Cara C. Putman's Blog, page 107

Why Mackinac Island?

Mackinac Island. It’s a magical place that allows you to step back in time from the moment you first step off the ferry. That’s what attracted me to the island as a visitor and then as an author looking for a new setting for a book. 

A Wedding Transpires on Mackinac Island is being sold as a package in Waterfront Weddings, which releases August 1. You can still buy it alone, or now with one of Annalisa Daughety’s books.

The draw that pulls my heroine Alanna to return to Mackinac Island is helping her parents keep their art studio open. Several shops on the island display art and photos created by local and regional authors. That served as the impetus for me to create the Painted Stone studio. The island is a place that inspires photos that show the blue sky reflected off the lake in contrast to the grass and quaint shops and Victorian homes. It’s hard not to shoot tons of photos under a cloudless sky.

The island has drawn artists and writers from its earliest days. There are several shops that highlight local artists. And the plaque pictured to the right is in memory of Constance Fenimore Woolson, an early American writer who loved the island. Is it any wonder we were drawn to the island as a setting for our stories? 

A Wedding Transpires on Mackinac Island:  Join attorney Alanna Stone as she returns home despite her determination to never set foot on Mackinac Island again. Once again in close proximity to Jonathan Covington, her first love, she vows to protect her privacy and her heart from the man who still makes her pulse race. But when her worst fears are realized and history repeats itself—landing her in the midst of a murder investigation—Jonathan may be her only hope. Will they be able to lay aside the past and let God heal their hearts, or will reconciliation come too late?  Read the first chapter here.

Summer Getting Long Already?

Sometimes family togetherness can get a bit smothering…so what’s a family to do?

I wish I had a bullet-proof plan. I don’t. But here are a few things I do…sometimes with more success than others.

1) Pray. God longs for our families to be places of peace. Which means our enemy wants the exact opposite. So be sure to pray for extra patience and grace. Need to stop and do that myself!

2) Mix things up. Have you gone to the pool six days in a row and it’s become blase? Then go to a park. Have a craft day. Come up with something different you can do and ask the kids for their ideas.

3) Remember you’re building memories. And often the things that drive us nuts aren’t even a tiny memory in a couple years.

Praying you’ll have peace in your houses. Do you have any tips to add? I’d love them!

Pinterest: A tool in a writer’s toolbox?

Let me start by saying, I love Pinterest!

As a visual person who likes to pretend I’m organized, it’s been a great way to capture things I see online that I don’t want to lose. I always fun inspiring recipes, craft ideas, etc.

Pinterest can be a great resource on several fronts. I don’t have ROI (Return on Investment) data to share, but I enjoy Pinterest. Here are a few things I have done:

I have board with my books on them. One for historical and one for contemporary. Those then link to my website for more information.
I created a board for A Wedding Transpires on Mackinac Island when it released: it includes links to reviews like the USAToday review as well as to blog posts I wrote about my research.
I’ve got a research board up on the Monuments Men. They are the subject of my next historical that releases in 2014, so as I was researching, I started throwing pins up to help me remember and start building a board for the books release.
I have boards with books I loved. When I’m really on top of it, those covers go to reviews I wrote on my blog. Otherwise, they go to Amazon or CBD so people can easily buy them.
Then I have lots of “fun” board. I think Pinterest is another way for people to get to know you. And it’s a tool I use because I like it. So I have boards on food, homeschooling, clothes, Christmas, decorating, etc. I even created a board last year to give people an idea of what people wore to ACFW. Took about ten minutes to build, but answered tons of questions with a glance.

People have talked about re-posting links so they become visible again. I haven’t played with that, but may start as A Wedding Transpires rereleases next month or as Shadowed by Grace releases next year. I’d hesitate to do that with pins that have been repinned though until I was sure it wouldn’t cause those to be lost.

If you’re on, what do you like about Pinterest?

Writing Book Reviews: Post Two

Writing reviews — even short ones! — are a great way to help your favorite authors. Research continues to show that word of mouth is a huge way that people discover books and authors. So as requested, here is a second post on how I write reviews. Here’s also a short list of the places I routinely try to post reviews along with a few extras:

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com

CBD: http://christianbook.com

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/

my blog

FictionFinder: http://fictionfinder.com

NovelCrossing: http://novelcrossing.com (which has a great tool for importing reviews from Goodreads)

So write those reviews, then spread the word with a cut and paste.

Last time, I walked you through my review of ADAM by Ted Dekker. I enjoyed Blessings by Kim Sawyer equally as much, yet the genre is completely different. Rather than suspense with strong supernatural overtones, Blessings is the last book in a trilogy set in an Old World sect in Kansas.

Hopefully, you’ll see that the tone is different. As is the way I approach the book. Bottomline, I want the reader to tell from the review why I liked the book, what I didn’t like. How the book moved me. Did I interact with the book? Did it challenge me? Did I cry? Get mad? Heave it across the room? Want to shake a character? Or am I still thinking about the book and its message days later?

Blessings by Kim Sawyer

When I received a copy of Kim Sawyer’s latest book Blessings in the mail, I couldn’t wait to start reading it. Unlike the first two that I let linger on my to be read pile, this one got consumed within a couple days of entering my house. (My earlier reviews let readers know that I am not a fan of Amish type tales. In fact, even though I loved Kim’s other books, I’d let the first two in this series languish in my TBR pile for months! In contrast, this book got picked up the moment it arrived.) And Kim did not disappoint. I LOVED this book and am sad to see the series end.

Blessings is the third book in the Sommerfeld Trilogy and it was a delight to step back into Sommerfeld, Kansas and rejoin characters from the prior books. At the same time, I loved getting to know Trina Mueller better. She’s been a strong secondary character in the other books, but this time we get to see into her heart and mind. (This paragraph let’s readers know how this book fits into the series and which character steps to the forefront. Trina has been a very likable character all along and one readers will root for. Now they know she’s the star!)

For as long as she could remember, Trina has loved caring for animals. Now as a young woman of 19 her heart’s desire is to become a vet. The problem? Her order does not allow young people to be educated past the 9th grade. (Tiny character sketch) Trina struggles – in a very real way – with how to reconcile this desire that she firmly believes is God-given with the constraints of the order. (Quick spiritual struggle) What I love about Trina is she doesn’t do everything perfectly, and she bears the consequences for her actions, yet I couldn’t stop rooting for and crying with her throughout the book. (The strength of this books lies in the amazing way Kim handles this struggle. Trina isn’t a perfect character, which it would have been easy to let her become. Instead, Kim gives her very real responses that I could relate to — those in turn made the character more likeable and believable.)

Graham Ortmann can’t wait to get Trina’s agreement and have their relationship published, one small step away from marriage. Yet, as she chases this dream, she changes, and he’s not sure he can continue the relationship. (quick character sketch on the hero with a quick highlight of his big conflict. I did not give a synopsis per se but a look at the characters’ growth and development this time.)

The progression and growth that these characters and the community embark on is real. Not everything works out wonderfully and there’s no miraculous moment where everything suddenly changes. Instead, it’s a gradual and painful process for all involved. (anything less wouldn’t ring true.)

The writing is superb as I’ve come to expect from Kim’s books, but it’s the emotional and spiritual journey of the main characters and community that made this a book I could not put down. (Short summary of what makes this book a keeper.)

That’s how I do it. I hope this helps!

Epic-Fail or Grace-Filled Momma

Somewhere along the way some one (Nicole O’Dell) decided I was the do-it-all momma. That’s fine. It’s kind of flattering, until I realize how narrow that little pedestal is.

Then I’m looking every which way…where’s the staircase that spirals down from the pedestal to the reality of mothering. No matter how good some days are, others can be called nothing but (to quote my nine year-old boy) an epic-fail. Not a teeny fail. A small fail. A barely-even-notice-it happened fail. They can only be labeled epic-fails.

Days like the one where I wrote a check out for my daughter to take to her private gymnastics class along with the detailed directions for the babysitter on how to get there…only to give her the wrong time! Multiply the fail by the fact I couldn’t take texts because I was in the middle of an hour-and-a-half lecture with graduate students. Epic Fail.

Or there’s the day where I wake up and need to acknowledge that my patience must have skedaddled across the ocean over night. It is nowhere to be found. Not under my bed. Not in my car. Not in my bathroom where the lock mysteriously pops out because a child has used a Lego to lever it open. Instead of being a patient, long-suffering picture of a mother who would put June Cleaver to shame, I’ve lost my patience so many times, I’m ready to turn in my mothering card and ask for a transfer to Siberia before I do serious harm to my children’s development.

I cling to the reality that the only perfect one is Christ. While He created me with a longing for perfection, He also knows I am woofully un-up-to the task. Instead, He promises His strength is made perfect in my weakness. (II Corinthians 12:9) His strength is perfect. My weakness allows that strength to show through. Thank You, Jesus!

I pray frequently that God will keep me from doing anything that will become a stumbling block in my children’s relationship with Him. I have to trust that includes my less-than-perfect moments as well as the ones I could receive the blue ribbon for perfect mothering. He created my children. And He decided I was the right mother for them. Or they were the right kiddos to carve me into the woman He wants me to be.

On those days I fail, I rest in those truths. How about you?

Anomaly: Dystopian YA with an Overlay of Hope

Normally, I don’t read dystopian books (think Hunger Games). Our world is weird enough without imagining what it will be like in the future after a horrific war or tragedy. However, my daughter and I have thoroughly enjoyed Krista McGee’s other books, so I decided to give Anomaly a try. I am so glad I did.

Thalli is different. And different is not good in the State that is left after a nuclear holocaust. But she feels deeply. She tries to hide, but she can’t. To avoid annihilation, she becomes a test subject. The story winds through her learning about the real Designer as she learns about love. This story scrapes away to the essense of what is important: God, love, freedom. The pages turn effortlessly…and the ending left me longing for the next installment.

Bottom-line? This is an engrossing read and one my husband and 12 year old enjoyed as well.

Thalli has fifteen minutes and twenty-three seconds left to live. The toxic gas that will complete her annihilation is invading her bloodstream. But she is not afraid.Decades before Thalli’s birth, the world ended in a nuclear war. But life went on deep underground, thanks to a handful of scientists known as The Ten. Since then, they have genetically engineered humans to be free from emotions in the hopes that war won’t threaten their lives again.

But Thalli was born with the ability to feel emotions and a sense of curiosity she can barely contain. She has survived so far thanks to her ability to hide those differences. But Thalli’s secret is discovered when she is overwhelmed by the emotion in an ancient piece of music.

She is quickly scheduled for annihilation, but her childhood friend, Berk, convinces The Ten to postpone her death and study her instead. While in the scientists’ Pod, Thalli and Berk form a dangerous alliance, one strictly forbidden by the constant surveillance in the pods.

As her life ticks away, she hears rumors of someone called the Designer—someone even more powerful than The Ten. What’s more, the parts of her that have always been an anomaly could in fact be part of a much larger plan. And the parts of her that she has always guarded could be the answer she’s been looking for all along.

Thalli must sort out what to believe and who she can trust, before her time runs out…

Purchase a copy here.

Learn more at Krista’s website.

Click to start reading Anomaly for free.

Writing Book Reviews: Post One

Earlier this week, some folks on Facebook asked me to give tips on writing reviews. I’m always glad to help people feel more comfortable spreading the word about books they love. Even better, I  have a couple of posts from gulp 2008 that are exactly on that. So here you go! It really is easy to write reviews!

I’ve never taken a course on book reviews, and actually fell into writing them almost by accident. I LOVE spreading the word about books I enjoy. LOVE it. So after I started a blog two years ago, it made sense to have books be a large part of that blog.

About the same time I joined ACFW. Through it’s e-loop, I got to know many authors. Often they ask for influencers — people who will read a book and if they like it tell people about it. I love to connect people. If you’ve read The Tipping Point, I fall clearly into that category. I am enthusiastic about anything I can do to connect people with a person or product I love.

That’s how I started, and now I can’t imagine not doing it. So, here’s a review I wrote recently and I’m going to insert explanation throughout to explain why I wrote what I did….

ADAM by Ted Dekker

I signed up – reluctantly – to read Ted Dekker. You see, I enjoyed some of his earlier books, then hit a point where they just weren’t my thing. Plenty of other people love them, but I had more than enough other books to invest my time in. (This beginning was important to me — I wanted to let readers understand that I used to like Dekker and then stopped. His plots became the same in a way that was important to me. I think knowing my frame of mind when I started reading the book lends credibility to what I will say about it next) Then ADAM arrived in yesterday’s mail. 8 hours later, I had consumed the book after some careful ribbing from my husband. That’s okay, he’ll consume it just as quickly on his next flight. (How much does a book grip me? Is it easy to put down? Do I read it almost obsessively? There are many books I enjoy, but can read over a week or more. Then there are others that I HAVE to read. If you read enough of my reviews, you quickly get a sense which category a book falls into)

ADAM: the story of an elusive serial killer whose victims die of unknown causes and the psychologist obsessed with catching him.

Daniel Clark is a FBI behavioral scientist who is famous for his well-reasoned arguments that religion is one of society’s greatest antagonists. He’s killed by a serial killer but resuscitated. He and a fellow FBI agent go to extremes to try to recapture his memories of the moments prior to death. (These two short paragraphs give a sneak look at the plot. Especially with suspense, I am EXTREMELY careful not to give away key plots. I try to use the synopsis as a teaser…here’s a bit about the main character and the plot…do you want to know more?)

The book has marvelous pacing – I literally couldn’t put it down. The only good news was I didn’t have anything else I had to get done last night! And the characters have great conflict. The plot is filled with twists that I didn’t anticipate, yet fit the classic Dekker book mold. (This sentence lets current Dekker readers know he hasn’t changed his stripes, ala John Grisham. But it also lets you know that it kept me, a suspense writer, guessing.)

Dekker uses magazine articles interspersed between chapters to fill in the gaps and make the serial killer more than a shadow. From page one you are learning the tragedy of his early years. It reminded me of the technique Brandilyn Collins used extremely well in her Kanner Lake series. (This is a unique plot device that is showing up more often in books. Some use it very well. Others not so much. This let’s readers know that it’s there — so if it really bugs you, this book may not be for you. But it also compares it to another author who uses this technique very effectively.)

The book also deals with the reality of the supernatural realm and the American viewpoint that it doesn’t really exist. The Catholic church is the main religion highlighted, and it is handled in a positive light. (Because it branches into some controversial religious topics I highlight them quickly without giving away the take and twists. I usually highlight the spiritual or some other aspect of growth in the characters.)

While I wouldn’t recommend this book for young teens, due to content, if you like a thriller with plenty of supernatural twists thrown in, then you will enjoy this book. (I included this because I think it is my duty to let others know if there is a reason I wouldn’t want someone to unknowingly hand it to a young person. I very rarely put caveats like this on a book, but I want people to trust my reviews. For example, right now I don’t think I would let Abigail read this when she’s 14. She’s 7 now. But that may change. Other young teens may be able to handle the material, but parents need to know it could be an issue.)

So that’s how I write book reviews. I’ll post one more review with similar analysis. Only this book is from a completely different genre. And it’s a book I loved equally only for very different reasons!

Faith in the Journey…

Ever have a time in life where you feel like you’re on the verge of two paths diverging. One is the comfortable life you’re in. One where you know God can use you. I wouldn’t call it safe, but it’s not necessarily laced with overwhelming challenges?

Then there’s a second path. One that weaves into the unknown. Though that isn’t really true. Because as you what if and peer as far down the road as you can, you have an inkling of what taking that first step will mean. Your status quo will change. You’ll be pushed so far out of your comfort zone that you want to flee in the opposite direction. Yet at the same time in that unknown is a whisper of excitment. An excitement that says this could lead in unexpected directions to unexpected paths that lead to God using you in fresh ways you can’t begin to anticipate?

My husband and I are both facing those situations. It’s unnerving and absolutely unsettling. Yet at the same time there is peace in the process. Peace in the promises. Peace in the knowing God will be found as we seek Him.

Can you relate?

Riding the Emotional Waves with Our Kids

Some days just don’t start well. One of the kids wakes up on the wrong side of the bed – and it’s so bad you wonder who replaced your sweet, fun-loving kids with this surly grouch. What really makes it bad is one bad mood spreads like the most effective virus…especially when the younger kids watch and decide it must be okay since they see their sibling getting away with it.

So what’s a mom to do?

We all know hormones get rocky as kids mature. Does that mean we’re destined to let the kids’ moods dictate family life? I hope not! I don’t claim to have this down pat, but here are a couple things I do to try to smooth the roller-coaster of emotion that tries to derail our days.

1)   When I notice a child is acting out of character, I try to get them in another room – one without prying siblings. On the days our hormones and emotions are out of control, it’s easy to be embarrassed by the things we’re doing and saying. Removing the audience helps remove the additional embarrassment of being called to the carpet for that ‘tude.

2)   Then I ask the child if they know what is going on. Getting them to articulate the best they can helps them begin to take ownership of their mood. Some days this is easier than others. Sometimes we have to go through these first two steps several times before the child has insight to understand what is happening.

3)   If possible I outline specific actions or words that are inappropriate. Yelling at a sibling for no reason and at a volume I can hear half a house away. Giving concrete examples helps hone in on the behavior.

4)   Then I ask if they need to take some time alone. Pray? Get the space to cool down? What can I do to help them regain control? I try to emphasize that while the hormones and emotions may feel out of control, with God’s help they can exercise control of all areas of their lives.

What strategies have you employed with your kids or the young people in your life?

Need Summer Reads? Three books I enjoyed.

It’s a holiday week so wanted to share some great reads with you.

Deadly Devotion by Sandra Orchard is a book about the lengths one will go to in an effort to prove their friend did not commit suicide. Kate Adams is determined that her friend Daisy was murdered, but the police have labeled it accidental. She knows they’re wrong and embarks on a search to prove it. In the process she needs help from Tom Parker, a former FBI agent who is trying to settle back into life in Port Aster. The book is filled with suspects, clue, and bits of romance. I had suspicious about who the killer was, but the reason surprised me. A very enjoyable romantic mystery.

‘For those who like mystery with a string romance…try Deadly Devotion’

Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer is a thoroughly enjoyable historical romance. This book starts with an improbable beginning. Crockett Archer is on his way to an interview to be preacher in a small Texas town, when a group of bandits steals him from a train — all for the theif’s daughter’s birthday. Joanna Robbins longs to see her father come to love Jesus as much as she and her mama did, but she can’t do it alone. Through a twist of events, Crockett agrees to help Joanna restart a church that’s been pastor-less for two years. Add in a wanna be romance gone terribly awry, a father who has no interest in the Lord, and a good wallop of humor and you have a romance I thoroughy enjoyed. Add in a strong thread of redemption and this is a winner!

 

Next up, was Lock, Stock and Over a Barrel by Melody Carlson. There was something about this premise that grabbed me: a Daphne Ballinger, a 34 year-old who lives in NYC, is stuck, stuck, stuck. Then her great-aunt dies, leaving her a house and inheritance. There are a few strings that complicate things — immensely — but you’ll have to read the book to find out what they are. Let’s just say she has to take over her aunt’s advice column, house, and a couple other things. In the process Daphne learns secrets… and more important, learns how to live. She finds she can break out of her rut. And comes to peace with whatever the future holds…and not settling just to get along. It was a fun story with lots of great characters and I really hope we get to read the next book in the series. These are characters and a story I long to return to! Unfortunately I read this one too fast. It sucked me in so completely, I had it finished in mere hours!