Rebecca Talley's Blog, page 40

The Reckoning by Tanya Parker Mills

RT: Welcome, Tanya. Tell me about your book, The Reckoning.

Tanya: It takes place in my own childhood in Baghdad, Iraq (and my father's undercover work in that country), as well as the approaching war. My book was self-published in September of 2008, was a finalist in two categories for the Whitney Award, and won the 2009 Indie Book Award for Multicultural Fiction.

RT: Wow, that's fabulous. Go ahead and give me the blurb:

Tanya: When journalist Theresa Fuller is captured inside Iraq in August ...

We Reap What We Sow

I am a firm believer in, "What goes around, comes around." I experienced this very thing over the weekend.

In the spirit of the season, remember that what we give of ourselves is much more powerful and meaningful than gifts we buy at the store.

Enjoy this video, it brought tears to my eyes.

Review of Altared Plans by Jennie Hansen

I was thrilled to receive this review from Jennie Hansen. She posted it on Meridian Magazine.

If you'd like to read it, here's the link to Meridian Magazine. It's the second review.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas season and enjoying all the festivities.

My New Book Trailer

What do you think?

Oh That I Were Like Nephi

While studying the Book of Mormon, I was struck with the example of Nephi. Yes, I've always admired him and his faith in doing whatever the Lord commanded him, but this time I was struck even more by his lack of complaining. See, I'm a complainer. I have to voice my opinions about everything (just ask my kids) and I usually have to understand something before I'm willing to do it. I need an explanation because it has to make sense to me.

Laman and Lemuel wanted to know why they needed to leave...

Haunts Haven by Joan Sowards

When Callie Wilford inherits a century-old inn in southern Arizona, locals tell her of a ghost who "guards" the inn. But Callie doesn't believe in ghosts, and she plans to turn the inn into a bed and breakfast.

Then things start to happen - strange, spooky things - and she begins to wonder if there is some truth to the ghost stories.

If that weren't bad enough, Callie discovers a mysterious grave in the cellar. As she confronts the inn's tragic secrets, she also faces her lonely past and...

Making Memories

When my older kids get together they sit around and play the "Remember When . . ." game. They remember things I've totally forgotten. They all feel a connection to our home and to the memories we've made here, which is a wonderful thing.

We've tried hard to create memories with our kids. Yesterday we decided it was just one of those occasions. We loaded everyone up into our ghetto van (peeling paint, rusted top, dents from where I ran into the fence post in the snow last winter) and traveled t...

DirectTV

A few weeks ago, we decided to upgrade our satellite receiver to a DVR so we could more easily record shows we miss (we can never watch any TV shows when they air, we always have watch them later). This really applies to Smallville because now it airs on Fridays (Thursdays were so much better) and this season finally has Clark and Lois . . . well, I don't want to spoil anything. I would've been excited about this feature for American Idol but now that they have Ellen DeGeneres as a judge (sin...

Trail of Storms by Marsha Ward

Do You Like Westerns?

One of the nicest and most helpful women I know is Marsha Ward. She founded ANWA--American Night Writers Association--many years ago and has put her heart and soul into helping aspiring writers reach their goal of publication. She works tirelessly to help others. She has been very kind and gracious to me as I've learned the ropes of writing, publishing, and moderating Yahoo Groups. She's also a whiz at all things technical.

Besides all of this, she's an excellent author. I was amazed at her ab...