil man standing over the cabinet waving her torch, burned into her mind.
(From Soulfire , p 43)
If you'd like to share a teaser from a book you're currently reading, I'd love you to do so in the comment section. And you don't even have to share it on a Tuesday! Be sure to include the title, author, and page number in case others would like to check out the book you're reading.

What Am I Reading Now?

I finished reading Farewell, My Denmark, by Tina Peterson Scott, last week. If you'd like to know why I enjoyed it, you can read my review on Amazon.

A new take on LDS Pioneer fiction
Next on my list is another LDS fiction book I've been wanting to read for awhile: Soulfire , by Betsy Love. In full disclosure, Betsy and I have been in a critique group together where she was working on a sequel to her Book of Mormon novel,  Soulfire . I recently had to leave the group to find more time to focus on my current writing goals, but I was enjoying her sequel so much that I decided it was finally time to pluck Soulfire off my "to read" shelf and read it.

Here's a synopsis from the back cover copy:


It is 148 bc, and the city of Nephi is ruled by the wicked King Noah and his corrupt priests. Zephenia's father has turned to his drink after the death of her mother, and her younger sister Sari dreams of living in the king's palace. When the family's hut is destroyed and the sisters are unjustly imprisoned, Zephenia wonders if God has forgotten her. If they survive their tribulations, whom will her father choose as her husband? The only unmarried believer she knows is Gideon, and he is smitten with Sari.
Zephenia's thoughts keep drifting to Alma, the handsome high priest she met while gathering herbs in the jungle. She senses a goodness about him, yet because he is a priest in Noah's court, she knows he couldn't possibly be a righteous man. But when the prophet Abinadi is martyred and Zephenia must decide between her faith and her family, she learns of a mighty change that has happened in Alma's heart.
Drop by on Tuesday and I'll share a Tuesday Teaser from Soulfire with you!

Summary Sunday

This week, The Lady and the Minstrel continued in England with my heroine, Marguerite. Earlier in the story we learned that her grandfather placed a clause in his will that discouraged men from seeking her hand in marriage after his death. This week I finally learned why he placed that clause in his will. (My characters don't always like to tell me their motivations ahead of time.) Thursday's sentence relates to this discovery. Marguerite's grandfather's chaplain, a man named Odo, is speaking to Marguerite, but that's all I can tell you for now. :-)


Monday: Lady Leah spat the pins she’d been holding between her lips into her hand, for Marguerite knew her mother could not pronounce her name in rebuke without spilling the pins.
Tuesday: This stifling ignorance of Robert would drive Marguerite mad!
Wednesday: Words of affection had fallen awkwardly from his tongue, as though he had only recently learned to speak them.
Thursday: “As he lay confessing through both our tears, begging for the pardon of Heaven, the thought came to me that I could make something good of his death.”
Friday: He added more firmly when Marguerite merely bade him boost her into the saddle, “The earl will not like it.”