Jenelle Leanne - fantasy writer

King's Warrior: The Minstrel's Song (Volume 1)

2012-03-02T15:19:00.001-05:00

Looking for a fun, adventure story to read? :)

Six hundred years ago the land of Aom-igh was threatened with invasion by the Dark Country across the Stained Sea; in their danger King Llian sought the help of the dragons and the myth-folk. Graldon, King of the Dragons, granted the human king with a gift that would help him defeat his enemies. Graldon also promised King Llian that the dragons would come to the humans’ aid should Aom-igh ever be in such danger again. Years passed, and Aom-igh remained safe and isolated from its enemies. The dragons slowly disappeared and faded into legend and myth, and people forgot magic had ever existed.

When her kingdom is threatened by the Dark Country once again, the headstrong Princess Kamarie sets off on a quest to find the man who may be able to save them all: the former King’s Warrior. Traveling with her are two companions: her eccentric maid, and a squire who resents his charge to travel with and protect the princess. However, finding the legendary hero proves to be the least of their worries. Together the companions encounter more than they ever bargained for. A beautiful gatekeeper, a sword fashioned by dragons, enemies who pursue them relentlessly and hound them at every turn, and an underground world full of mythical creatures are just the beginning of their adventures.

As they search for the answers to mystifying riddles and seek a way to save everything they hold dear the comrades will learn a little about courage, a lot about truth, and more about themselves than they ever imagined. But if they can succeed in their quest, they may join worlds together.

King's Warrior: buy it here at Amazon

Or, if you're not worried about the free shipping, you can buy it at the CreateSpace e-Store, where I will get a larger percentage of the same price

King's Warrior - Now Available at Amazon.com

2012-02-29T10:57:00.000-05:00

King's Warrior is now available for purchase at Amazon!

Happy Leap Day!

King's Warrior - Coming Soon to an Amazon Store Near You!

2012-02-25T15:46:00.001-05:00

King's Warrior will be available for purchase at Amazon within the next week.

I would like to thank everyone who helped make this possible. I have the best family and friends in the whole world. I love you guys!

I will post an update as soon as the book officially goes "live" but it should be in the next 4-6 days.

To any fans: thank you for your patience. It's been a long process, but I think the finished product is worth the wait and all the effort and time that went into it.

Zoe Amanda

2012-02-23T14:08:00.001-05:00

You might have noticed a new element to the top of my blog this afternoon. Some good friends of mine are in the process of adopting a little girl from Taiwan.

Since she tells their story better than I can, you can read her posts about this journey by clicking: here and here and you can read the continuing story about how you can support their adoption either FINANCIALLY or with PRAYER.

You can also read her latest post about how much it costs to adopt and why.

The button at the top of my blog will lead you to a paypal account where you can donate if you feel so led.

Brittany Jean

2012-02-07T08:35:00.000-05:00

I don't have any new news to post about King's Warrior just yet. However, I do want to promote this musician, Brittany Jean and some of her music. The first link is a song titled "She Almost Did" and is about 4 minutes long.

The second is a song titled "Wake Up America" and is approximately 8-10 minutes long. Both are worth watching.

He Whistles for the Cricket

2012-01-11T11:18:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure where to categorize this: sort of a "featured artist" post I guess.

Today's post is about one of my all-time favorite books: He Whistles for the Cricket by Gwen Walker (my grandma).

My Grandma Walker wrote a book (yes, I come by my writing skills honestly) before she died called "He Whistles for the Cricket." This book is a sort of family heirloom, as there are only 6 copies in existence. I had borrowed my parents' copy a couple of years ago, and realized this past Spring that it was really time to get it typed up into soft-copy, because the original was beginning to fall apart.

I started the endeavor in mid-March, and it took me a few months to get all the typing done. Partially because life is busy and finding time to do this was difficult, partially because I had other writing projects I was working on at the same time, and partially because of the miscarriage in April.

You really get to know someone when you copy their words. Moreso than when you just read them. You focus a lot more on their style of writing and putting things, you see/read every word without skimming or skipping at all. Typing this book during one of the most difficult periods of my life was such a huge encouragement as I got to dwell in the words and thoughts of my grandma. She saw things very simply, very clearly, and she wrote them beautifully.

Another thing I've always wanted to do is get this book published for my family. So, I asked Angelina if she would collaborate with me and paint a cover for the book so we could publish through createspace and give it to my family as a Christmas present. The final result?

How awesome is that?

The book is about a young girl living in the mid-West in the early 1940s. Although the story is fictional, most of the events and characters are drawn from my Grandma's own history and people she knew. It is a charming story about several families and how one little girl, Miriam, and her dog, Moses, touched and changed their lives. At 160 pages, it is a quick read, and one that the entire family can enjoy reading out loud together. In the vein of books like "Where the Red Fern Grows" or "Bridge to Terebithia" this book is one of my all-time favorites, not just because my grandma wrote it, but because she wrote it so well.

Poetry Corner Tuesday

2011-11-29T08:11:00.003-05:00

Another song, this one is from my own experiences growing up in my family. What can I say? The holidays are here... a time for sweet memories and flickering candlelight.

My Best Friends
Helping Mommy in the kitchen, licking out the bowl;
When we got an owie, Mommy’s kiss could make us whole;
Wrestling with Daddy, after dishes were done,
Dancing in the living room, memories of fun.

Family bonds
Of love so strong
Growing up together
Made us friends forever
Brothers and sister, my best friends

Running through the sprinkler or playing make-believe
Baseball in the back yard, and climbing up tall trees,
Eating supper together, every single night
Daddy reading stories before turning out the lights.

Family bonds
Of love so strong
Growing up together
Made us friends forever
Brothers and sister, my best friends

And though we grow and live miles apart
These memories always live in my heart
They make me stop, they make me smile
Reminding me for just a while

Family bonds
Of love so strong
Growing up together
Made us friends forever
Brothers and sister, my best friends

And now we’ve grown, we’re miles apart
Sweet memories stay alive in my heart
And though I know childhood must end
I’m never alone, nor without friends

Poetry Corner Tuesday

2011-11-22T08:03:00.000-05:00

I much prefer writing song lyrics to just writing poetry. This is a realization I have come to in the past few years. I love writing poetry, but hearing my words turned into music is just one of the most rewarding things I've ever experienced.

This is another song that Brittany commissioned a while back. Another one I don't know if she ever got around to writing music for... but hopefully someday!

This song is based on the story of Chicken Little... but with a twist...

Sky Fall Away
On his head the acorn fell we know the story well
What if that little chicken was too afraid to tell?
Perhaps a lot of others, would not have gotten scared
They also wouldn’t know how much their king really cared.

[chorus]
Sky, fall away, send us running to our King
He will calm our hearts and all fears we may bring.
So sky, fall away, fall away, fall away, fall away

Troubles bring us fears and doubts with questions like, “Why me?”
Caught up in our moment, we can find it hard to see
That big or small, real or imagined, with everything
Like that little chicken we should run straight to the King.

[bridge]
Time and again, in our lives,
We hesitate to do what’s right
Terrified that no one cares
That no one listens to our prayers

[chorus]
Sky, fall away, send us running to our King
He will calm our hearts and all fears we may bring.
So sky, fall away, fall away, fall away

Proof Copy

2011-11-19T18:41:00.001-05:00

My proof copy will be here by Wednesday!!!

(it actually shipped TODAY... so it might even get here sooner)

Poetry Corner Tuesday

2011-11-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

One of the things I do besides write books, is I am a lyricist for Brittany Jean. Every now and then I'll send her a set of lyrics and ask her to create a song out of them... but more often she will "commission" a set of lyrics. This one was in memory of a classmate of hers in high school who died a few years ago. I don't know if she has put it to music yet, but the story captured me and her ideas for the song just wrapped themselves around my thoughts. It usually takes me a few hours to write a song, but this one came to me in the span of about 20 minutes.

Sailing Into the Arms of God

Sailing away before his time
The pain is ours, we must press on
With heavy hearts we’re left behind.

Are you prepared
To walk on water?
Are you prepared
To meet your King?
When your ship comes
Will you also sail
Into the arms of God?

It’s hard to understand the why
So much left on his horizon
Too strong, too brave, too young to die.

Are you prepared
To walk on water?
Are you prepared
To meet your King?
When your ship comes
Will you also sail
Into the arms of God?

Bridge
If we could just see beyond the veil
That separates us from what’s to come
Even now our hearts would not fail
The faithful will be welcomed home.

Sailing away he goes before
He’s strong and healthy at the prow
Sailing into the arms of the Lord.

Are you prepared
To walk on water?
Are you prepared
To meet your King?
When your ship comes
Will you also sail
Into the arms of God?

Sneak Peek Monday

2011-11-14T09:09:00.005-05:00

Thought you might all enjoy a sneak peek at the finished cover of King's Warrior. Excuse me if I sound a little hyper or excited, but I have come to the culmination of two years of very hard work. It has been fun, and it has been gratifying, and it has been satisfying work, but that does not mean it has not been hard, that there have not been tears, that there have not been set-backs.

Last night we had a major set-back, when we realized that the font we had picked for the title was one that was only available for private use, and that buying a commercial license was going to cost one hundred fifty dollars! Needless to say, I cried. (And I felt bad, because Angelina had worked so hard and we thought we were almost finished, only to find out we had to find a completely new font).

However, Angelina is a miracle worker, and she spent the next two hours working on a new version, and I must say, I love this one as much as I loved the original. Derek says he likes it more, because the old font was (we did not do this intentionally) based on the logo for the Lord of the Rings movies!

Anyway, after all that, the cover was finally complete! I got it submitted last night, and within the next 36 hours I should get the go-ahead to order a proof copy, which means that sometime early next week, I will have physically in my hands the result of all this work we've been pouring out over the past year!

But, of course, the part of this post you're really interested in: what does the new cover look like? Here ya go! :)

Isn't it just beautiful? If you click on it, you can see it larger.

Fabulous Friday

2011-11-04T12:39:00.000-04:00

The interior layout for King's Warrior is finished and submitted!!!! Happy dancing ensues.

This is the culmination of nearly two year's worth of re-writing and editing that this book, originally titled The Dragon's Eye, has undergone. The re-write started in March of '09 because 1) I got a lot of helpful feedback from other writer's in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest and 2) I had finally finished the 4th book in the series and realized that my writing style had improved immensely in 8 years, and that my first book was not at all up to the standard of the conclusion of the series.

All that is left is to get the final cover and upload it to CreateSpace, and 5 days from then I will have the proof copy IN HAND! How exciting!!! Yes, I'm overusing exclamation points, it's ok, I mean them.

Meet the Team Tuesday: Nancy

2011-11-01T07:56:00.002-04:00

I know she's going to be somewhat embarrassed (and not altogether unpleased) that I included her here, but considering that my mom is the one who taught me how to read and write in the first place, I thought it was important to feature her here in my Tuesday Team member posts. :) And, coincidentally enough... today's post falls on her birthday. (I really didn't realize until I finished writing and got to the scheduling part of this post that it would post on her birthday, but I think it's cool).

At a young age, she instilled a love of the written word in me, both by reading out loud to me and by teaching me how to read for myself, as well as by praying that her children would love reading. Unfortunately for her, she made the mistake of telling me that she had prayed for this, and I definitely used it against her when I was a teenager and she was frustrated that all I wanted to do was read, or that I was staying up too late reading... I distinctly remember saying on more than one occasion, "You prayed for this, remember?"

However, despite having to raise me through my more trying years, she has always believed in me and encouraged me to do my best. Nothing less than my best was good enough, and I'm so thankful she and my dad never let me settle for mediocrity.

I know that the genre I write is not her favorite to read, but she reads them anyway, and tells me she loves them. She gets excited about my books when they are "finished" and in "real book" (i.e. bound) format. Her enthusiasm for my writing, even when it's not the sort of thing she would voluntarily pick up and read if I hadn't written it, means the world to me, and speaks her love in volumes.

Where in the World Wednesday

2011-10-26T11:51:00.000-04:00

Nothing new to report on the book front today... I am hoping that soon I will have an announcement about the book going to the printer for a proof-copy! And maybe I'll post a preview of the new cover soon, would you like that? Or would you rather I wait until the book is available for purchase?

Anyway, I've been getting some pretty regular visitors to this blog, and analytics is showing that some of you are reading this from rather afar: Turkey, Australia, Brazil... all over the world - which is cool.

So I'm just curious: would you leave me a comment and tell me where you're reading from? I think it would be interesting to know!

I don't know if I'll have a Featured Artist Friday this week... but I have my Meet the Team Tuesday post for next Tuesday all scheduled and ready to go!

Meet the Team Tuesday: Brittany

2011-10-25T07:45:00.000-04:00

Today's team member is also related to me... because you couldn't tell from the picture... :) Brittany is my sister, and perhaps the biggest fan I have. I know she has read all four of my books far more times than I have, and if she were to become a teacher and give a class on my books, I might possibly fail that class!

Besides being my number 1 reader Brittany is a super-talented artist in her own right as a musician. Together, we are teaming up to turn some of the poems that I have written within my books into actual songs. She has undertaken the task of putting the lyrics I have written to music, and I very much look forward to hearing what she comes up with!

One of the things that is so special about this team and family that God has blessed me with is that we all have particular talents, and it is really fun to see what happens when we weave all those talents together. My words; Angelina's art; Brittany's voice; Derek, Grant, and Evan's business skills... this book is incorporating all of them and I can't think of a project that I would rather work on, than one where not only my work is featured, but all of their talents are featured as well.

Meet the Team Tuesday: Grant

2011-10-18T08:32:00.000-04:00

Today's team member is my other brother, Grant. I cannot even count the number of times this guy has sent me an encouraging letter or note at exactly the moment I needed it, or the number of times I was ready to just give up on writing altogether and he has said something encouraging or just reminded me by example of why it is important to never give up. Also among my first readers, and the inspiration behind one of my characters, Grant is often my source for new ideas. Once, when I had writer's block, I asked him to read what I had and give me some ideas for what should come next. He wrote me this paragraph:

    “Rambo will take you there.”
    “Oh good I feel much better with Rambo taking me there. You imbecile why would I let some homicidal ex marine touting a 60 cal take me anywhere?”
    “Well, he’s gotten better.”
    “Oh goood, he’s gotten better. Now I’m all relieved and like ‘cheerio’ let’s go adventuring. You’re all da da da da let’s go find Bambi and tell him that flower’s caught the SNIFFLES! It’s all over the mountain and through the woods from here. All mai tais and yahtzee eh? All lead pipe cinch, eh? All biscuits and gravy? All add the cream and hold the sugar? Well let me tell you I didn’t graduate out of pull-ups to be bibbed around by some maniacal man suffering from.. from a lot of angst! All this pubecent rage! All this teenage mad at my father syndrome. SHAME ON THEM!!!... no... I’m leaving.... and I’m taking the monkey with me!

It wasn't very helpful or applicable to the story I was writing... which had nothing to do with Rambo, machine guns, or Bambi... but it did make me laugh, and took my mind off my writer's block and onto figuring out exactly how many movies he had quoted and strung together in this unique way. After I read it, he did help me brainstorm a little, and what with the laughter, a very different perspective on the world, and a few ideas, I managed to get past the writer's block and on with my story.

Grant is the "ideas guy" - he is my marketing strategist. He is the one who will be planning out my book-signings and book tours, writing letters to schools, libraries, and book stores asking if I can come hold a signing in their building. He is the guy I go to when I need ideas. And sometimes he sends them to me unsolicited, like the fragment of the story I shared on here a while back about the Mirror.

Also one of my very best friends, Grant is definitely one of the people in my life without whom, King's Warrior would never have been written.

Featured Artist Friday

2011-10-14T08:30:00.002-04:00

Today's featured artist is a gal I have had the privilege to become friends with over the past few months. We have a lot in common: we're both the oldest of four siblings, we were both home-schooled, we're both relocated Northerners, we both love reading/fantasy/sci-fi/movies/board games, we both have a sarcastic/snarky sense of humor, and we're both currently in the midst of writing fantasy fiction novels.

However, the comparison ends there, because her talents far outnumber my own... but I'll let her speak for herself!

Featured Artist: Ally M.

1. When and why did you start (writing, playing, singing, painting, etc)?
The first time I remember writing was when I was about five years old—I had cancer at the time, and had just read a book written by a girl who had also had Leukemia. And I thought, 'Hey, I can do that,' and so I wrote about four pages and then decided it was boring and quit—probably partly because I liked drawing the 'illustrations' (read: crayon caricatures) better than writing the sentences. I think I tried writing sometime before then, but I know I was drawing Peter Pan and Tinkerbell (complete with labels) when I was about four. Singing... well, I tried to sing since I was about two. Then, at about six, I magically learned to carry a tune. Probably because that was when I was enrolled in piano lessons.

2. Which instruments do you play/what is your favorite medium for creating art/what genre do you write?

My favorite medium? Good heavens, do I have to choose? I suppose that if I absolutely had to choose, I would pick my words. I love the rhythm and beauty of a well-crafted phrase or profoundly understated truth. I really can't pick a favorite genre, though—that's just cruel. I love my fantasy worlds, but I also take a sadistic delight in writing satire and self-deprecating humor,as well as some science fiction and just pure, ordinary fiction. However, if I were as skillful with a brush as I wish I was, I would definitely have to choose oil painting as my favorite medium. I do aspire to be very good at this one day—I took some classes in college that made me see that it's not impossible. I also very much enjoy the freedom of watercolor and the precision of charcoal or colored pencil

3. Is your family musical/artistic/writers? Describe your family members' artistic interests and abilities.

My family has always encouraged my love of art in all forms—my mom is a talented sketcher and painter (who could be even better if she only had the time to devote to practice) who plays guitar and knows one song on the piano (Stand Up For Jesus, which she has been singing to me religiously since I was an infant). She is also an exceptional writer, and I attribute most of my literary talent to her genetics and teaching. My dad is a conceptual person—he has wonderful ideas for stories, and we have tentatively discussed co-authoring one of his book concepts. He also plays a mean guitar. My brother, Josiah, picked up some artistic tendencies when he was younger, and was very talented, but seems to have left off this particular hobby in favor of debate and engineering projects. Lily, my younger sister by eleven years, picked up on mine and Josiah's enthusiasm for art and is reasonably skilled for her age. My entire family has wonderful voices, including my other brother, Alex, who turned into an impressive bass around age 13.

4. Which famous musicians/artists/authors do you admire? Why?

Which ones do I... this is not a fair question. Because all my answers are going to be obscure or nerdy. I really admire Tolkien, as well as Keith Francis Strohm (Tomb of Horrors) and David and Leigh Eddings (The Redemption of Althalus, as well as many series), to name a few. However, I have not really read a lot of the 'great' fantasy writers, such as Lawhead, so my opinions are probably incomplete.

5. What are your fondest musical/art-related/writing memories? In your house? In your neighborhood or town?

Some of the best times I have had writing or drawing or singing have been in the middle of nowhere. My fondest memories of journaling and drawing are sitting out in the forts I built in the woods behind my house in Washington, watching a squirrel shear the seeds off of a pinecone and watch me suspiciously out of the corner of one eye. My greatest inspirations are in the wild things, the furtive stirrings in the winds that beckon me to come away, come away, and discover the secrets, the worlds and mysteries yet unknown... magic is always just out of reach...

6. Who are your favorite musicians? Groups? CD's? Artists? Authors?

Anyway, I tend to admire a single work more than a single writer/composer/artist... for example, I usually adore one or two songs from any given pop artist and despise all the rest. I admire anything that displays a consummate skill in the medium and/or a consummate mind—that is, that which displays a deeper meaning or truth or insight of the artist, even if I don't agree with it. All that to say... I don't know. I like some of everything. One thing I do love to do, though, is put on music of a certain mood and use it to inspire my drawing or writing—in this case, the artist doesn't really matter so much as the mien.

7. Do you perform/display your art/publish your writing in public? Describe those occasions? Concerts, radio, TV? Galleries? Online? Book-signings?

I do not perform piano in public if I can help it. To me, it's too prone to error. I did my share of recitals while I was taking lessons, and I practice for months for those. It's a relaxing, beautiful hobby for me now. However, I love to sing for choirs (and I do like solos, because then I don't have to blend and can really have fun with it), and I enjoy displaying my art (only the really good pieces) on Deviant Art or, as was the case in high school and college, in actual art shows. I also post to Deviant Art vignettes and pieces of stories that I haven't actually written in full, but enjoyed or was pleased enough with to want to share.

8. What advice would you give to beginners who are nervous?

Beginners... I still am one! You never feel like you've arrived at 'expert', even if everyone tells you you're the best, you're incredible... it doesn't matter. You will always feel like an amateur. So just go for it. Practice. Suck at it. Practice some more. Read lots of books and look at/listen to lots of people's art—figure out what you like, what works for you, and continue. You will get better. Also, it helps to keep all (or at least samples) of your old work, so you can see how far you've come. It's very encouraging when you can look back and go 'oh wow that was awful!' and suddenly what you've just done seems incredible by comparison. And to everyone looking at it, it probably is. Remember that you are your toughest critic—when you get frustrated, go away for a while and come back. Either the mistake will jump out at you and you can fix it, or you will realize you don't notice it anymore, in which case you can bet no one else will.

9. How often and for how long do you practice?

Um... people practice? I hardly have time anymore, but one of the best things I ever did for my writing skills was to free-write a few times a week for a half hour or so. It helps 'loosen up' the writing parts of your brain, like warming up before a race. I do sketch quite frequently (and with much frustration), but my skills greatly improve when I do thirty second drawings—taking a small collection of objects, a human form, etc. and forcing myself to capture the essential elements in 30 seconds or less. In highschool I practiced vocals all the time, but now I sing when I feel like it during the week (which is often) and belt it out in church on Sundays. For the record, though, I'm still hopeless at harmonizing.

10. What inspires you to write music? Paint? Write?

I create art because I can't help it. Once I get into a certain mode, it's like all these truths and beautiful things are threatening to overflow and overwhelm me. It's like chasing rainbows... I simply have to create, or I would explode. My inspiration is not a slow and steady thing—it comes in rushes, pure torrents of need to communicate the things in my mind—to set down on paper the descriptions of what I see, to splash down on the canvas the colors and forms that swirl about those imaginary scenes. These times are usually triggered by a long period of introspection or general reflection, especially if concurrent with a period of time in the woods or by a stream or river. The wilds and the magics of them seem to inspire the greatest, most noble, and most beautiful thoughts. And sometimes, for no reason whatsoever, the characters in my stories seem to press to the front of my mind, demanding to have their stories told. That I don't know what their stories are yet seems irrelevant to them. So I obediently sit down at the computer and begin to write some little detail, and suddenly there are six pages in front of me... it's wonderful... and yet somehow obnoxious at the same time.

11. Describe your process for writing a song/completing a work of art/writing a novel.

I don't really have a process, unfortunately, so sorry, I'm very little help here. For me, it either comes or it doesn't. There is very little time between conception and completion. If too much time elapses (more than a day or two), the piece is highly unlikely to be completed at all (this also applies to individual scenes in my books, though not the book in its entirety). I have several pictures in my sketchbook that are in the beginning stages of gorgeous, and they're not likely to get much farther. When I write the lyrics to a song, they undergo perhaps one, at most two, revisions before I'm finished with them. The rest of the time, anything I try is stiff and forced. So my artistic life is one of waiting with impatient sighs between periods of inspiration and then scrambling to get everything done while it's there.

12. What is the best part about writing/performing music/art?

The best part about art is seeing or hearing the thoughts in my mind come to life. I envisioned this tender, beautiful scene, and there it is—real, an actual, substantial thing, even if it is just a picture. Or that wrenching longing I feel, there it is, in a few poignant words, and everything I wanted to know about how I felt is there on the page in front of me. Although I must say that there is one thing that surpasses this, and that is seeing my art impact someone else, especially in a healing way. There is one passage of my (incomplete) book that I wrote in one of those 'white heats' of inspiration that particularly surprised me—and then it turned out to be exactly what three or four of my friends needed to hear. It was a fictitious, fantasy world with a fictitious, fantasy character, but it spoke to them. It communicated to their hearts in a way that not much else could have, and it brought them peace. That is the best reward I have ever had from creating.

13. What is the hardest thing about writing/performing music/art?

The hardest thing about art is accepting it. I always see the mistakes, the things that should have been tweaked, but are too late to do anything about now. Or I don't know how to fix it—I just know it's wrong. In those cases, it's hard to be willing to show it to anyone else, or to NOT rip it up and throw it away. I have to force myself to file it away to maybe come back to, or to serve as a relic of a less experienced era of my artistic life. And when that happens, it's difficult to move on to something else, fearing the same failure. But eventually you get over it, and move on—and the next one is better.

Thanks, Ally for being today's Featured Artist!

Meet the Team Tuesday: Evan

2011-10-11T08:12:00.000-04:00

Today's team member is my brother, Evan. He has had many roles throughout the process of my novel's life. He was among my first audience as I wrote the book and our dad would read it out loud to the entire family each night. He and Grant, my other brother, gave me helpful advice throughout that creative process such as, "Can't you give someone a normal name... like Bob?" Or, "I think it would be great if an alien spaceship landed right now and blew up the entire planet." (Very helpful, as my books are fantasy, and not sci-fi... and there are no aliens in my world... but maybe I'll write a sci-fi someday and use their ideas).

He has since graduated from "snarky-adviser" to being my interior-layout-designer, and is putting together what the inside of my book will look like: Fonts, margins, headers, page numbers, all that detail-oriented stuff that I don't have an eye for, or the tools to create here at home.

He is also the logo-designer for our company, and a lot of the driving force behind getting our new company up and running. The company will start out by primarily promoting my books, but eventually we hope to represent my sister's music, Evan's movies, and perhaps even Evan's making of my books into movies. Someday.

But beyond all that, this guy is my brother, and one of my very best friends.

Meet the Team Tuesday: Shannon

2011-10-04T08:01:00.001-04:00

This wonderful lady is not only one of my best friends, but she is also my second editor, my self-proclaimed publicist, and one of my biggest fans.

I cannot edit my own writing. I just can't. I miss too many things, because my brain fills in what is supposed to be there, and that makes it hard to catch things like punctuation errors, spelling mistakes, inconsistencies, and words that have been accidentally left out.

I could not be as proud of my finished product as I am, without knowing that Shannon has gone over it with a fine tooth comb (and a red pen). She not only catches all my mistakes, but she also leaves me amusing comments in the margins such as "I'm hungry," whenever I mention food, "you're a jerk" whenever I kill a character, and super random remarks such as "I like cheese." These are not only entertaining, but they make going through and fixing the actual errors she caught fun, and more like a treasure hunt than actual work.

Besides all this: she has recommended my book to countless people, included information about my book in her Christmas letters, and just generally encourages me through comments and emails. Thank you, Shannon!

Two Things I Never Knew I'd Fall in Love With

2011-09-30T08:35:00.000-04:00

I was thinking the other day about certain things I've done in the past year or two that are very "new" and different for me as a writer.

~Writing song lyrics for my musician sister
~Working with my artist sister-in-law on creating a new book cover

Both of these things were never really things I had thought about much before. Sure, I'd written poetry before, and I'd thought that eventually all my books would need covers... but neither of these was high on my list of "things I'd love to do."

Well, these are now both on my list of "things I LOVE to do."

Why?

Because writing music and creating a piece of art are both things that I have no talent for. I can't write music. I can't even make up convincing tunes for my 2 year old when she asks me to "sing the milk song" ... a song that, as far as I know, doesn't exist, so I have to make up on the fly music and lyrics for it. This is generally a huge hit with her, but I am intelligent enough to realize that is only because I am her Mommy.

And yet, it is really fun to be a part of both, even if only in small ways. I discovered a year or two ago, that one of the most amazing things in the world is to write a set of lyrics for my sister and then get that set of lyrics back from her on a CD in a beautiful melody, sung in her gorgeous voice, accompanied by various instruments.

What I write is just a poem. What she creates with those words is Music.

With the cover of my book. I gave Angelina a general description of the image I had in my head for the cover. "Guy standing with his back to us, holding a sword. Mountains. Clouds. A dragon somewhere." (ok, I gave her a few more details than that... but not many).

What she painted for me was a masterpiece. An amazingly beautiful, intricately detailed image that looked like she had snipped it neatly out of my imagination and placed it on the canvas.

What I had in my head was just an image. What she created from that image was Art.

And although I'm certain I'm not the easiest person to work with (because, 1) we live 2700 miles apart, and 2) we've gotten into the teeny tiny nit-picky details of font color, and logo placement...) I hope she knows I am only nit-picky about THOSE details because I don't want anything to detract from the painting behind the title.

Meet the Team Tuesday: Derek

2011-09-27T08:00:00.002-04:00

There would definitely be no writing done in this house if I did not have my husband on my team. Not only does he encourage me to keep writing, challenge me to write new things, and generally support all my dreams of someday being a well-known author... he also helps me with certain technical details in my stories that aren't always my strong suit.

For example, in the midst of all this publishing craziness (recovering, rewriting, and republishing King's Warrior), he has been creating a new world for me to write about. About 6 years ago, Derek started creating a map and a history for a new fantasy world called Aelon Ere. After much persuading on his part, I finally agreed to write a story for this world. I had hesitated to jump in and write the story, because I didn't want to write it "wrong"... you know, since the world/history was his creation to begin with. But he finally convinced me that he had no interest in writing a story, he just enjoyed working on the technical details (the map, the history, and brainstorming with me about what the story should be about, etc).

Derek is my "idea guy" - on a vacation we took into the mountains of Tennessee, we spent most of the drive discussing/brainstorming about what story I should write in the world of Aelon Ere. During that conversation, the history of the world underwent some drastic changes, and the story I could write began to unfold. I have learned from him the importance of getting a fresh set of eyes (or a fresh brain) to work on a problem. He also helps me out with things like battle strategy, and sketching out vehicles/technology (if any exist in a particular world).

I know that I couldn't write without my husband's support. I am so thankful for his encouragement and his enthusiasm for what I do, and for how he challenges me to grow and become better at my craft.

Meet the Team Tuesday: Angelina

2011-09-20T08:25:00.002-04:00

Apparently I need to do a better job taking pictures of people by themselves, most of my pictures have multiple people in them.

Anyway, today's meet the team post is about my cover artist! This gal is just so talented! I can't wait to post pictures of the finished cover (coming soon!!!) I asked her if she would be willing to design a new cover for my books back around Christmas of 2010, and was so delighted when she said she'd be interested in that.

Over Christmas, I mentioned liking Alan Lee's stuff he did for The Lord of the Rings, so she taught herself how to watercolor and painted me a superb cover for my book. (I really didn't mean she had to use watercolor, as I have no understanding of/preference for art mediums, but that's the sort of attention to detail she puts into her work). The time-consuming part lately has been adding the text and getting the colors/fonts to go well with the colors of the painting. Also, she sometimes forgets to put her name on the back (e.g. "cover art by...") and I have to tell her that it's important to me that she gets credit. :) Especially since I. Cannot. Draw. Really, just ask any of my former students, they'll tell you something about how Mrs. Schmidt can't even draw convincing stick figures. So the cover is DEFINITELY not something I could ever create for myself!

I really just cannot wait to show you the new cover. The original cover was awesome, but there's something about knowing that this cover was hand-painted specifically for my book that is just priceless. And the best part of all this is, Angelina is my sister-in-law! :) So not only do I love her because she's talented and willing to design my cover-art, but I also love her because she's my sister! Having a supportive family is by far one of the most important aspects of my writing process.

Featured Artist Friday

2011-09-16T08:22:00.000-04:00

Today's Featured Artist is Megan Self. She has a business called "Paint by Letters" and the link there will take you to her facebook page. She is super talented, and I am happy to call her my friend. She did a set of letters for my daughter's room, and they are simply precious, I've included pictures of them at the end of this post.

1. When and why did you start painting? I have always been artsy and decided on a whim freshman year of college to try painting. I took one art class in high school, but other than that I'm self taught. I learned early on that painting people and animals were beyond my talent level, so I started painting natural landscapes.

2. What is your favorite medium for creating art? I've dabbled in it all, from drawing to clay to photography, but painting is probably my favorite medium.

3. Is your family artistic? All the artistic talent must be in my family's left hands. The left-handed people are artistic, the righties, not so much. My sister Jill first taught me to draw people in profile when I was in junior high. My aunt Carol has done lots of painting. My mom can do everything and always encouraged my artistic side.

4. Which famous artists do you admire? I try to appreciate all art, but I love realism the most. Sure, that red dot and green drips may represent "The Inhumanity of Society," but all I see is a red dot and green drips.

5. What are your fondest art-related memories? As a child, my parents encouraged me, so their walls and refrigerator door were my first "galleries."

In my ninth grade art class, we had to create an editorial cartoon for a News & Observer contest, and I won first prize for the state. It was about the new graduated driver's license laws, well, new at the time.

I painted wooden letters for my niece-to-be, Addison, and gave them to my sister at her baby shower. Two people approached me that day to paint letters for them, which is what first made me think I could sell my artwork.

6. Who are your favorite artists? Wow, I'm not sure I have a favorite artist. I appreciate that Pablo Picasso never grew stagnant with his art. He didn't say, "Hey, I like painting women with their mouths where their eyes should be. I guess I'll do this for the rest of my life." He sculpted, painted, sketched -- he did it all.

7. Do you display your art? When I began painting landscapes, I gave them away to my family members. Many of them still have my canvases displayed. Now that I paint letters for children's rooms, my art is displayed all over, even in Jenelle's house!

8. What advice would you give to beginners who are nervous? Keep experimenting until you find something you love. I tried a little bit of everything until I found my niche painting letters for rooms.

9. How often and for how long do you practice? Being a full-time teacher and painter on the side, I don't really have time to practice. I experiment and push myself with every project that I create.

10. What inspires you to paint? It's a great creative outlet for me. When I go long periods without creating, I feel antsy, like the art wants to escape from me and I need find some way to let it out! I find lots of inspiration from my clients' ideas and opinions, as well as room themes. I have the desire to create, and they give me some specifics to help reel me back in.

11. Describe your process for completing a work of art. When someone asks me to paint letters for them, I sketch out the letters and decide on a color scheme and patterns for each letter. During the summers, I try to work on the letters in large chunks of time, often finishing in one day. During the school year, my projects are a bit more disjointed, working on them when I can find an hour or two. Though I sketch and plan before starting, my plans often change as I'm working.

12. What is the best part about art? For the most part, my clientele are ordering letters for a newborn. This means that I'm creating something for one of the greatest joys in someone's life. Often, it's the first thing in the nursery with the baby's name on it. They're so excited, so happy, and I like to think I had a part in that.

13. What is the hardest thing about art? Because I am self-taught, sometimes I have to compromise my artistic vision to accommodate for my level of artistic talent. The product still looks good, but in my head, I can see what it could have been. That's tough.

For Leiana's letters, I asked Megan to do a "characters from Leiana's favorite books and movies" theme. I knew basically what she would be painting, but I had no idea how beautiful they were going to be!

Meet the Team Tuesday: Jim

2011-09-13T09:18:00.002-04:00

Today is my first "meet the team" post. To kick it off, I can think of nobody more important to my writing process than this man: my Daddy. Yes, I still call him "daddy." Really, what girl doesn't? Anyway, without his inspiring me and challenging me to write an entire novel, none of my books would ever have been written. I still find it difficult to motivate myself to write anything he isn't reading.

Much of my love for the written word comes from the memories of my dad reading to us kids every night before bed all through growing up. From "A Wrinkle in Time" to "The Lord of the Rings" to "Lad of Sunnybank" to "The Chronicles of Narnia" to "Choose Your Own Adventure" to "Swiss Family Robinson" we read so many books together as a family. When we were younger, we would beg him to make up his own stories every now and then, and I assure you, a lot of my creativity came straight from him! When I began writing my book, he told me he needed 10 pages a night, and would read them out loud to the family each evening. Those are some of my most treasured memories.

In addition to inspiring me, challenging me to write, giving me ideas along the way, sending me numerous encouraging emails and letters, and being one of my first readers for just about everything I write... he is also my Editor in Chief. He helps me with the content-editing part of the revising process. I send him the finished product and he reads through the entire book, notes any place where I've over-described anything, used the same word too often, or just need to change some of the words, and makes comments throughout. Sometimes he just highlights a portion and says, "I love this," which is always nice to hear/read, too. :)

No featured Friday...

2011-09-09T14:32:00.002-04:00

Well, I didn't get any bites this week for a Featured Artist Friday... so... I guess no blog post today.

What's To Come

2011-09-07T08:17:00.000-04:00

I am sorry I have been neglecting this blog lately. I've had a rough time coming up with what to post over here. Since we're now in the "tweaking" stages (finishing the cover, working on the interior layout for the book, etc), there isn't much for me to report on lately with King's Warrior, hopefully I can soon report that the book is finished and ready for purchase.

Until then, however, I've decided to attempt to do 2 posts a week.

1. Meet the Team Tuesdays - a post each Tuesday in which I introduce a member of the great team I have that is making the publication of my books possible

2. Featured Artist Fridays - a post each Friday (or every other Friday) in which I feature a different artist (musician, artist, writer, etc) here on my blog. I'll be posting some questions on my fanpage. If you are an aspiring artist of some kind, and would like to be featured here, email me at: jenelle.l.schmidt at gmail dot com and I'll send you the questions (or you can go over to my facebook page and see the questions and simply email me the answers).

Deadlines

2011-08-29T14:52:00.000-04:00

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." ~ Douglas Adams

Well, the book is edited and ready for interior layout design... which means that the manuscript is out of my hands once again, and with my layout guy.

The cover is 99% of the way finished, with just a few tiny tweaks left.

I feel like I am on the very tippy edge of being able to say, "My book is completed" but I'm not QUITE there yet. The goal, of course, is to have the book completed ASAP so that I can submit it to the publisher and we can start selling copies and setting up book signings and (hopefully) tours even!!! But it may be a few weeks more.

Series Name part 2

2011-07-20T08:35:00.000-04:00

Okay, a few of you have had a hard time finding the poll I put up on my fanpage. So, here are the options I threw out there. (And again, alternate options are welcomed!)

1. The Minstrel's Song

2. The Second Son Prophecies

3. Forging the Great King

4. The Sword and Mandolin Chronicles

5. The Song of the Minstrel

6. The Minstrel Chronicles/Saga/Series/

Series Name

2011-07-13T12:14:00.000-04:00

Over on my facebook fanpage I am running a "vote" of sorts for name for the series of books that I have written.

Originally the titles for the four books were:
1. The Dragon's Eye
2. Dawn of the Dragon's Eye
3. Twilight of the Dragon's Eye
4. The Minstrel

I am in the final stages of editing/cover design and will be starting the effort to republish the first book (and subsequently the rest of the series over the next couple of years). I am retitling the four books (well, the first three anyway) as follows:

1. King's Warrior
2. Second Son
3. Ancient Flame (I'm not sold on this one yet, and am still open to different ideas)
4. The Minstrel

What I really need, at this point, is a name for the series. So that inside the book or in small letters somewhere on the cover I can have: "Book 1 of the .................. series/chronicles/cycle/saga/etc"

Check out the poll and cast your vote! (Or suggest a different idea if you don't like any of the options)

Character Assembling

2011-07-12T07:12:00.000-04:00

I don't do this with every character. In fact, I don't do it with many characters... because most of my characters come to life pretty easily, I feel I know them well enough without creating a physical "list" for them... but in a novel-length story, sometimes it's good to have major attributes of your characters written down in one easy-to-find spot... so that, you know, your main character's hair color doesn't change mid-way through the story because you forgot what it was supposed to be and didn't want to re-read your entire first 50,000 words to figure out what color you had made it, so you guessed... not that that's ever happened to me.

Ahem.

This is a fairly extensive list, and most of the time I don't fill it all the way up, or I change some of the questions to make it more applicable to the genre of story I'm writing. But it's a handy little tool for creating three-dimensional characters. It can also be a good way to come up with ideas for a story if a character without one knocks on your brain and wants to come in.

Name:
Age:
Height:
Weight:
Birthdate:
Birthplace:
Hair Color:
Eye Color:
Scars or handicaps (physical, mental, and/or emotional):
Best Friend:
Enemies and why:
Parents:
Present problems:
Strongest and weakest character traits:
Hobbies:
Kinds of music, art, reading material preferred:
How do they dress:
Description of home (physical, mental, emotional atmosphere):
Most important thing to know about this character:
What is his/her favorite food?
When was the last time this character cried? About what?
What season suits this person best and why?
Do you like/dislike this character and why?
Describe the setting, where will the story take place?
Why will this character be remembered?
Why is this character worth writing about?
Write the first line of the story.

The Mirror - Guest Writer

2011-06-30T08:09:00.001-04:00

This is a story that I plan to work on soon. It's an idea my brother gave me... he's such a great writer. He wrote up a whole chapter to explain the idea he had. I'm looking forward to writing this story... but I've got to let the idea soak for a bit (and I can usually only work on one new project at a time).

***
      The whole world looked muffled. If you’ve ever lived within a University dormitory and had to put your head under your pillow to try and get sleep or if you’ve ever heard a conversation through a wall you would know the feeling. However, Devlin blinking hard at the hazy surroundings, noted that the world did not sound muffled, it looked muffled.
    Devlin was perplexed. He was standing in the middle of an open space. A foreign and unknown open space. Yet not a moment ago he had known exactly where he had been. He had been in his hotel room getting ready for the last leg of what had already been an overlong journey home.
    Slowly, it seemed his eyes were adjusting. The fog that was either filling this space or filling his head seemed to dissipate. And yet he remained motionless. Frozen to the spot in which he had been standing.   It was as if he had woken up only to realize he was still dreaming. He had been awake he thought to himself.
    “You’re not dreaming you know.”
    A quiet voice filled Devlin’s head. Devlin remained motionless. Then he started. That had not been his voice. Nor had it been the voice he often heard within his own mind. Finally he moved, whirling around on the spot where he had been planted. There, not five feet behind him, stood another man. He had his hands behind his back and was looking very relaxed. However, his gaze was fierce. It seemed to awaken something within Devlin. It was as if those flashing gray eyes were the only real things in this place. It suddenly seemed that this were indeed no dream.
    Devlin spoke hoarsely. “Wh-What is going on? What happened to the hotel?”
    The man stood there.
    “Did I fall?” Devlin ventured, rather unnerved at the lack of response. “Did I pass out or something? Why can’t I… I mean what is this place? I MUST be dreaming, no?”
    The man smiled, though it held no comfort for Devlin. Finally the man stepped forward and held out his hand. “I am called Olecksander. If that is too long, you may call me Oleck. Indeed, our time is too short for lengthy formalities.”
    None of this making any sense, Devlin tried again. “Well I am Devlin. Devlin Dukart. I’m wondering if perhaps you can tell me what’s going on here. I mean to say, what’s really going on.”
    “I will tell you,” Oleck said firmly. “But you must not ask any questions or interrupt me in any way for as I have said, our time is too short for this to take any longer than it must.”
    Devlin blinked. “Whatever, just tell me,” he said quickly in a voice that only thinly masked his growing tension over the oddness of his situation.
    “You stepped through the glass. You are no longer here. You are no longer you.” Oleck’s words were spoken softly but bluntly.
    “What? What are you saying? In English ple - ”
      “Silence! There is no Time!” Oleck did not look like one who would suffer another interruption. Devlin bit his tongue.
    “As I said, you stepped through the glass. In the world you knew, there are so many of these glasses. They are everywhere and everyday just about every person steps through one for a period of time. You know these glasses as mirrors.”
    Devlin, who so wanted to slap himself awake, stood motionless, staring open mouthed.
    “Tell me something Devlin, wanting only a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ of course, have you ever looked in the mirror and not recognized the person you saw? Or have you ever, upon occasion, had someone, perhaps someone close to you, tell you that you didn’t seem quite yourself?”
    Devlin, still speechlessly confused, only managed a slow weak nod. He had.
    “Those were all instances of your spirit stepping through the glass. However, it is usually only a fleeting experience. Usually the spirit finds its way back to its owner in a short amount of time. So short an amount of time that the experience of being in this world is so fleeting as to be hardly even noticed. Sort of like being in the gray of life.”
    Oleck paused, thought for a moment and then continued.
    “You, however, stepped through a very rare glass. You stepped through the glass of the Vescoranimus. Now this is very serious. For this means that when you walked away from that mirror you became the reflection, you became the shadow. Your physical self is still out there, interacting with the “world;” however, it does so as a mere spiritless reflection of who you truly are. Have you ever wondered what happens to your reflection when you walk away from the mirror? Did you think that its world simply goes black? Wonder no more, for now you know. Now you have become the reflection and when you walked away from that glass it was your world that went black.”
    Devlin coughed violently. “So you're telling me I’m in some kind of a realm of the soul or something?”
    “No,” said Oleck emphatically. “You are not. This is not a world of soul but of spirit. But listen carefully, for it is most assuredly your soul that is at stake. This is the land of shadows, the land within your world. What you don’t understand is this: the realm of the soul, say heaven and hell in your world’s eyes, is of a truer nature than your physical realm. But this world is a step down from yours. To put it simply, our world is to yours what your world is to Heaven.”
    “What are you supposed to be then?” Devlin’s interjection seemed to irritate Oleck less this time.
    “We will get to that,” Oleck said in a measured tone. “First, I must convey to you what is most singularly important: your very great and urgent need to find yourself. You see, you are not here on accident. The Vescoranimus have lured you here for one purpose and that is to destroy you. Before you ask,” Oleck said acknowledging the questioning look Devlin was giving, “the Vescoranimus are quite simply the devourers of the soul. They are but shadows themselves of greater terrors. They lure the spirit, the happiness, the courage, and the heart, indeed the very essence of man into this world; for here it is but a simple task for them to destroy the spirit. And if the spirit of a man is destroyed, the man himself may follow closely after. I know this is all very quick. But I must go fast for, and don’t be alarmed, they are already hunting for you.”
    Devlin stared blankly. He felt as if a great fog of numbness had enveloped him.

~~~ Written by Grantland Walker ~~~

Poetry Corner Tuesday

2011-06-28T08:38:00.002-04:00

Snow Phantoms
Under the moon on a clear night
Silhouetted in the starry light
Phantoms spring up, out of the ground,
I tarry, haunted by the sight.

Wraith-like wisps dancing to and fro,
Sliding through the darkness they go
Flitting through imagination;
And prancing patterns on the snow.

Voiceless words hanging in the air,
Phantom cries catch me unaware,
Howls fill the sky, riding the wind
Echoing all around, a dare.

They enchant me, tempt me to stay,
But they also warn me away;
Lean and hungry, the green eyes glare,
I leave the phantoms to the day.

Teaser Tuesday

2011-06-21T09:05:00.000-04:00

This is the first paragraph of a story that's been floating around in my head for a while now - it's a fairy tale ... a bit different for me... though I'm not sure yet just which fairy tale. Anyway, I don't have time to write it right now, as I'm pretty busy with various other projects, but I thought I'd put it out here and maybe you, dear Reader, could leave some sort of inspiration in the form of a comment?

*****

I believe that all this nonsense started with my christening, although some might argue that I was doomed from the day of my birth. I was the youngest child and only daughter of the Chieftain of Alagonia. I had three elder brothers, the youngest of which was fully ten years my senior, and they all doted on me from a young age and probably did their best to spoil me. Had I been any more inclined towards vanity, I probably would have soaked up their attention and been quite intolerable. As it was, I took their regard for granted, but never allowed it to go to my head.

Dragons: Legends and Lore of Dinosaurs - Fantastic Read

2011-06-16T08:51:00.000-04:00

Of all the books that I've gotten through the blogging review program, this one has to be up near the top of my list. Some of you may remember the blog post I did a while back concerning why I believe dragons once actually existed? Well, apparently I'm not the only one. This book combines all sorts of facts from history with many legends about dragons with verses from the Bible that indicate the existence of dragons at one time (many of those verses are the same ones I used in my post, which you can read here).

However, all that is not why I love this book. I love this book because it is so cleverly constructed. With text at an elementary or jr. high reading level it clearly explains that dragons and dinosaurs may have been one and the same type of creature, making dinosaurs seem even more intriguing than before. It boasts amazing illustrations that even a very young child will be fascinated by. Beyond that, this book has something fun and "hands-on" to do on almost every page.

Page two boasts a page covered in six little envelopes, each with the name of a different country or realm on it (Babylon, Greece, China, America, United Kingdom, and South America). Inside each envelope is a folded piece of nice, glossy paper. Unfold this paper and you can read about a dragon legend that exists (or existed) in that part of the world.

Turn the page and you get to unfold the page and look behind the flap at some pictures of dragons depicted in ancient art. On the other page you can open a small book-within-a-book and read "Eyewitness Accounts and Encounters" - humorously labelled "Open with Caution."

This trend of opening things, lifting flaps, and unfolding pages continues throughout this short, 22-page book.

The true test? My 2.5 year old daughter loves this book. And although I don't let her play with it unsupervised, it is interesting enough that I love reading it to her. (Even if I just read her a paraphrased version, or narrate the pictures for her).

Many thanks to New Leaf Publishing Group for providing this book for review. They did not ask for a positive review, just an honest one. Many thanks to them for their patience as well, as this review should have been up months ago.

Bittersweet Moment

2011-06-14T08:20:00.003-04:00

As of yesterday morning, The Dragon's Eye has been pulled out of circulation (there are, of course, still copies available for the moment through amazon, but only a limited number of copies). I went to my account and changed its status to "incomplete" in preparation for the new version.

It was an oddly bittersweet moment. I mean... the version that is out there is nowhere near as polished. It's not as well thought-through. Certain characters are not as well developed. What I've done in the past year and a half with re-writing and editing has really changed the feel of the book. It's still the same story, but there's a lot more depth there now. There's a direction to the book, which makes sense, since the first version was written before I knew the book would turn into a quadrilogy. I did no outlining for the first book, I had no idea where it was going, I just wrote 10 pages every day and let the story lead me wherever it wanted to go. It was a great ride... and it taught me a lot about writing. It taught me the value of outlining... a great author (I can't remember who it was, it might have been Terry Brooks) once said that you'll either do the work at the beginning of the writing process or at the end... but you'll do the work either way. I love the surprise of letting the story twist and turn on its own, I love the not-knowing exactly where I'm going to end up... but I don't love the re-writing that inevitably follows that sort of writing.

I've since learned that your story can still surprise you, even with an extensive outline to follow. In the midst of the writing process, a character may show up where you didn't expect him to be, and you decide on the fly that it's better this way than the way you had it in your outline, and that's just fine.

If I'm honest with myself, now that I've done all this re-writing, I'm a little embarrassed of the first edition. And yet, it's my first edition. The first truly book-length novel I ever wrote. The first book of mine I ever saw in published format. A lot of hard work went into it getting it written, having a friend design the cover and edit it. I will keep a copy of it on my shelf. But it's time to say "good-bye" to The Dragon's Eye, because I've moved on as a writer. I'm no longer a 19-year old college freshman, and I no longer write like one. This book is the first of a quadrilogy, a series of four books in which my writing style improved and grew and in which I found that all-important writer's "voice." I had to do the re-write to get it up to the standard of the rest of the series. Perhaps if it were a stand-alone I could have let it be. But it isn't, so I can't.

I know it's silly. You're sitting there reading this and scratching your head thinking, "Um... am I missing something? Didn't you just edit your first book? It's not like it's gone."

True.

But it is gone, sort of. Although the characters and the story are the same, so much of it is different inside now that it feels brand new to me. The book isn't The Dragon's Eye anymore, it has truly become a totally different book: King's Warrior.

So keep an eye out, because my goal is to get King's Warrior published this fall and into circulation in time for the holidays! (And maybe a mid-West book tour!) I'll keep you posted on the details of all that, never fear.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings. :)

Second Picture Story Saturdays

2011-06-11T09:02:00.000-04:00

THE LAUNDRY CHUTE ADVENTURE: PART II

“Oh come on, Gwenny! Please!” We chorused convincingly. “We promise we’ll be right behind you.”
    “Cross your hearts and hope to die?” Gwenny glared at us fiercely, binding us to the deepest oath we knew.
    We nodded and promised. After a few more moments of hesitation in order to make certain of our earnesty, Gwenny grinned and headed carefully down into the darkly yawning chasm. When she reached the bottom she whispered the news of her success back to us and we began our cautious descent. One by one we let ourselves down; the older cousins helping the younger cousins reach the floor without incident. Muffled giggles and suppressed laughter filled the little laundry room and woke up Annie and Dannie, the household Labradors. Eager to join in the fun they wriggled and writhed, wagging their tails and pressing their cold, wet noses into our faces.
    After a few minutes of giggling and playing with the dogs, we turned back to the lower end of the laundry chute. What had been our escape route from the orphanage now became our secret tunnel out of the Nazi concentration camp (at least one of us had seen “The Great Escape” a few too many times). The laundry room with its concrete floor and the dog cages and the “instruments of torture” (the washing machine and dryer) was the perfect spot for our new scenario.
    Going up was much harder than going down. It was like climbing up a tunnel slide that was far too steep, and the sides were perfectly flat and straight and offered no purchase to little fingers and toes. Once again the older ones helped the younger ones clamber up the chute by boosting us up into the opening, and then we younger ones reached down and helped pull the older ones up and out of the laundry chute and back into the closet.
    At long last, only valiant Gwenny was left downstairs. Thinking only of her cousins, she had remained below at the very end to help everybody back up the chute. Now she began her own precarious climb. She got up on the washing machine and tried and tried without avail to pull herself up into the laundry chute. It was all but useless, however, with no one left to give her a boost she could not quite pull herself inside. One of the older cousins, Gayle or Wendy, lowered me down headfirst into the opening by my legs and told me to grab Gwenny’s hand. Terrified of heights as I was, I would have walked through fire and jumped from a plane to help save our courageous Gwenny. We could leave no one behind for the evil orphan keeper or the strict Nazis to find and flog! However, even with my five year old body stretched the length of the laundry chute, precariously being hung head-down by my feet and stretching my arms as far as I could, I still could not quite reach Gwenny’s hand. Our fingertips touched for an instant, but that was all. It was then we realized that it would never work.
    Heads older and wiser than ours would have at that point lowered bed sheets down through the chute to pull our stranded friend up the laundry chute; however, we had watched “Annie” that night, not “Anne of Green Gables.” There was no other choice. In order to return to us, Gwenny would have to walk across the basement, climb the stairs, and run the gauntlet: walking directly through the living room where our parents were gathered. There was no other way around, no way to avoid it, and nothing left to do but accept our fate.
    There were no tears. Gwenny lifted her chin and squared her shoulders bravely as she prepared to face this most terrifying fate. Whispering words of encouragement and support, we watched and waited until we heard Gwenny leave the laundry room. In fear and trepidation we listened and imagined we could hear her climbing the wooden steps on the other side of the basement. Then we heard a stir in the room next to us and the voices of our parents grew louder. We heard Gwenny attempting to explain and then we heard the awful footsteps in the hallway approaching the room where we were supposed to be sleeping. The door opened and our parents looked in on seven little girls lying in bed in a semblance of angelic and innocent slumber.
    Afraid for our very lives, we were more than willing to abandon our valiant comrade to her sad demise. With a stern reprimand, Gwenny was told to get in bed and go to sleep, and then the door closed once more. With a quiet sigh, we cautiously cracked our eyes open and peeked at our beloved cousin. She was glaring at us fiercely.
    “Well,” Kim said timidly, “at least it was an adventure!”
    Gwenny and I often fought and sometimes held grudges, but no one could ever stay mad at Kim for long. Gwenny tried to hold a glower for a moment more, but then she began to shake with badly concealed laughter and broke into a wide grin and bounced onto the bed where we whispered and giggled excitedly until one-by-one we drifted off to sleep, exhausted by a full day of daring exploring and dangerous adventures.

June Joke Letter

2011-06-09T08:33:00.000-04:00

I used to send out a JokeLetter once a month via e-mail to my family and friends. It was so much fun, and I miss it, so I'll be doing a monthly joke-blog for your entertainment, starting today.

This month's jokes are for anyone who has ever had a college roommate. I remember these used to make me and my college roommate laugh and laugh... I hope they amuse you as well.

Ways to Confuse Your College Roommate
1.Make brown-bag lunches for your roommate every morning. Give them to him/her before he/she goes to class.

2.Every time you enter the room, sit in a chair, lean back too far, and fall over backwards. Laugh hysterically for about ten minutes. Then, one day, repeat the falling-over exercise, but instead of laughing, get up, look at the chair sternly, and say, "It's not funny anymore."

3. Read with a flashlight when the lights are on. Pretend to read without one when the lights are out, remarking every so often how great the book is.

4.Get a surfboard. Put it on your bed. Stand on it, and pretend to surf for about fifteen minutes. Then, pretend to "wipe out," and fall off the bed onto the floor. Pretend you are drowning until your roommate comes over to "rescue" you.

5.Keep a hamster as a pet. Buy a blender, and make milkshakes every day. Then, one day, get rid of the hamster. Make a shake using a lot of ketchup. When your roommate comes in, look at the shake, look at the empty cage, and tell your roommate, "I was curious."

6.Make toast for breakfast every morning, but don't plug the toaster in. Eat the plain bread, looking at the toaster angrily, and complain that the toaster doesn't know what it's doing. If your roommate suggests plugging it in, go on a tangent about fire-safety hazards.

7.Pack up all of your things and tell your roommate that you're going away to "find yourself." Leave, and come back in about ten minutes. If your roommate asks, explain that you're not a hard person to find.

8.Never speak to your roommate directly. If you need to ask or tell him/her something, go to another room and call him/her on the phone.

9.Every night, before you go to bed, beg your roommate for a glass of water. When he/she brings it, dump it on the floor and immediately go to sleep. If he/she ever refuses to bring you a glass of water, lie on the bed and pretend to be dying of dehydration, making annoying gagging sounds, until he/she does so.

10.Every time the phone rings, turn on the stereo at full volume and throw yourself around the room. If he/she asks about it, say, "Oh, that doggone hypnotist...."

11.Hang a picture of your roommate on the wall. Throw darts at it. Smile at your roommate often, saying things like, "How nice to see you again."

12.Every time your roommate falls asleep, wait ten minutes, and then wake him/her up and say, "It's time to go to bed now."

13.Insist that your roommate recite the "Pledge Of Allegiance" with you every morning.

14.Recite "Dr. Seuss" books, all the time. Eventually, think up melodies for the words and sing them, loudly, directly to your roommate. If he/she tells you to stop, act offended and spend the day in bed.

15.Put up traffic signs around the room. If your roommate doesn't obey them, give him/her tickets. Confiscate something your roommate owns until he/she pays the tickets.

16.Wear glasses, and complain that you can never see anything. Bump into walls and doors. Put your clothes on backwards. Say, "Who's that?" every time your roommate enters the room. When you're not wearing the glasses, act like you can see fine.

17.Buy a lava lamp. Stare at it for hours, imitating its movements with your face. Explain to your roommate that you have established a connection with the spirit world through the lava lamp. Tell your roommate that "Grandma said hi."

18.Keep empty jars on the shelf. Tell your roommate that this is your collection of "inert gases." Look at them often. One day, act surprised and angered and accuse your roommate of having released one of the gases. Cover your nose and mouth and run out of the room.

19.Rollerskate up and down the hallway. Every time you see your roommate, crash into him/her and knock him/her down. Apologize, and say that he/she looked like "the enemy."

20. Get a pet rabbit. At a designated time every day, take the rabbit into the hallway and engage in loud shouting matches. If your roommate inquires, refuse to discuss the situation.

21.Offer to shake hands, all the time. Immediately afterwards, go to the bathroom and wash your hands for about half an hour. If your roommate inquires, tell him/her, "Better to be safe than sorry."

22.Use your VCR as a toaster, stuffing bread or pop-tarts into it every morning. When you eat them, complain that something doesn't taste quite right. Adjust the tracking on your VCR, and from then on rave about how good the food is.

23.Keep a plant by your telephone. Every time you enter the room, ask the plant if anybody called. Complain to your roommate that the plant has been making up wild stories about important phone calls.

24.Get a Pet Rock. Sleep with it, and read it bedtime stories. Every night, as soon as you turn out the light, start screaming at the top of your lungs. Explain to your roommate that the rock is afraid of the dark.

25. Stuff yourself into a big plastic bag. Tell your roommate that you've contracted a rare case of the Bulgarian Measels, and you're now being quarantined by the Health Center.

26.Get a sponge and draw a face on it. Take it to class with you. Let the sponge help you with your homework. Leave notes to your roommate from the sponge, accusing your roommate of not living up to his/her academic potential.

27. Trash the room when your roommate's not around. Then leave and wait for your roommate to come back. When he/she does, walk in and act surprised. Say, "Uh-oh, it looks like, THEY, were here again."

28. Set your roommate's bed on fire. Apologize and explain that you've been watching too much T.V. Do it again. Tell him/her that you're not sorry because this time, they deserved it.

29. Bring in potential "new" roommates from around campus. Give them tours of the room and the building. Have them ask about your roommate in front of him/her, and reply, "Oh, him/her? He/she won't be here much longer."

30. Pile dirty dishes in your roommate's bed. Insist that you don't know how they got there.

31. Buy a plant. Sleep with it at night. Talk to it. After a few weeks, start to argue with it loudly. Then yell, "I can't live in the same room with you," storm out of the room and slam the door. Get rid of the plant, but keep the pot. Refuse to discuss the plant ever again.

32. Complain that your elbows, knees, and other joints have been bothering you. Get a screwdriver, and pretend to "fix" them.

33. Wear scary Halloween masks. Look in the mirror and scream hysterically for about five minutes every time you put one on.

34. Dress like a military officer. Insist that your roommate salute you upon sight. If he/she refuses, insist that he/she do 100 push-ups. Keep saying things like, "Your momma isn't here to take care of you any more."

35. Spread toothpicks all over the floor. Stare at them, acting like you're trying to read something. Tell your roommate it's a message, but you're not sure whether it's a warning about a loved one in danger or a recipe for really great chili.

36. Keep a goldfish in your room. Watch it for hours, writing down all of its movements and actions in a notebook. Then, one day, stuff the notebook in the fish bowl, and write down all of its movements and actions on the fish. If your roommate asks, explain that the notebook is a lot easier to keep track of, and doesn't eat nearly as much.

37. Set your alarm for any time during the day. When it goes off, immediately go to bed, letting the alarm clock continue ringing or buzzing until your roommate turns it off. When he/she does, get up and go about your normal daily business.

38. Put an umbrella up, over your bed. Sleep underneath it at night. If your roommate asks about it, respond by saying, "A storm's a-brewin'." Then, one night, get a bucket of water and dump it on your roommate while he/she is sleeping. Get back into bed. If your roommate asks about the incident, claim that you don't know what happened.

39. Every time your roommate walks in yell, "Hooray! You're back!" as loud as you can and dance around the room for five minutes. Afterwards, keep looking at your watch and saying, "Shouldn't you be going somewhere?"

40. Draw a tiny, black spot on your arm. Make it bigger every day. Look at it and say, "It's spreading, it's spreading."

41. Collect hundreds of pens and pile them on one side of the room. Keep one pencil on the other side of the room. Laugh at the pencil.

42. Remove the door to your room and mail it to your roommate's parents, postage due.

Progress Report

2011-06-07T08:32:00.001-04:00

About a week ago I finished my second-to-last edit of the rewrite of "King's Warrior."

I have been doing a happy dance ever since. This was the edit where I one of my editors was going through and checking for redundancies, awkward wording, anywhere I used the same word or phrase too often, and just general clean-up of the re-written story - also, he went through and made sure that everything fit with the other books in the series, made sure that my characters and story were consistent with their future selves.

Next steps:
1. hand my book to my other editor, and have her go through checking for typos/grammatical errors/punctuation mishaps.
2. Go through and fix anything she finds.

Meanwhile: approve the final cover art (not the art, actually, more the text on the cover... the art is SPECTACULAR, I can't wait for you all to get to see it!!!!)

Goal Date: Ready for publication by August 26th. Can we make it? Only time will tell!!!

In other news: our production company FINALLY has a name!!! Woot! Will reveal the new name shortly.

Second Picture Story Saturdays

2011-06-04T08:49:00.000-04:00

It's time for another excerpt from SECOND PICTURE STORIES...

The Laundry Chute

It had been a long day, and eight little girls who should have been tired were being put in their pajamas and told to go to sleep. Our parents lined us up lengthwise on Grandma and Grandpa Walker’s four-poster bed, and left us with two very simple decrees: go to sleep, and do not, under any circumstances, slide down the laundry-chute. This latter mandate may seem odd, but not when one understands the nature of Grandma and Grandpa Walker’s laundry-chute.
    It was a secret tunnel, a slide, a doorway into the magical lands of…. The Basement. Ok, it was little more than a hole in the floor of their closet that dropped down on top of the washing machine in the laundry room, but to eight little girls all under the age of ten, it was a portal to new and exciting worlds. Sometimes we pretended it led to Narnia, on other days it might lead to another dimension, but tonight it looked even more perfect and tantalizing than ever. The laundry chute must have been somewhat larger than most others I have seen since then, or perhaps we were just that little, but the laundry chute made the perfect sized-slide for us… if you didn’t mind breaking both your ankles upon emerging at the bottom and landing on the washing machine. We never slid down it with reckless abandon; you had to have at least some sort of caution on these sorts of adventures… quests… things.
    As soon as the door closed on us and our parents crept down the hall to go sit around the fireplace and chat, mayhem ensued. We had been allowed to watch “Annie” just before bed, and the story had ignited our imaginations.
    “I get to be Pepper!” Gwenny shouted excitedly (it’s amazing we never alerted our parents to the fact that we were not “going to sleep,” we must have been loud enough to wake the neighbors at least, if not the dead).
    Her announcement was met by more than a few groans and “not fairs!” but she had called it first and there was not much we could do about it. A chorus of little voices chimed up quickly as each of us picked a different character. Nobody really wanted to be Annie, living in a nice house and being taken care of by people who love you? We all had that already; the true adventure was living in a dirty orphanage with an evil orphan keeper and a dozen other rowdy orphans. Starving to death, working our fingers to the bone, dreaming of escape… it seemed quite a romantic existence to our childish opinions. Spurning the idea of being Annie, each of us secretly wished to be just like Pepper: rough, tough, and perfectly capable of taking care of herself.
    We danced around on the bed for a while singing, “It’s a Hard-Knock Life” at the tops of our lungs. We pushed and shoved and tickled each other and after a very short amount of time our antics erupted into a full-fledged pillow fight. Eventually we collapsed on the bed and the floor giggling hysterically and gasping for breath.
    I don’t remember whose idea it was, but in less time than it takes to say we all became reverently silent. Someone had audaciously suggested that we try to climb down the laundry chute. The closet door was tantalizingly cracked open. Sliding off the bed and pushing the door open even wider we quietly gathered in solemn wonder and gazed at the gaping black maw of the abyss.
    Kimmy and Keri quickly caught onto the idea, “We could pretend it’s a secret passageway leading out of the orphanage!” One of them said.
    “Yeah!” We agreed heartily, the idea seeming far too perfect to be real.
    “Gwenny could go first and then…”
    “No! Oh no.” Gwenny said adamantly, bringing our dreaming to an abrupt halt.
    I couldn’t really blame her, and neither could anyone else. Being the most daring and adventurous of all of us, Gwenny was often talked into doing quite dangerous and risky things merely on the promise that “if she went first, we would follow.” However, we had failed to hold up our end of the bargain too many times for her to be talked into breaking the trail for us without question. On a similar occasion at a previous date, Gwenny had braved the laundry chute by herself, only to find that she had no followers. We could understand her reluctance to repeat such a venture.

**********

Will the cousins venture down the laundry chute? Will they get caught by the evil orphan keeper? Will someone break a leg?

Find out next week on.... SECOND PICTURE STORIES SATURDAY

Two Book Reviews

2011-06-02T08:26:00.000-04:00

I posted this over at my other blog, but figured I could post them over here as well:

Two book reviews

Heaven is For Real - Todd Burpo
Safe in the Arms of God - John MacArthur

I told you a few weeks ago that I had read “Heaven is For Real” by Todd Burpo. It’s a story about Todd’s 3 year old son whose appendix ruptured and who almost died. While in surgery, Colton experienced 3 minutes in Heaven. It was months before his parents realized this, months of hearing their son say strange things, thinking that his Sunday school teachers were really doing a truly exceptional job, and finally realizing that their son had experienced something extraordinary.

He claimed to have met Jesus, John the Baptist (who, apparently is “really nice”), his dad’s grandpa (whom he had never met and never really been told about), and his sister who died before she was born (his mom had a miscarriage they had not told Colton about).

Sounds crazy, right? That’s what I thought. Then I read the book. Skeptically, of course. It is an amazing story. I don’t know if it’s a true story. I don’t know if I believe it. But I’d like to. I’d like to believe that this pastor is not just making this story up. The Scripture throughout the book is sound. The story presents the Gospel, as well as many amazing thoughts about Heaven, as presented by a very young child.

Am I still skeptical? Yes. Do I want to believe Colton’s story, presented in this book by his father? Yes. Does the book make me look forward to Heaven more as a truly “real” place? Yes, in fact, it does.

I recommend it. If you have lost a child, or anyone close to you to Heaven, I’ll warn you now, it’s a tear-jerker of a read. But it is also an encouraging and uplifting read.

The other book I’ve read in the wake of Hope’s death has been “Safe in the Arms of God” by John MacArthur.

While I want to believe the story in “Heaven is For Real” - I find “Safe in the Arms of God” to be far more encouraging. It reads more like a Bible study, although it isn’t. It’s John MacArthur’s personal Bible study that he has done to find Scriptural evidence that babies who die before they are born, stillborn babies, babies who die shortly after they are born, very young toddlers, and people who never mature mentally past early childhood go to Heaven and are safe in the arms of Jesus. It is a short read, it is an easy read (though not as easy a read as “Heaven is For Real”), and it is theologically sound as far as I can tell from what I’ve looked up and read as I studied MacArthur’s study.

This book is the Scriptural evidence for something I have always believed, but didn’t know (because I hadn’t done the Scriptural research) WHY I believed it. Presented clearly, honestly, and with a vast number of Scriptural references (most of which I have looked up myself now and read commentaries on in order to make sure I wasn’t just taking for truth something that wasn’t), this book is definitely something I would recommend to anyone who has had a miscarriage, lost a baby or very young child, or anyone who has a child with a disability that makes it so they will not mature mentally past the capabilities of a young child. All are included in this book (though it focuses primarily on parents who have lost a child). I would also recommend this to you if you know anyone who is in the above categories.

Map

2011-05-31T08:39:00.001-04:00

This is the map of Grayden's world (the new book I'm working on... I've posted some excerpts of the story before). Just wanted to show you an example of the kind of effort that goes into creating a world before a word is even written!

What to Post, What to Post...

2011-05-30T09:16:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to get back into posting on here 1-3 times a week. The problem is, I sometimes feel like I run out of content, or I wonder if anybody is even interested in reading anything I post over here? I know I won't get any comments, but I figured I'd throw this post out there, on the off-chance that somebody actually has an opinion and decides to share it...

What would you like to see me write about on here? Is there something I've done in the past that you'd like to see more of? A question (or list of questions) you'd like me to answer? Something you've seen on another blog that you'd like to see me write about (author-related stuff of course)? Something I haven't written about that you'd like me to?

My personal blog is so much easier. I just throw up a picture of my 2 year old and the hits skyrocket! Not that I'm actually all that interested in being read... but in case someone is reading, and would like to be less bored... here's your chance to tell me!

Kamarie

2011-05-27T09:06:00.000-04:00

Of course, a few days AFTER I post my pictures of who I think could play the characters in my book, inspiration strikes!

We went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides last week, and it struck me that
Astrid Berges-Frisbey

looks far more like the Kamarie I've always pictured than Bonnie Wright.

For one thing, she wouldn't have to dye her hair. And for another, even after being in Pirates, she's still kind of a no-name, she hasn't been in much at all. And, she's got a pretty cool Spanish accent.

Now, she's about 5 years older than Skandar Keynes... but I think she looks younger than she is, and it wouldn't be hard to make Skandar look a little older.

What do y'all think? Bonnie or Astrid?

So sorry

2011-05-26T19:21:00.000-04:00

I do apologize for my lack of posting/intermittent posting. I'm hoping to be back on schedule soon. I've been sick/had some medical stuff going on, then we had family visiting, and I've been working on THREE big writing projects like the Mad Hatter... so really haven't had the time for posting that I normally have. However, I do promise to get back here ASAP (or at least as soon as life slows back down a bit, if that ever happens!)

Meet the Cast of "The Dragon's Eye"

2011-05-20T08:16:00.002-04:00

I've seen a few other authors do this on their blogs, and it looked like fun. It's a blog, complete with pictures, where the author "introduces" his or her readers to the cast of his or her book. Bear in mind, that this is the way that I picture my characters. It is the cast I would choose if my book was being made into a movie in the next 1-5 years and if I were in charge of the casting decisions (and had unlimited funds and the ability to ensure each of these actors would say, "Sure! I'd love to play.... in the movie based on your book!"

Alrighty, without further ado... let me introduce you to my characters (just the major ones):

King Arnaud

I chose Sean Bean for this role partially because he has the look I'm going for, and partially because I love him as an actor. (And it'd be nice to see him as the "good guy" for once)

Queen Zara

Dylanna was harder, because I wanted someone who has a semi-ageless look, but who could conceivably be around King Arnaud's age as well. I really liked Elisabeth Shue in "Dreamer" and the role of Zara is somewhat similar to the role she plays in that movie.

Dylanna

The four wizardesses were hard, because I want them to look as though they could be sisters, and yet they have to be fairly different as well. I've only seen Kate Magowan in "Stardust," where she plays a fairly minor role, but she definitely has the right look.

Leila

Ok, honestly, this is mostly because I really like Stana Katic. However, I think she has the right look for Leila, and she could easily be related to the other wizardesses.

Calyssia

There has never been a doubt in my mind what Calyssia looks like. As the oldest of the four sisters, I think Michelle Pfeiffer could definitely do her justice (and she has lots of experience playing in fantasy roles). Yes, we did just recently watch "Stardust" but my personal favorite movie with Michelle Pfeiffer is "LadyHawke."

Ok, moving on:

Princess Kamarie

She's always been hard for me to picture in any actress, and I hadn't even thought about Bonnie Wright, but after several people mentioned her I definitely think she comes the closest to any actress I've seen. I think she could also pull off the personality.

Oraeyn

I'm still not sure about this one, but I love Skandar Keynes He has experience in a fantasy-esque role, and he has the right look. He's the same age as Bonnie Wright as well, which works quite nicely.

Yole

I've looked at a few different options for Yole, but I think Freddie Highmore works the best. He looks younger than Kamarie and Oraeyn, but still old enough that you could believe he could fend for himself on the streets (and possibly end up being a lost dragon).

Tobias

Much more of a secondary character, but as King Seamas' closest adviser and friend, I needed someone with presence, and with the "look" of the Dark Country. And besides, what's a good fantasy movie without Karl Urban in it?

Alright, on to the Big Three:

Kiernan Kane

As soon as he was mentioned I realized he was perfect. I had thought about James Marsters as well, but I like Paul Bettany better for the role... as I know he can do serious as well as silly.

Seamas

This one took me a while, but inspiration hit the other night and I realized that Steve Bacic is the perfect Seamas. You can almost believe that he could have been a good guy had circumstances been different... in fact, you probably want him to be a good guy... which makes his journey to the "dark side" all the more tragic. And even better, you can believe he is related to the actor I've picked for Brant.

And last, but certainly not least:

Brant

The minute I saw him it was as though my imagined picture of Brant had sprung to life. After watching all 5 seasons of "Angel" I'm convinced that David Boreanaz was born to play Brant. He can do the fighting, he can do the brooding, he can even do the quirky, silent smile that you're never certain you actually saw...

Future Post

2011-05-10T13:41:00.000-04:00

Make sure to stop by my fanpage where I'm running a challenge. The challenge is to pick one or more characters from my book and tell me who you'd cast to play them in a movie if you were in charge of that decision.

Then keep an eye out on my blog, for I will be introducing my characters in about a week or so, complete with pictures, using my own list of who I would cast to play each of my main and secondary characters in "The Dragon's Eye." (astbka (also soon to be known as) "King's Warrior") :)

So make sure you get your list in! Who knows? You might even get a few of them right!

Poetry Corner

2011-05-09T07:25:00.001-04:00

Five-Year-Old Gardening 4-24-02

When the rain ends
the white dandelions
– tufts of fluff –
begin to stretch out again
peeking their eyes open
to make sure
the rain is gone.

I wait, patiently curious
until the sun has dried them out,
then I snatch up the weed
and blow,
so hard that I need to gasp
again for breath.

The tiny bits of flower float off
dancing merrily away from me.
I am satisfied.
I have helped mom
with the weeding.

I return to my play,
never suspecting
that I have just planted
twenty-five new weeds.

~Jenelle Schmidt

Flashback Friday

2011-05-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

Instead of Freebie Friday, today I thought I'd share with you one of my earliest attempts at writing fantasy. :) It's pretty ... um... sad, but you know, you have to start somewhere!

Prologue

He could not go on, but he had to; for the sake of the kingdom and for the lives of everyone he had ever known or loved. And so, on he rode. He raced as if pursued by every worst nightmare that had ever been dreamed, and in truth, he may have been.

"I seek an audience with the King of Ramricte. His Majesty the King Reidon," the exhausted man gasped as he flung himself from his weary horse. Though it was against all regulations, the Captain of the Guard could be flexible. Even though this young boy was a stranger, had given no passwords, and had not even asked politely, there was something in his brown eyes that made the Captain look twice.

The Captain of the Guard was known throughout the kingdom for what people called his “sixth sense.” He often acted on instinct and impulse, but he was also known for getting results and for being right. He trusted his instinct and that, more than his marvelous skills at horsemanship and in combat, had gotten him his title. He was a man of thought and a man of action, and these two traits had gotten him and the King’s army safely out of many dangerous situations.

    He sensed now that this youth, a young man of perhaps twenty years, had urgent news that the King needed to hear. So, without a word, the Captain led the boy into the throne room.

   "Who comes to me on such a fine day?" The King asked cheerfully, looking at the man whom the Captain of the Guard had brought before him. The boy was tall, with fine, strong features. His cheekbones were high, and he had a look of nobility in his eyes. He walked as one acquainted with the outdoors and he wore the sword at his side as if he had been born with it strapped to him.

"It is a fine day, but it is not fine tidings nor fine reasons that bring me into your council Your Majesty, it is I, Jorge." His voice was deep, clear, and full of strength.

The King started. That name was the last one he had expected and it struck him in the heart: the name of his son, the Crown Prince of Ramricte. Reidon loved his son, and had been deeply wounded when he was forced to sign the charges that had been brought against the prince nearly five years past.

"You were exiled from this kingdom and disinherited from the throne for your wanton act of horse thievery, a crime that stands just below murder." Reidon said, as sternly as he could, still not able to believe the words that he was compelled to say. Horses were the most valuable resource in Ramricte and horse thieves were punished severely, no matter whose son they were.

"A sin I did not commit father. But that is not what I came to discuss with you. Believe me, I would rather stay away a hundred years than shame my family. I came back because Horneblend marches this way, his troops number near ten thousand. His blue and white banners march only a two days' journey from here. Either evacuate or fight, father, but whatever you choose, I had to come and warn you in time to get the women and children out."

   The King's features softened, "We shall evacuate the women and children, we may have time. But Ramricte has never surrendered in its long history. We will fight."

Chapter One

Adrianna Stanton was not a fairy tale princess. Indeed, she seemed anything but. She was the normal daughter of normal parents who worked hard for a living and made it by with few luxuries. Life had never been perfect for them, but it had never been too hard either.

Adrianna was a very mature child for her ten years of age. She could be sent on practically any errand and be trusted not to wander about, but to carry out instructions and come directly home. It was on one such errand that Adrianna had a somewhat unpleasant encounter that she would later be grateful for.

She had gone into the market to buy some flour, her mother was baking bread, when trumpets had started blowing, and men had started shouting, "Make way! Make way for the Princess!"

Everything had been in confusion as people scrambled to get out of the way of the guards. But Adrianna, confused and awed, had become rooted to the ground in the middle of the path as she stared, spellbound, at the approaching wonder.

Coming towards her was a parade of sorts. In front were armed guards, marching in time, carrying dangerous looking swords and dressed in sparkling armor, with medallions of every shape, size, and color clinking and clanging against the armor. Behind them was a litter made out of what appeared to be gold, with a roof and beautiful silk curtains of more colors than Adrianna could name. Surrounding the litter and its bearers was an escort of seven guards on horseback, and what horses! They took Adrianna's breath away, the prancing, spirited, proud animals held in check by nothing more than a few pieces of leather and metal.

She was jerked out of her daze as a guard pushed her roughly out of the way. She fell with a startled cry, more surprised than hurt. She was angry; no one had ever treated her in such a fashion. She was about to jump at the guard when a voice commanded with authority, "HALT! Bring her to me."

"My lady," the guard stammered, "She is a ruffian, a peasant, a dirty little orphan causing trouble."

"I am NOT an orphan and I'm not dirty!" Adrianna cried in outrage.

    "You dare question my authority?" The princess, for it was indeed the princess, asked the guard, arching an eyebrow and staring haughtily at the guard.

    "N-no my l-lady," he said. Hurriedly, and not too gently, he pushed Adrianna towards the princess.

    "What is your name, child?" The princess asked kindly.

    The little girl gazed up at the young princess in wonder. The princess was only about a year older than herself, but the differences between them were distinct. The princess wore a dress of bright blue silk, made with much more material than anyone needed for one garment. Her face was perfect and her mannerisms were dainty. But they stared at each other with the same direct and royal gaze, neither one willing to break that gaze first.

    "We asked you a question." The princess said, breaking the cool air between them.

    Adrianna suddenly became aware of what she had been doing and who she was in the world,
"Adrianna, Highness." She answered, curtsying slightly.

    Knowing she had won, the princess smiled, "We will not forget you, Adrianna. If we can ever make up for our guard's rude behavior towards you, you have only to ask."

    "Thank you, Highness." Adrianna said, almost matching the princess’ cool tone.

    "Drive on!" The princess ordered in a voice that said any further conversation was not about to happen. The guards marched forward shouting their usual call of "Make way!"

    Adrianna stood looking after them until they were out of sight. She was bewildered and confused. First the Princess Kalinda offered to make up for what her guard had done, and then she acted as if nothing had happened and Adrianna was just a peasant once more. Suddenly she was crowded around by people who had watched the whole exchange. They clamored at her for what the Princess had said to her and why? And they asked her over and over what exactly had happened, and what had she said? Suddenly Adrianna felt very small and she did not like the feeling at all. She felt like she was a nobody in the eyes of everyone. She was nothing more than a little peasant girl who had gotten in the way and had to be dealt with before word got out that the Royal Guards went around pushing and harming civilians. Adrianna fled from the marketplace towards home, determined to forget the days' events, to forget even that this day had even happened.

Back Story for Grayden's Tale

2011-05-04T09:05:00.000-04:00

Don't want to give away too much. I haven't decided if this back story is worthy of its own book, or if I should just weave it into Grayden's story... I like both ideas equally at the moment. Here is some of the story behind Dalmir - this is more of an outline - lets you see my thinking process a little:

The world is at war - One of the Kings involved in the war has seven sons. It is customary for all the royal family to at some point go to the Library and study. However, the king sends all 7 of his sons at this point to try to find some wisdom or knowledge regarding their desperate situation and how to bring about peace to their land.

7 sons go to the Library (which is located somewhere off the mainland). While studying at the Library guests may eat from the fruit trees to sustain themselves, they may drink of the river to quench their thirst and they may read from any book in the Library. They may ask the Librarian (a woman... some sort of fairy folk) for assistance. However, the two rules of the Library are that you are not to eat from the silver tree, nor are you to drink from the waters of the crystal lake.

Uun (the middle brother) breaks both these rules - he is the “man of action” and he believes that the rules of the Library are meant to be broken. After 3-4 days of reading and studying in the Library, he is restless and eager for some bigger solution. He justifies and rationalizes the danger his people are in until he absolutely believes that the silver tree and the lake are there for the very courageous, and that by breaking the rules he may gain the knowledge and wisdom and perhaps power that is needed to save his people and bring his father the answer he needs. So, he gathers up fruit from the silver tree and a pouch of water from the lake and serves the “forbidden meal” to himself and his brothers (who do not realize what they are eating and drinking).

As they consume the food and drink, the floor begins to quake and the Librarian appears. She tells them that since they disobeyed the rules, they are no longer welcome in the Library. She informs them that because of their transgression, the Library is closing and tells them that they must now bear the responsibility of the Library for all time.

The brothers return and discover that they have been imbued with magic and as time passes and they do not grow older they realize they have also been given immortality. Gradually ascending in power, the 7 brothers (now wizards) become the advisers and eventual leaders of the people. They begin to build/create Universities (smaller versions of the Library they destroyed). They reign/advise/teach for 5000 years of peace and knowledge (the Enlightened Age).

The brothers see their punishment as a blessing. They are able to help people. They have each other for company. They have power and magic and respect. However, unbeknownst to all of them, Uun sees, and has always seen, their punishment as an unfair curse. At last, he decides to do something about it.

Poetry Corner

2011-05-02T09:05:00.002-04:00

I really enjoy writing Style poetry. The following is a Shakespearean Sonnet. 14 lines, with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg, in iambic pentameter (10 syllables per line following an unstressed/stressed pattern). I find it fun to "write within the rules" when it comes to poetry... I know, I am a bit insane. Thought it fitting considering the proximity of Easter, to post this one.

He Shook off the Dusty Grave

In dark and creeping mist they hung him high,
His crimson teardrops flowed to heal the land,
This man, the Son of God, they crucified,
Forgiveness in his eyes and outstretched hands.
The Prince of Glory on a rugged cross
Its rough and splintered wood tore at his flesh,
In darkened day creation mourned its loss
He cleansed mankind from sin with his distress.
A crystal tear dripped down from Heaven’s clouds
Then trumpets called from Glory’s highest throne;
Embracing life, his steps were firm and proud
The Lord of life arose to claim his own.
A ring of gold replacing cruel thorns,
With radiant light, his brow this crown adorns.

Synopsis

2011-04-29T09:05:00.000-04:00

Alright, so, as many of you know, I am working on a new story (possibly a new series, we'll see where it goes). Thought you might be interested in some insight into my writing process today I will give you a very short synopsis as to what this new story is about (kind of like what you'd get if you picked the book up in the bookstore, flipped it over, and read the back cover). Next week, I'll give you some of the back-story, the place where we started this writing endeavor (many of the ideas for this new story are from my husband, hence the "we" there). I rarely ever write completely alone - I need people to bounce ideas off of... thankful my family is so willing to be my sounding board so often!

Ok, so, this new story, so far, is called "Grayden's Tale" - but that's just my working title... will come up with a better one later on. Here's the short synopsis so far:

In the small village of Dalsea lives a young man named Grayden. He and his best friend, Wynn, have recently been accepted to the Academy, a training ground for warriors. As they begin their journey away from everything familiar into the vast unknown of the future, they take with them all their doubts about leaving home and their excitement about a new adventure.

On the eve before they embark on their long journey across the country to the Academy, however, Grayden discovers an old man living high up in the mysterious tower on the outskirts of town, a tower everyone thought long abandoned. The old man, Dalmir, is angry with Grayden for disturbing his quiet contemplation. Despite his anger, something makes him come down from his tower, and invite himself along on Grayden and Wynn’s journey to the Academy.

Traveling with this enigmatic old man, whose face and energy bely his white hair and beard, Grayden and Wynn aren’t sure what to think. They find themselves awed and a little frightened of him, as well as curious about how he has managed to survive at the top of the tower without anyone seeing him or knowing about him for all these years.
As they travel through cities, fly in the amazing airships, and get hijacked by pirates - turning their journey into a far greater adventure than they ever hoped for - the two young country boys begin to grow up into the realization that the world is more vast and complex than they ever dreamed.

Guest Writer - Laughter is Good for the Soul

2011-04-27T09:00:00.001-04:00

When we were up in Washington visiting my brother and sister-in-law, I was trying to work on my newest book (I've been posting snippets here and there on this blog you can go here or here if you need a refresher on what the story is sort of about). I had hit a wall (momentary writer's block) and so I asked Grant if he had any ideas for me. My brother is very creative, and has often been someone I can bounce ideas off of. Here's the direction he recommended I go with my story... what do you think?



    “Rambo will take you there.”
    “Oh good I feel much better with Rambo taking me there. You imbecile why would I let some homicidal ex marine touting a 60 cal take me anywhere?”
    “Well, he’s gotten better.”
    “Oh goood, he’s gotten better. Now I’m all relieved and like ‘cheerio’ let’s go adventuring. You’re all da da da da let’s go find Bambi and tell him that Flower’s caught the SNIFFLES! It’s all over the mountain and through the woods from here. All mai tais and yahtzee eh? All lead pipe cinch, eh? All biscuits and gravy? All add the cream and hold the sugar? Well let me tell you I didn’t graduate out of pull-ups to be bibbed around by some maniacal man suffering from.. from a lot of angst! All this pubecent rage! All this teenage mad at my father syndrome. SHAME ON THEM!!!... no... I’m leaving.... and I’m taking the monkey with me!

I think it fits rather well with the overall theme, don't you? Did I mention that my whole family has a rather odd sense of humor? I love it. Sometimes you just need a little laughter in your life... helps you knock over those writer's block walls.

I believe excerpts and bits and pieces of First Blood, Bambi, The Grinch (Jim Carrey version), and The Rock were used in the creating of this post... (possible other references that I can't place at the moment), but considering how completely out-of-context they are and the major changes made to them... I think they fall under the "Fair Use" category, don't you?

Poetry Corner

2011-04-25T08:00:00.001-04:00

Welcome back to Poetry Corner Monday! Sorry I was quiet last week. Had some... rough stuff going on...

In the vein of focusing on Kiernan Kane (my dad's favorite character in my quadrilogy), here's a song he sings in one of the books: (I believe it's the third one, based on the date)

Kiernan’s Song 6-25-04

The minstrel draws you
The minstrel calls you
The minstrel beckons
Come listen, come hear.

When the days turn dark
And the firelight dim 
When cold are your hearts
Come listen to him.

The minstrel sings
And strums his strings
Let your heart take wings
Come listen, come hear.

When the road seems long
When your strength is gone
You’ve forgotten his song
Come listen, draw near.

Let the minstrel remind you
With his song let him find you
From the darkness unbind you
Come listen, come hear.

The minstrel draws you
The minstrel calls you
The minstrel beckons
Come listen, come near.

An Interview with Kiernan Kane

2011-04-18T08:00:00.003-04:00

Taking a week off from Poetry Corner Monday...

One of the groups I am in, Breakout Books, is doing character interviews. I thought this was a fun idea, so I joined the party. I thought I'd go ahead and post the interview here on my blog as well. Enjoy! (BB stands for Breakout Books, KK stands for Kiernan Kane) They will be posting this interview on the Breakout Books Facebook page on April 27th.

Author Name: Jenelle Leanne Schmidt
Book Title: The Dragon’s Eye
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Eye-Jenelle-Leanne-Schmidt/dp/1419602012/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1302634056&sr=8-2

BB: Tell us your name and a little bit about yourself. 

KK: My name is Kiernan Kane. I am a wandering minstrel, and I have seen much of the world. I have sung in palaces and in marketplaces, for kings and commoners. I have a flair for the dramatic, and enjoy amusing people and making them laugh. I am in love with a wizardess, and although I believe she loves me in return, she refuses to admit it because she fears that she would be forced to watch me grow old and die while she stayed young and beautiful. However, there is more to me than meets the eye.

BB: What role do you play in your book? 

KK: I play the role of a minstrel. I tell stories, sing songs, and get swept up in an adventure with the other characters almost through complete chance. Or at least, that is what they all believe...

BB: How did you meet your author? 

KK: I was introduced to my author through inspiration she received from a song by Gordon Lightfoot called “Minstrel of the Dawn.” It inspired in her a desire to have a seemingly amusing, nonsensical character who was something of a troubadour, but ended up being far more than that in later books.

BB: Do you get along with your author?

KK:  We get along very well. However, I annoy her constantly by popping up in places where she did not intend for me to be yet, or by doing things she did not plan to have me do. I am the character that most often “writes himself” in her books. However, while she claims to be exasperated with me over this, I think she secretly enjoys the fact that I do some of the work for her!

BB: Is this your first role in a publication? 

KK: Yes.

BB: Do you plan on returning in other books? 

KK: I do. And I have. I show up in the Prequel to this book, “Dawn of the Dragon’s Eye” and play an integral role in the two sequels, “Twilight of the Dragon’s Eye” and “The Minstrel.”

BB: Do you like how you were written?  

KK: I love it. I am acrobatic, fun-loving, hilarious and much deeper than I seem. Throughout the quadrilogy, I constantly get to pester and aggravate Brant (one of the other main characters) and he is often very close to furious with me... which I find to be great fun, and very useful. He is the sort of person who must do things because it is in his character to do them, and not because anyone tells him to.

BB: What is the most interesting thing that happened to you in this book? 

KK: That is a difficult question to answer. I would have to say that the most interesting thing was the battle between Llycaelon and Aom-igh, and getting to witness first-hand the duel that ended the battle. But in addition to that, I got to travel with the Princess of Aom-igh, meet the last remaining wizardesses in the world, saw dragons return to the surface of Aom-igh after centuries of living below ground in great tunnels, and saw a king abdicate his throne to a young hero. There was plenty to keep me entertained throughout my journey.

BB: Who is your favorite character in your book, besides yourself? Why? 

KK: I would have to say Brant. He is the main character in this series, and while I do annoy him constantly, there is a brotherhood of shared experiences and mutual respect that grows between us throughout the series. I even get invited to his wedding in the third book!

BB: Is there anything we should know about you that we haven't been told in your book? 

KK: I am not just a minstrel. But other than that, I can’t tell you anything that wouldn’t ruin the surprise at the end of the series.

BB: How do you feel about the way your story ended? 

KKI am very satisfied with the way my story ends. I feel that it wraps up very nicely, and though there are struggles and tragedies and sorrows along the way, I do enjoy a story that ends well.

BB: Thank you, Kiernan Kane, for agreeing to meet with us and chat a little bit about yourself. It has been very enlightening.

Freebie Friday

2011-04-15T08:25:00.000-04:00

Another excerpt from my new project: Grayden's Tale (which is just my working title) - it's the same one I've been posting excerpts from for a while now...

******

The first rays of sunlight crept over the horizon, illuminating the thin layer of frost that covered the ground. Each blade of grass glistened in the nacreous light of dawn. As the sun rose higher in the sky, the warmth of its rays gradually melted the frost into crystal beads of water.

    The village was draped in garlands of late-summer flowers. Unlit lanterns lined the walkways of the town. Multi-colored ribbons fluttered from various doorways and were wrapped around fence posts, swaying gently in the morning breeze. The town was a veritable wash of color and cheer.

    “Grayden! Wake up! Wake up! Today is Harvest Festival.”

    Grayden groaned and threw an arm above his head, squeezing his eyes shut and pulling his blanket over his face. He did not know what time it was, but he was certain it was earlier than he wanted it to be. A small, but powerful force landed on his stomach.

    “Oof,” he grunted.

    The covers were pulled back and he squinted blearily into a pair of bright green eyes. He sighed, he would never get back to sleep now.

    “What time is it, Seren?”

    “I don’t know, but the sun is up. Today is the big celebration.”

    “I know, Seren. Do you know what happens today?”

    “We celebrate the harvest, and we throw a party for you and Wynn.”

    “And we also generally rest, Seren. That means we get to sleep in.”

    “I slept in... well, a little. Mother said I couldn’t wake you until the sun was all the way up, I waited a whole hour.”

    Grayden grinned, “Well, for that incredible feat of patience, I suppose I should thank you.”

    Seren nodded, her blond curls bouncing around her small face, “You’re welcome.”

    “Know what else happens on Harvest Festival?”

    “No.”

    “Big brothers are allowed to tickle their annoying little sisters who wake them up early.”

    “No...” Seren hesitated.

    Grayden grinned and formed his hands into claws, growling. Seren shrieked and threw the covers over his head, diving towards the edge of the bed. Grayden caught her leg and started tickling the bottom of her foot. Seren squirmed and giggled, kicking at him with her free foot, shrieking and laughing.

    The door to Grayden’s bedroom swung open and Grayden looked up at the cheerful face of his mother. He let go of Seren who half clambered, half fell out of the bed. Their mother put her hands on her hips.

    “Grayden was demonstrating one of the Festival traditions, I see.”

    “Mother! You mean it’s true?” Seren said, eyes wide.

    “I’m afraid so... but only once during the day,” she winked at her son and Grayden grinned. “Come on, Seren, I need your help stirring the biscuit batter, and Grayden needs to get up and get dressed for his big day.”

    Seren stood up and bounced out of the room. Dara smiled after the little girl and then met her son’s gaze. Grayden saw all her emotions jumbled together in her forest green eyes. They mirrored his own emotions: pride, fear, joy, sorrow, happiness, and a little bit of wistfulness.

    “Your father’s out milking the cow. He thought you should get to sleep in this day, but he said there was a pile of wood that needs chopping after you have breakfast.”

    “Yes, Mother.”

Production Studio

2011-04-13T08:34:00.002-04:00

I've been thinking about this for a while now. And I thought I would go ahead and blog about it, for those of you who are interested in following my journey through publishing.

I am sick of writing query letters. I haven't written a ton, not as many as most authors, by far. But it just isn't anything I enjoy doing. I don't mind the rejection letters, those are pretty easy to take. It is my understanding that you receive YEARS of rejection letters before you finally break through into traditional publishing. That's fine. But it's really not how I want to spend my time.

I want to spend my time creating new stories. Not trying to get an agent or publisher to look at my stories. I want to retain the rights to my written works, not split it with some unknown agent who may or may not really have my best interests at heart. If I'm going to split my work with someone, I want it to be someone I really trust, with my life and my words.

That is why I am abandoning the quest for a traditional publisher. There is so much involved in that world that I really don't want to have any part of. I don't want to sell the rights to a Hollywood production studio, just to have them mess it up the way so many books have been messed up by the movie production world. I want someone I trust to make the movies (if they ever get made... that's the LARGE-SCALE dream). :)

Instead, I am throwing my efforts and my books into the Production Studio (we're in the very early stages, it doesn't even have a name yet) that my family is creating. This production company is the brain-child of several members of my family, my brothers, my dad, my husband mostly, and they are beginning to work very hard at getting it up and running. The main purpose of this company at first will be to promote, market, and distribute: my books, my sister's CDs, and my sister-in-law's artwork. It will also be focused very much on targeting the audience we want, the audience that many traditional publishers, record labels, etc do not believe exists, but that we know exists in abundance: Families.

We are hoping, in the next few months, to have a website up and running, that has regular Friday web-casts featuring my books being read out-loud (like they used to do on the radio years ago with books and other stories) in installments each week, songs by Brittany Jean, and artwork by Angelina... along with interviews with the artists themselves. This would be step 1 of the marketing process. We might even migrate all our blogs over there... we'll see what the capabilities are.

Eventually, we hope to open this company to other authors, singers, artists, film-makers outside of our family. We hope to have our own film-studio (which is great, because Evan's about the only person I'd trust to make my books into good movies anyway)!

So that is our exciting on-the-horizon-news... and the reason you won't be seeing me make any more updates about query letters and rejection slips from now on. If you would be willing to join us in prayer about this endeavor (and that we would come up with a name that we all love and has the meaning we want to convey) that would be muchly appreciated!

Poetry Corner

2011-04-11T08:31:00.000-04:00

Dazzling Darkness 1-11-01

There is a darkness in my soul
Where brightness used to flicker
Left is just an empty hole
That now grows dark and darker.

The foaming, empty sea is full
Of what confuses me
Both deep and dark yet light and shallow
Perhaps it holds the key.

Emotions wash over my heart
Love and hate, joy and sorrow;
Light and dark, leaving battle scars
Fighting to win over my soul.

Near comes a diamond glow
Piercing the heart of me
Bursting into my soul
Leaving me empty of me.

The darkness terrifies my heart
Yet I run to its embrace
With light peeking into my eyes
I stare at the dark, ugly face.

Enthralled and in horror I realize
The face is none but my own
Under the witness of stormy skies
I battle myself alone.

Darkness so bright it blinds me
I dash down the grim, haunted road
The world seems ghastly and empty
I shiver alone in the cold.

Long lonely shadows are all I hold
As I peer at the path ahead
Horror creeps into my soul
As I realize, I am dead.

Then, out of the sky, a scarrèd hand
Reaches down to comfort me;
Lifting me up, helping me stand
Leaving me pure and clean.
~Jenelle Schmidt

Midnight Misadventure Part 2

2011-04-09T08:28:00.001-04:00

So, at midnight on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving morning, my cousins and I slipped away from the house and crept down the road. We knew that our parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles had all come to expect this thing to happen, it was a very well known tradition, but it was more fun to sneak out than to ask for permission. It was chilly outside, frost had appeared on the ground every morning for the past few weeks, covering the stiff grass with a layer of crystals that melted in the late morning sunlight and faded away without a trace in the warmer afternoons. We were all praying for a white Christmas, as we prayed every year, with childlike anticipation of mounds of white fluff, perfect for building snow forts and snowmen.
My cousins and I crept down the street; the walk seemed endless, though it was only a few blocks. Finally, finally we reached the church, and there sat the bell in all its glory, the sharp image of black metal stood out starkly against the surrounding darkness. We stood and stared at it, fascinated, our breath puffing out in clouds, illuminated by the soft ethereal light of the moon.
    We exchanged conspiratorial grins as we stared at our goal. Then with excited whispers we scrambled up and stood next to the bell. We paused for a heartbeat, reveling in the mounting excitement and danger of the moment, and then we grasped the wheel and began to turn the bell.
    We had become experts at this over the years, and we knew that someone had to make sure that the clapper did not hit the side of the bell as we turned it upside down. Kim was in charge of this and Gayle and Wendy and I were in charge of turning the enormous wheel. Slowly, ever so slowly we strained to turn the bell upside down. Finally, it was in position; we paused, listening to the silence, as the night seemed to hold its breath in anticipation. Then we let go and dashed towards the grove of pine trees that stood on the corner of the church property. We huddled there, shaking with suppressed laughter as the bell swung back and forth, clanging over and over again, its deep, clear tones ringing out and disturbing the quiet Morenci night.
    “Let’s go home,” Gayle said quietly, when the bell had finished ringing and silence had once again enfolded us in her arms.
    “No!” I whispered in agitation, “This is our last childhood adventure, we will never have this time again. If we leave now, we will regret it for the rest of our boring adult lives!” I can be very persuasive when I want to be, and although all three of my cousins were older, wiser, and more mature than I, I knew that they were still children at heart as I was. I also knew that they could not argue with my statement, illogical as it might have been.
    Gayle’s argument weakened as Kim joined my ranks, “Come on Gayle,” she said teasingly, “Where’s your sense of adventure?” Wendy nodded, but did not vocalize her agreement.
    Gayle finally grinned, “What can it hurt?” She asked.
    I stopped myself from letting out a cheer. Together, the four of us crept back up to the bell and repeated the process. If anything, we were all a little more on edge. We turned the bell upside down and then scattered, only this time, we ran around towards the back of the church, intending to loop around and run home. However, before we had gotten more than five steps from the bell, we heard an ominous noise.
    SLAM! The door of the pastor’s house swung open with a violent crash, and then we heard a dog begin to bark ferociously. Then, panic ensued. We all dashed away in different directions, terrified. In the darkness I lost my cousins, but I kept running as fast as I could, without knowing exactly where I was going.
    As I fled, I wondered what had happened to Kim, Gayle, and Wendy. I did not know what had happened to them, but all I could think of was that a dog the size of the Beast in the movie Sandlot was chasing us. I had visions of my cousins being devoured in one enormous bite by the vicious, drooling monster who by now must be coming after me, I could hear its heavy footsteps coming closer and I could feel hot breath on the back of my neck. I ran and ran, my feet pounding the ground, keeping time with the frenzied thumping of my heart. Suddenly, I saw the grove of pine trees and leapt for it in desperation. I made it to safety, and found myself surrounded by all three of my cousins. I was relieved to see that they were all alive and well.
Before we had a chance to calm down, the beam of a flashlight blazed into our eyes and a gruff voice said, “I guess you think you’re pretty cool, don’t you?”
    Wendy, the oldest by ten minutes, stepped forward and spoke in a quavering voice, “I’m sorry sir, but we’re Roger Porter’s grand-daughters and ringing the bell is kind of a tradition.”
    The pastor suddenly seemed embarrassed, and he lowered his voice and said grudgingly, “Well, you really scared my wife.”
    “We’re really very sorry,” we all chorused, our hearts beginning to calm.
    Then the ferocious barking began again and we all recoiled in terror as the pastor’s huge beast jumped out at us.
    “Oh, don’t worry,” the Pastor said kindly, “Pixie won’t bite.”
    We stared at him, and then we stared in shock and embarrassment at the growling beast, that was actually a tiny miniature poodle with bows on her ears. The Pastor turned and went back inside, and the four of us dashed back to Grandma and Grandpa’s house as though we had a raging forest fire chasing us. When we got back, we related the story to our parents, who laughed at us; it was somewhat upsetting that they found our terror so amusing, but within a few moments we were laughing with them. We had gotten our “last” adventure, and what an adventure it was!

Little Star by Anthony DeStefano - Not What I’d Hoped For

2011-04-07T07:55:00.000-04:00

I ordered “Little Star” because I have fond childhood memories of another book called “The Tiniest Christmas Star.” I had hoped that this would be in a similar vein.

However, this story was disappointing. The story is about a little boy who is looking up into the sky trying to find the Christmas star from when Jesus was born. So his father tells him the story of the Christmas star. It starts out as a cute story about a tiny star that the other stars ignore or make fun of, kind of like a “Rudolph” story. The tiny star sees Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem and sees that nobody will let them in, and empathizes with them. Then, Baby Jesus is born, the tiny star is concerned that Jesus will be cold, so he shines as brightly as he can to warm the baby. The other stars tell him to stop or he’ll burn himself out, but the little star can’t hear them. All through the night the star shines and warms the baby, and in the morning, the star is all gray and cold because he burned himself out.

The little boy is sad that Little Star is dead, but his father says no.

“You see, Little Star did a wonderful thing that night in Bethlehem. He gave his life so the baby Jesus could be warm. And God gave him a great reward in return. Little Star will be remembered forever and ever.”

“You mean Little Star isn’t gone?” the boy asked.

“No, he’s alive!” the father said. “Every Christmas, when we celebrate Jesus’ birthday, people all over the world place a star on top of their Christmas tree to remember him.”

Okay. It’s a cute story. Sure, it’s a super fictionalized account of the story behind the Christmas star. The problem I have with it, is that while it alludes to Christ’s sacrifice so that we might live, the story’s focus at the end is on the STAR, rather than on JESUS. It just left me feeling rather... I dunno... empty, I guess. Maybe the disappointment was that I really loved the story up until the last 2-3 pages, and then it felt as though the narrative suddenly fell flat or turned a corner and left me behind. Also, we know that the star shone for YEARS, (and moved oddly) because the wise men followed it for a very long time and didn’t find Jesus until he was around 2, so the whole supernova thing hasn’t really ever made a lot of sense to me. Even type II supernovae only really last for a few months. But I digress.

Pros:
-cute fictional story about the Christmas Star
-tells the story of Jesus’ birth from a different perspective
-gets the details about Jesus’ birth correct
-as I said earlier, alludes to Jesus’ sacrificial death (and sort of His resurrection)
-great illustrations
-my 2 year old LOVES it - good length and number of words per page

Cons:
-very fictionalized story about the Christmas Star, posing as a true story
-focuses on the star rather than on the true meaning of Christmas

Maybe I’m being nit-picky... but something about the way the author chose to end the story really bothered me. I’m sorry, I really wanted to like this one.

I received this book for blogger review through the Blogging For Books Program. They asked for nothing other than an honest review, but the FTC requires that I make that clear.

Poetry Corner

2011-04-04T08:45:00.001-04:00

Some Dreams Do
10-19-01

“Once upon a time…”
Or so the story goes,
And then in perfect rhyme
The fairytale flows.

To the beautiful, captive princess
The perfect prince or knight
Rides to save her from distress
And everything ends all right.

But “once upon a time” isn’t now,
Not all tears end in laughter,
And we can’t always see how
It could end “happily ever after.”

Life isn’t a fairytale, it’s real
Still, things aren’t always as they seem;
Though it becomes painful
Cling tightly to your dreams.

No, there is no perfect rhyme,
And perfect knights are few,
No “once upon a time,”
Yet, some dreams do come true.

~Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

Midnight Misadventure

2011-04-02T13:34:00.000-04:00

Our hushed whispers seemed to ring out with deafening clarity in the cold, November night air. The barely suppressed giggles slashed through the sacred midnight silence. Along the street, darkened windows stared out at us from sleeping houses with grim, unblinking, and judgmental glowers.
On the very edge of Michigan in a tiny town called Morenci, there is a beautiful brick, one-story house. It is placed on a quiet road across the street from a large field of corn. The pretty little brick house has a large, grassy lawn around it and right out front is a tall, old, peeling, white sycamore. Its trunk has split and grown in two different directions, and each trunk is too thick for a grown man to encircle with his arms.
Upon entering this house, good smells assail the nose and warmth seems to surround the heart. This is my grandparents’ home. At Thanksgiving every year, our family all comes together and gathers at this house to celebrate God’s goodness and constant loving care. It is a happy time, cheery and secure, full of good things to eat and comfortable companionship, and most of all family. It is here that my story begins.
On my mom’s side, I have three cousins who are my own age. These cousins in particular have always been my best friends, for we share a bond that we always believed made us more than cousins. My mom is their mom’s younger sister, and my dad is their dad’s younger brother; to put it simply, sisters married brothers. This made my cousins and me more like sisters than merely cousins; therefore, it was always great fun when we got to spend time together. We were a mischievous four-some, and we were constantly getting into worlds of trouble, but it was harmless trouble, and I think our parents were generally more amused by our antics than upset by them.
At the time of my story’s beginning, I was in eighth grade; Kim was in her sophomore year of high school; and Wendy and Gayle, twins, held that most envied title of seniors in high school. Simply said, it was our last year as children. In a year, I would be entering that vast, and hitherto unexplored, realm of high school, and Wendy and Gayle would be leaving forever on the great adventure called college. We suddenly realized with the dramatic flare that children have, that we might possibly “never see one another again.” So it was decided, this Thanksgiving we had to have one final adventure, an adventure that would go down in history, an adventure worthy of the occasion.
There is a certain adventure that has really become more of a tradition over the years, a tradition that can only be carried out when we go to Grandma and Grandpa Porter’s house. Down the road, two blocks from our grandparents’ house, is the Morenci Baptist church. It is a small church; the congregation is composed of no more than two hundred people. The windows are stained glass and the pastor and his family live in a tiny, yellow-brick house, just next door to the church. It is a real-life, small town church, with all the traditional country-style hospitality and potluck dinners almost every week. However, there is one feature of this church that sets it apart: the bell.
The bell is not in a tower, it is set on a rectangular-shaped mound of earth that rises about three or four feet above the level ground. The bell itself is suspended in the air and attached to a great wheel, larger than a grown man. To ring the bell, one must turn the wheel, thus causing the bell to turn with it until it is completely upside down; and then the person must release the wheel, thus allowing the bell to swing back around and down, swinging back and forth and ringing several times before finally stopping.
Every time we went up to our Grandma and Grandpa Porters’ house, it was our tradition; my cousins’ and mine, to sneak out at midnight at least once during our several days’ stay and walk down to the church and ring the bell. This Thanksgiving was to be different though. We had determined that this time we would not simply ring the bell and run away, this year, we would ring the bell twice.

.......... TO BE CONTINUED .............. NEXT WEEK!

The Beginning Reader’s Bible Illustrated by Marijke ten Cate

2011-03-31T13:32:00.002-04:00

Everything I hoped it would be, and more.

This Bible is a little too advanced for my 2 year old, but she likes the pictures. It’s just that the ratio of words to pages is a little too high for her attention span yet. However, I have been super pleased with it so far and really can’t wait for her to be old enough to really appreciate it. This is going to be a great transition Bible for her, somewhere between her current Bible (A Child’s First Bible by Kenneth Nathaniel Taylor) and a complete Bible. (There may be some more steps in there, too, but those are the three steps we currently have.

What I like about this Bible:

It’s Big - which means that the pictures are big too :) and it feels heavy-duty.
It opens nicely, the binding is really quite nice.
It covers 26 different Bible stories (13 from each Testament) - most of which are the “familiar” ones, but a few that aren’t, like they cover Nehemiah and the birth of Samuel (titled “Hannah’s Special Baby”)
The illustrations are beautiful.
The text is straight out of the Bible. The verses are even numbered accordingly.

The only thing I “don’t” like about this Bible:
1. While the verses have numbers and chapters, which is a great teaching tool for getting used to how verses have “addresses” and how to find them in the Bible... and the verses are accurately numbered... the fact that the authors took certain verses out (to keep the stories short, to keep the stories understandable, to keep everything from being too wordy for a shorter attention span) this necessarily means that the verses may be numbered 8, 9, 15, 16, 17... which MIGHT be confusing to a child (Why did they skip from 9 to 15? Aren’t the numbers 10-14 important?)

That's a pretty minor issue though, and may be all in my head and will never pose a problem for my child(ren).

The FTC demands that I disclose that I received this book through the Booksneeze blogging for books program. The thoughts and opinions are my own. The publisher and booksneeze did not ask for anything except an honest review. Therefore, I like the publisher and booksneeze better than the FTC, but I also like not getting fined by the FTC... so I include the disclaimer.

Thanks, Shannon ;)

Poetry Corner

2011-03-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

I was perusing some older poetry I'd written (back in high school!) And I thought I'd share with you some of them. I'll try to post Poetry once a week... if someone can think up a nice alliterative title for me that'd be awesome... the only thing I'm coming up with is "Metrical Composition Monday," which I'll go with if need be, but it's a little bit awkward...

Anyway, first poem installment:

Welcome to my Hideaway 3-24-97

High upon a mountain peak,
Beside a rushing stream,
Chinked with mud, a roof that leaks,
The house of my own dreams.

Where only eagles fly,
On a mountain’s lonely peak,
Able to touch the sky,
And with animals alone, to speak.

This beautiful little cabin,
Nestled in a nook,
And only I and the mountain,
Know just where to look.

From all else as if not there
Life goes on below, all well,
While only a few might dare,
To find my secret "Rivendell."

~Jenelle Schmidt

Second Picture Story Saturdays

2011-03-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

Alright, it's about time someone posted on Saturday - even if nobody will read them because nobody reads blogs on Saturday - !

I've been working on a book that is a compilation of short stories for... oh... about 10 years now. Which is sad. Of course, in that time, I've also graduated college, gotten married, had a baby, moved a few times, and completed four 100,000+ word novels, so maybe not so sad... anyway, thought I'd share some snippets with you all... and start a regular posting habit (because I've neglected this poor writing blog for FAR too long).

So... here's the story of the inspiration behind my book of short stories:

Second Pictures Stories

     I got the idea for this book at a birthday party for an eight-year-old boy. His name is unimportant, for most of the names in this book have been changed to protect the innocent. And anyway, this is not a story about this particular young boy’s birthday party, so much as it is about a singular occurrence within the birthday party that gave me the idea for the title of this book. Something struck me when the father of the birthday boy told all the kids to get together for a picture: he said something that sounded so familiar it made me smile and almost laugh.
    “We will take two pictures, okay? The first one has to be good. You all have to stand still and smile, no bunny ears or silly faces. Then we can take a second picture and you can do whatever you want.”
    How many times had I heard those words? How many times had I stood impatiently through the “good” picture so that we could get to the “wild” picture? And oh! How incredibly long it had always seemed. The “good” picture always seemed to last for an unbearably long time. I stood back and watched as the father took the two pictures. The pictures were snapped and the two moments were captured for all time in the film of the camera. I smiled, there was no doubt in my mind as to which picture would be sent to family and friends.
     The picture that would surely go into the family albums and be brought out to show to friends was the one where all the children were standing politely in two rows and smiling beautifully like little angels. However, it was the second picture that most accurately portrayed the reality of the children at the party. In the second picture each child twisted his or her face into the most grotesque image possible, then he grabbed his neighbor’s throat and jumped up into the air. The light flashed as the second picture was taken, capturing for all time the wild antics of these young children.
     That picture would be taken out as well as the first one, and everyone would laugh over it in a few years. The children would be grown up and laugh at it too, wondering if they had truly ever been so silly. Yes, they would laugh, but deep in their hearts, they would remember the glorious beauty of childhood, and they would each secretly long for such a time again.
     And so, this book is a compilation of “second picture stories,” stories that reveal the true nature of childhood. These stories are exclusively about children, some of them young, some of them not so young. Some of these stories really happened, some of them are from friends, and some of them are even drawn from my own childhood, but it does not matter whether the stories are true or not, or which ones belong to who, what matters is the smiles that they bring. What you do with these stories is entirely up to you, but I would hope that they would help to inspire memories of laughter and fun, and remind us all of a time when we were just a little bit younger, a little bit less mature, a little bit more innocent, and a whole lot wiser.

Freebie Friday

2011-03-25T10:30:00.000-04:00

Here's an excerpt from the revised version of King's Warrior - coming soon to a bookstore near you (hopefully) ;)

Kamarie, Oraeyn, and Darby meet Yole for the first time in the Mountains of Dusk:

     “What is your name?” she asked gently as she walked towards him with an outstretched hand.
     The boy shrank from her hand as if it were deadly poison. He glanced up at her and their eyes locked. A shock went through Kamarie as she felt a recognition of something long forgotten shoot into her. The youth seemed to experience the same thing, for he went rigid, and he looked at her sharply. His face suddenly looked too old, too wise for his apparent youthful age.
     “My name is Yole,” the boy said hesitantly, “who are you? I didn’t know there was anyone else in these mountains.”
     “I am Kamarie, and my two companions are Oraeyn and Darby,” Kamarie said, still puzzling over what she had seen in the youth’s eyes. It had seemed as though she was looking through a window and seeing a very different world than the one she had expected. There was something strangely familiar about this youth, like a part of a dream that has faded with time but was never completely forgotten.
    Oraeyn stepped forward, “What are you doing out here alone?” his voice was concerned, and a little bit suspicious.
     Yole glanced at his feet, “I was working for a man in the village of Peak’s Shadow.”
     Kamarie’s eyes met Oraeyn’s in startled recognition; he nodded and touched the hilt of his sword as if expecting an attack. Yole continued without noticing their reaction to the name that he had uttered, “I fell asleep while I was watching the herd, I know I shouldn’t have, but I was listening to the other shepherds’ playing their pipes and the music just made me feel drowsy and tired and I couldn’t help but fall asleep.
     “The next thing I knew, Brant was waking me up and telling me that I had to leave, that I should be more careful around people. I think he was accusing me of stealing sheep or something, but I didn’t. I don’t have any use for sheep of my own. I wouldn’t know what to do with them. I certainly don’t have any place to put them,” Yole’s tone was open and slightly confused, “I’ve been wandering through these mountains trying to find my way out for a long time now. I don’t have any food left, and I think I’m lost.” He sniffed, and wiped his nose with his grimy hand.
    Kamarie winced and said, “We have some food.”
    At the same time, Oraeyn asked, “Did you say Brant?”
    The boy looked at Kamarie gratefully, then turned to Oraeyn, “Yes sir. The man I worked for was named Brant.”
    “Well, now, that’s just the man that we need to find, isn’t it?” Darby said, causing them all to jump. It was sometimes fairly easy to forget that Darby was even there she spoke so little.
    “Yes, Darby, it is,” Kamarie said, surprised that she had not been as quick as either Darby or Oraeyn to make that connection.
    “He’s a good man,” Yole said quickly, darting a look at them as if he thought they would start accusing him of being ungrateful, “looks out for his people, he’s not really the leader of the village or anything, but everyone looks up to him. Whenever there’s trouble, it’s brought to Brant, and he deals with it, never saw anyone more fair in his treatment of others. And his family is nice too: kind, generous people. I don’t hold a thing against them. I don’t know what I did, but I know I probably deserved to be kicked out, because Brant wouldn’t ever issue a punishment if it weren’t deserved.”
    “Does he still bend knee to his King?” Kamarie asked thoughtfully.
    Yole stared at her, “Of course he does!” He exclaimed. “I told you, he’s a good man, follows the rules. Fair. Of course he bends knee to King Arnaud, he thinks very highly of him, he always speaks of the king with respect and admiration. He’s a man of character, Brant is, loyal to the end.”
    “Alright, alright!” Kamarie held up her hands, “I was not questioning his character. We just have to be careful in these difficult days.”
    The defensiveness went out of Yole’s eyes, “I’m sorry too, but Brant, he was good to me. Paid me more than I deserved, sent me out with plenty of food, well, it would have been enough food if I hadn’t gotten lost. Most of the other people I worked for used whips when they sent me away. I was chased out of one town by the villagers, they threw rocks and threatened to kill me if I ever came back.”
    Oraeyn stared at him, “What did you do?”
    “I don’t know, really,” he said, “but it must have been something awful.”
    “Did you ever consider, young man,” Darby suddenly spoke up, “that perhaps they were in the wrong?”
    Yole’s eyes got big, and he looked scared, “No! Never! I wouldn’t even let the thought enter my head. I just broke some rule and had to be punished for it, that’s all.”

Making progress

2011-03-24T10:29:00.002-04:00

But not on the book from which I posted an excerpt a few days ago. (Though I do plan to work on that this afternoon, if I can use little L's nap to my advantage).

Nope, I'm working on something else. It's a writing project. It's a surprise. :) And that's all I'm going to say on the subject.

Form Rejection

2011-03-23T14:53:00.000-04:00

"Please accept my apology for this form response, but the volume of mail received in my office makes a personal reply impossible.

I have reviewed your material and it is not anything I wish to work with at this time. Thank you for the submission and I wish you the best of luck with other agents."

Well... shucks.

A different perspective

2011-03-22T15:40:00.000-04:00

I went over to peruse the ABNA boards today, because it's March 22, and that means that the next round of finalists went up this morning. (They are getting much better at doing that early in the day, even for us East Coasters)!

Amazingly enough, it was kind of nice to not be all stressed out about what I'd find. I didn't even feel compelled to check the lists - because, since I got cut in the first round, obviously my name wasn't going to be on it. (Ok, I'll admit, I did check the YA list... just on the off chance that there was some kind of mistake on the first one). But I wasn't worried about it.

Would I have loved to get the feedback that comes from making it to the second round? Of course. Can I get that feedback anyway? Well, I do have a friend who made it to "Vine Reviewer" status on amazon... she didn't get asked to be an ABNA judge... but she's as qualified as they are. And she'll give me a nice review, because she thinks my book is awesome. :)

Moving on... I'm sure I'll enter next year, because it's fun. But if I never make it past round two... it doesn't really matter. It's not a REAL fantastic method for measuring whether or not your book will succeed. I know enough people who have read and enjoyed my books, and there are people I DON'T know who have read and enjoyed my books, and most importantly I enjoy my books... so I'll stick with them. However, I'm beginning to see the up-side to sticking with self-publishing... mostly because my family is setting up a marketing/media company, and I'm thinking that using that company to promote/sell my books while retaining all rights to them might be what I would most enjoy doing. Besides, form rejection letters are depressing. ;) I'm thinking about submitting my ms to DAW though, they still accept unsolicited/unagented submissions... shot in the dark, but it might be fun... just to see.

New Book Teaser

2011-03-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

     The sound of the window opening behind him made the old man’s head jerk around. He stood up, a towering figure in the small room and glared at the young man who had just dropped lightly through the window, throwing up a cloud of dust as he landed on the unswept floor. The boy looked around, his brown eyes curious and his sandy brown hair a little unkempt from the long climb and the winds near the top of the tower.
   “What are you doing in my tower?” The old man’s voice filled up the room and Grayden looked up, his eyes widening in shock.
   “Do you... do you live up here?”
   “You have not answered my question,” the old man raised up his cane and pointed it at the boy’s chest threateningly. “Now, tell me truly, how did you get in and why are you here?”
   “I’m s-sorry, sir. I didn’t know anyone lived up here. How... how do you get food?”
   “ANSWER MY QUESTION!”
   “Oh, right. I... uh... well, I climbed up the tower.”
   The old man strode over to the window and looked down, then he looked at the boy, disbelief in his sharp blue eyes. “You could see the tower?”
   Grayden frowned in confusion, “Uh... yes. The tower has been standing on the border of our village for as long as anyone can remember.”
   “That’s not possible,” the old man muttered. He looked out the window again. “Is that your friend down there?”
   “Yes.”
   “And he can see the tower too?”
   “Sir, everyone I know can see the tower. Why?”
   The old man stared about frantically, at a loss for words. Grayden gave a small shake of his head and looked around the room. Something in front of him caught his eye and he moved towards it.
   “What is that?” He asked quietly, stretching out his hand towards the glowing blue orb on the table.
   “DO NOT TOUCH THAT.”
   Grayden snatched his hand back and stared at the old man, wide-eyed. The old man strode to the table and stared into the orb. Then he straightened and his voice was suddenly quiet and terrible.
   “What have you done?”
   “I... I’m not sure I know what you mean, sir.” Grayden was beginning to wish he had never climbed the tower wall.
   “Look at it!” The man pointed at the orb.
   Grayden approached cautiously and bent towards the table, peering at the orb. It was mostly blue, but thin lines of red swirled within the glass like tiny, hairline fractures on its surface.
   “Please, sir, I don’t understand.”
   “Those red lines should not be there. What have you done?”
   “I didn’t do anything! I didn’t even touch it, I just climbed your tower, I’m sorry for intruding, I’ll leave now.”
   “Oh no you don’t,” the old man’s voice was stern, but gentler now. “It may not be your fault, but you’re caught up in it now. I must find out what is happening,” he paused and shuddered, “out there.”

Title for this book coming soon!

Truly Blessed

2011-03-01T11:09:00.002-05:00

I have been musing this past week or so about the blessings in my life. The one that came to mind the most often recently is the encouragement and support that I find myself surrounded by on every side. As I took part in the discussion boards for the writing contest I was struck by how many of the authors over there hadn’t told their families and friends that they had written a novel. They were scared of being made fun of, scared that their families and friends would offer harsh criticism, or worried that those closest to them wouldn’t even care or be at all supportive of their endeavor. I was, honestly, shocked and appalled by some of the stories that they shared about how their novels were received by family and friends: the unkind remarks that were made, the discouraging comments, the criticism they were subjected to by those who were supposed to be their biggest fans. One woman talked about how her husband “tolerated” her writing and referred to it to his friends as “her little hobby.”

It made me stop and thank the Lord for the people He has put in my life. I am truly blessed. I started writing because my Dad encouraged me to do so. He gave me the motivation to sit down and write an entire novel in a summer. He has been one of my biggest fans throughout my entire life, no matter what I set out to do. My Mom doesn’t normally read the genre I write (fantasy), but she reads my books, and she cheers me on by leaving me nice reviews on amazon, comments on my blog, facebook, and sending me emails to encourage me. I never feel alone with her on my side.

My brothers and sister constantly begged me to write more of the series. They refer my books to all their friends. They also leave me reviews, encourage me when I hit writer’s block or get cut from the ABNA, and are generally there for me whenever I need them.

My husband absolutely believes that one day I will be the money-maker in our home due to my books. :) He constantly encourages me to write new stories, and helps me when I need technical advice. He draws maps and helps me think through battle strategies when I have battle scenes in my books. He often gives me time in the evenings if I want to write.

My friends think it’s super-cool that I write. They have offered their services as proof-readers, editors, book cover designers, and self-proclaimed publicists. Some have even bought my books, most have recommended them to friends.

I only hope that someday I can encourage each and every one of the people in my life the way that they have encouraged me. I am awed to silence when I consider how incredibly blessed I am. Compared to the people God has placed in my life, and the love that I am surrounded by, a couple of rejection letters don’t even register.

Tomorrow is a New Day

2011-02-25T12:42:00.000-05:00

Or, rather, today is a new day.

Yesterday was kind of a bummer on the writing front. I got cut from the contest at the pitch stage... which means I got cut based on a 300-word synopsis that was supposed to explain what my book is about and make people want to read more. I had gotten a lot of feedback on my pitch, and was told by a few people I don't even know that if my pitch didn't make it, they didn't know what would. Which made me feel a little more on the confident side than I was last year. So getting cut was a little rough.

However, I am an eternal optimist, and staying blue just isn't in my nature. (the fact that I sold a copy of each of my books last night/this morning doesn't hurt, either). I didn't let the day close before I had submitted a query to an agent. I also have found at least a dozen or so other agents that I plan to query in the next few days/weeks.

I do have to get a synopsis written. I had one, but then I re-wrote my entire novel... the synopsis is still mostly accurate, but I should probably write a new/current one.

So for now, it's onward and upward!

On Growing Up as a Writer - accepting rejection

2011-02-24T14:39:00.000-05:00

This one is harder. Criticism at least means you got some feedback.

The lists of the round 1 winners just came out, and my name isn't on them. I'm ok. I'm actually a little relieved, because it means I don't have to worry about the next key date.

Doesn't mean I don't want to cry... just a little... though.

What Readers Are Saying

2011-02-21T09:12:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it's nice to get reviews from people who have read your book. Just thought I'd share what readers are saying about "The Dragon's Eye."

And a big THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the time to either review my book at Amazon or left me feedback over on my createspace preview!

*~*~*~*

A good story has an interesting plot. A Great Story has people that we want to root for. Every Great Story and Every Great Movie has characters that we LOVE. "The Dragon's Eye" is that kind of story.

A Heroic, Romantic, Dangerous, Clever, Unique, and Wholesome Adventure satisfying the audience that desperately yearns for ALL OF THE ABOVE.

Wholesome does not mean Boring. In this case it means Fantastic, with Heroes that inspire and Enemies who are Capable while both are Dangerous.

The Romance is Sweet and Desireable, and remains that way. The Scene where Brant "gently grabs Dylanna's wrist" is as powerful a love scene as any that Hollywood could create, only Hollywood has forgotten that art.

"The Dragon's Eye" opens the readers mind and heart to the Quadrilogy of Tellurae Aquaous, but more importantly it introduces us to some of our Favorite Literary Heroes in Brant, Kiernan, Kamarie, Oraeyn, Dylanna, and a host of others that we get to know in the course of these adventures.

If that qualifies as WHOLESOME, then "sign me up".

~*~*~*~*~*~*

This book is captivating and addictive. The writing is smooth and easy to follow, the characters become friends, and your really want to discover what they will do in particular situations. I would highly recommend this to anybody who enjoys a good fantasy read, and its completely appropriate for different age groups. The books is not perfect, however the influences are from the classics in the genre that made me love this type of book, and this has plenty of the plot meanderings that make it a great book. I highly recommend it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

I read this book in 5 days. I could not set it down. The characters come to life on every page, and I wish there was more!
For those of us who love fantasty, anything to do with dragons, middle age lifestyle, swords, heroism, all that good stuff... This book is outstanding.
I cannot wait to read more from this author, her characters are quite compelling.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

I didn't read the entire excerpt(I have a very short attention span), but I was struck by your use of language. You've got an excellent feel for it, and you write in a pleasing and lyrical tone.
~*~*~*~*~*~*

Freebie Friday

2011-02-18T08:00:00.002-05:00

My favorite section of "The Dragon's Eye"

*~*~*~*~*~*
     “And who are you?” the funny looking man asked. “Perhaps I could write a song about it: the young boy who wandered alone the open roads of the southern realm. Ah! But that would make a magnificent tale!”
     As he spoke, his hands moved quickly, bringing out four brightly colored round objects. Throwing them up in the air, he tossed them back and forth in intricate patterns that took Yole’s breath away. Yole laughed delightedly and clapped his hands.
     The young man smiled and stood up to take a bow, “You like my juggling?”
     Yole nodded enthusiastically, “Yes, I do!”
     The strange man smiled again at the delight of his young audience, but then his shoulders drooped and his smile faltered, “It is truly a pity that no one else seems to,” he sighed dramatically.
    Yole looked at him quizzically, “What do you mean?”
    “I am completely unappreciated by many of my audiences,” the man sighed again and put a hand to his forehead, his voice was plaintive but uncomplaining. “I tried to get an audience at the castle, but they have too many minstrels already, or so they told me. Then I tried to juggle and sing for the rich merchants, but they are all more interested in the newer stories and the fancier tricks, bah! Fancier tricks! Why, when I juggle I make their heads spin, but that’s the way of the rich, they’re alright until you want to be paid, then they get stingy on you and hem and haw about how little talent you really have. Hah! They wouldn’t know talent if it reached out and pinched their noses, now there would be a sight! Ha ha!” The man’s voice changed with each turn of his story, as if he were weaving the words into an intricate pattern on some unseen loom.
    Yole laughed at the antics of the minstrel. The minstrel did not notice, but continued talking, almost as though to himself.
    “No siree, there is no greater talent beneath the Dragon’s Eye than that of the Great Kiernan Kane! No, the Magnificent… oh, hello there,” the Great Kiernan Kane abruptly halted his flow of words as he suddenly seemed to remember that he had an audience, small though it was. “What is your name? I completely forgot to ask you.”
    Yole suppressed a smile, “My name is Y…Ian.” He said, catching himself just an instant before he slipped and gave away his real name.
    “Yian! Marvelous!” The minstrel said, “And my name is Kiernan Kane. Kiernan Kane the Magnificent Minstrel they call me in the large cities, (they also throw rotten fruits and vegetables at me, just goes to show how unappreciated I am) but you can call me Kiernan.”

Shameless Self Promotion

2011-02-10T15:42:00.004-05:00

Sorry, no cutesy-alliteration title today....

I have a request for anyone who can spare a few minutes. I have posted an excerpt of my book over at CreateSpace, and I was wondering if anyone would be willing to take a few minutes, read the excerpt and then give me some feedback.

If you have the ability to download PDFs you can click on this link

Or, if you don't, you can go here instead

OR... if you are one who has actually READ the entire book... might you be willing to leave a review at Amazon (that link will take you to The Dragon's Eye product page)?

Thanks in advance!

Dragons

2011-02-08T09:45:00.000-05:00

I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but I need to explain this in its entirety - which means that it’s gonna be a long one (or several posts, whichever works better).

Ok. First of all... a few basics:
- If you believe Genesis 1:1 - 2:2 to be a literal creation by God (whether or not you believe in literal days or “ages”) then you have to acknowledge that dinosaurs were created on the same day/age as humans: Day 6. (some may have been created on the 5th day, if they flew or swam). Thus, you have to acknowledge that dinosaurs and humans walked the earth at the Same Time. (this is very important)
- Even if you believe in the “age” theory, you still have to acknowledge that dinosaurs and man walked the earth at the same time because you have to acknowledge that sin and death did not enter the world or the Garden until After Day 7. If nothing died before day 7, then you have to acknowledge that every creature God created on Days 5-6 existed together at least for days 5-7.
- Alright... moving right along. If you concede that dinosaurs and man existed at the same time, then you start to realize that the world’s propaganda about “cave-men,” “neanderthals,” “cromagnon men,” etc, is all a lie. There never were any cave men. (This is not to say that nobody has ever lived in a cave, that happens all the time... but the people in history/present day who lived in caves were/are simply humans, just like you and me, not the grunting, violent, sub-intellectuals that are portrayed in movies/TV shows, etc.
- It’s not a huge stretch, then, once you’ve discovered that humans and dinosaurs lived on the same planet at the same time... to realize that there must have been SOME dinosaurs on Noah’s ark. (Not full grown ones, that would be silly). But God told Noah, “You are to bring inot the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal, and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.” (Gen. 6:19-20) - He didn’t exclude fierce animals. We accept that he had elephants and rhinoceroses and alligators and giraffes on the ark, animals that, when full grown, aren’t exactly small. This ark... to give you some perspective... was HUGE. (about the size of the Titanic - but with less “stuff” inside, so it could hold more). Here is a good link with a picture: http://www.biblestudy.org/biblepic/how-big-was-the-ark-of-noah-scale-model.html
- Ok... so if we believe that dinosaurs lasted at least a little bit beyond the flood... then we get to Job. Most Bible scholars believe Job is the Oldest book of the Bible, predating Moses. Many Bible scholars believe that Job was a contemporary of Abraham, only about 400 years after the flood... in that time, it is possible that the dinosaurs (even the big ones) were still around. Maybe not many, at this point... but if you allow for them to be around, and well-known enough to be recognizable, then it is not hard to believe that the behemoth of Job 40:15-24 is, indeed, a dinosaur. Imagery such as: “tail swings like a cedar,” “his bones are tubes of bronze,” “his limbs are rods of iron.” “He ranks first among the works of God,” “he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth.” “Can anyone caputre him by the eyes, or trap him and pierce his nose?” Bring to mind images of something FAR larger and more impressive than an elephant or a hippopotomous (both of which have been trapped, elephants are commonly used for riding, and neither of which have very impressive tails)
But then, read on into Job 41... this is where it gets interesting. For here, God describes a creature called a “leviathan.” (Remember, this is the Lord speaking... and He doesn’t exaggerate)

41:7: can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?
41:8: if you lay a hand on him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
41:9: Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering.
41:10: No one is fierce enough to rouse him.
41:15: His back has rows of shields tightly sealed together
41:18: His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of the dawn.
41:19: Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out.
41:20: Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.
41:21: His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth.
41:24: His chest is hard as rock.
41:26: The swords that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
41:27: Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood.
41:33-34: Nothing on earth is his equal - a creature without fear. He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud.

Does this sound like a crocodile to you? The Lord spends Four Whole Verses talking about the fact that this creature breathes fire! The rest of the chapter makes it clear that this is not an animal you can capture, tame, or subdue. “When he rises up, the mighty are terrifed.” (41:25) This is not a creature that Crocodile Dundee would Dare wrestle with. I would encourage you to take a moment to read through the whole chapter of Job 41, it’s a fun read... and it pretty much talks about a dragon.

Besides all this, the word “dragon” actually appears in Scripture 19 times in 18 different verses, and the Leviathan himself shows up in 3 other passages of Scripture besides Job 41. In the NIV they have translated the words: tannah - dragon, and tanniyn - dragon, serpent, sea monster, whale - to read as “serpent” in most cases, and “sea monster” or “monster” in the rest and “desert jackals” in one. In the KJV (which, I know has some issues) they translated both of these words as “dragon” 18 times out of the 28 that it is used.

In the new Testament, we find the Greek word “drakon” 13 times in Revelation - translated as “dragon” every time.

So there you have it... my reasoning behind the belief that dragons existed, and that we get a lot of the imagery surrounding them from the Bible itself, including their size, ferocity, the fact that they breathed fire, and even that their chests were pretty stinkin’ invulnerable.

On Growing Up as a Writer - accepting criticism

2011-01-25T09:47:00.000-05:00

I have recently realized (as in the last year) that if you can't take criticism, you aren't ready to send out queries. You aren't ready to publish. Because if you can't take criticism, then you aren't ready to improve.

I wasn't ready when I self-published my first book. I wasn't ready when I self-published my second book. I wasn't ready when I wrote book three. I was getting closer by the time I was writing book four. I turned a corner when I entered the 2010 ABNA contest.

I don't know what it was. Meeting other authors. Receiving helpful advice and critiques from people who know the world of writing better than I. Or maybe I just finally grew up. But somewhere during that contest, I finally learned how to accept criticism. I learned how to take suggestions for what they were: suggestions. When you enter the realm of writing (and probably any creative realm) you put a lot of yourself into your work. By giving your words to others to read you put yourself out there for judging. And sometimes the judges aren't kind.

But sometimes they are right.

And you need to be able to see clearly. You need to be able to see when they are right, when something does need to be changed, edited, tweaked, thrown out, or rewritten. You need to distance yourself during the editing process, because otherwise it will hurt too much. Throwing out whole paragraphs is painful if you can't distance yourself, because those words are your babies, they sprang from your mind and they live on the page and you can't delete them.... because that's like killing part of your creativity... but sometimes those first words... sometimes they just aren't any good. They need pruning. Some need to be tossed. Some, some few, might be perfect. Most will need revising.

If you can accept a critique from someone who isn't close to the material, it makes your job of editing easier. If you can blink back the momentary tears, the fleeting defensiveness, the half-second of disbelief, you will find that you can take the good advice and apply it to your words and they will be so much better than you even thought they could.

Sometimes you can look at that critique and your response will be, "Nope... I like that bit just the way it is." And that is fine. You don't have to change everything based on one review.

I write this because I ask for critiques often. I ask for criticism on my fan page, and here on my blog, especially come contest time. And I don't want anyone to hesitate to tell me something needs to be edited because you think you're going to hurt my feelings. I may take your advice, I may not... but you aren't going to hurt my feelings. I welcome your critique. I welcome your criticism. Because I want my writing to improve. I want my skills to improve. I want my talent to grow. So, thank you, to those of you who have helped me out with editing and critiquing the past few days. I really appreciate it.

Fridays

2011-01-21T15:51:00.000-05:00

What is it about Fridays that makes it impossible to get anything done? I planned to start working on my new novel today. I planned to work on an outline at least, if not get a few pages written. But here it is, almost 4pm and I haven't written a word. I haven't even opened a pages document to start writing words. Maybe it's because my daughter is sick. Maybe it's because she ended her nap 30 minutes early. Maybe it's because I played DDR and watched half an episode of Angel instead of writing? Yeah, probably a combination of all of those things... but I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of it being Friday. :)

Progress Report

2011-01-18T14:43:00.000-05:00

I am ready to submit my book to the ABNA contest, a full week early! Hoorah. :)

I have sold 15 books this month!

I do intend to continue with some polishing and I look forward to getting feedback from my editor(s), but I feel confident that my manuscript, excerpt, and pitch are as ready as they can be.

So, what next? A lot of waiting :)

Meanwhile, (while I wait for my editor to get through all the pages and send me his notes, while I wait for the contest to open, and then while I begin the waiting that is the majority of being IN the ABNA contest), I intend to take a break from Tellurae Aquaous, and start writing about Aelon Ere - my new world and entirely new set of characters. I also may start looking at ideas for the idea my brother gave me for The Mirror, and trying to flesh out an outline for that story as well. I'm also going to return to writing query letters to various agents and publishers.

That should all keep me quite busy! :) In addition to this, I have a house to run, a 2 year old to keep up with, as well as the potential for a couple (hopefully!) of large-scale changes to our lives in the coming year. I will keep you posted on all of this as it happens... of course, if it doesn't, I suppose you'll never know what it was...

New Year's Writing Resolutions

2011-01-06T15:10:00.000-05:00

I do, in fact, have other resolutions for 2011 that are not writing-related, but I'll post them on my other blog. One of these days, I'm going to have a single blog that combines writing topics with everything else, but until that day... you're stuck with my dual blogging. Sorry. haha. Anyway, as a way to keep me accountable, I'm putting my New Year's Writing Resolutions in... ha ha.... writing :) - so feel free to ask me about them and how they're going, I could use the accountability!

And, without further ado: my resolutions for writing in 2011 --

1. Finish my rewrite of Book 1 by January 24
2. Carefully read the submission guidelines for the ABNA contest
3. Submit Book 1 to the ABNA contest
4. Make it to round 3 of the ABNA contest (I made it to round 2 last year)
5. Republish Book 1 with new artwork, new title, and rewritten manuscript
6. Do one book signing this year with Book 1

Happy New Year

2011-01-04T21:30:00.000-05:00

Well hello there. I've been absent for a while. I was working on a quilt for my parents, and had to take a break from writing in order to get it done by Christmas. However, now that Christmas is over, I'm back to my re-writing/editing and am pleased to announce that I only have 27 pages left in the first run-through. I still have to go back through and do some polishing, and look over my editor's notes, but my January 24th deadline (when the ABNA contest opens) is looking more and more likely to happen!

In other good news, I have an illustrator for the new version of The Dragon's Eye, which I will be renaming King's Warrior once the re-write is done. I'm also planning on trying to do some book signings this year, and maybe travel to a book fair with the new (and improved) version of my first title... we'll see. I would love to be able to give out free copies of King's Warrior to anyone who has already bought The Dragon's Eye, but will have to think through whether or not I can afford such generosity... will let you know when the time comes!

Anyway, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year! Stay tuned for more updates!

Happy Veteran's Day

2010-11-11T09:30:00.000-05:00

I wrote this a while back for my sister to make into a song. I wish I had the ability to post it here so you could listen to it... but I don't. I love how she can take words and turn them into music, it just amazes me. Anyway, I thought it fitting, considering the date, to post the lyrics today:

Don't Rob Us of Our Heroes
Just take a look around you, do you think this all came cheap? 
It cost a lot in good men’s blood for us become free.
Now it’s said we shouldn’t have been there, out across the sea
Helping men and women like us, how selfish should we be?

Don’t rob us of our heroes
Don’t tarnish their names
They may not have flown like Superman
But they’re heroes just the same.

They gave up all the comforts that you and I afford
To sacrifice, lay down their lives, heroes to the core.
Don’t tell me they didn’t believe in what they’re fighting for
Here back home it’s our job to lift them to the Lord.

A freedom’s flag now waves aloft in far and distant lands
Placed there by some who gave their all with strong and steady hands.
Respect the love they freely gave, those brave men with their guns
Before faulting them remember: that is my neighbor’s son.

Beloved of their families
Lifted up in prayer
Let us bow our heads and thank the Lord
For our soldiers everywhere.

They’re our heroes....

~Jenelle Schmidt

To all those who have served and are currently serving our country in the military: Thank You. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all days, but today in particular. You are our heroes.

It's been a while

2010-11-10T08:11:00.000-05:00

Sorry it's been a while. Though I think all of 2 people actually read this.

Updates on the editing/rewriting process:

- I have 40 pages to go on the major rewrite. Yay!
- I am working very hard to be finished with the rewrite by Christmas
- Once the rewrite is done, I still have to go through the polishing notes my editor is sending me on the rewrite
- Polishing is never as hard or labor-intensive, so I have high hopes of having it done quickly
- Goal 1: to have the ability to enter the new and improved "Dragon's Eye" - aka - "King's Warrior" into the 2011 ABNA contest (I will keep you updated on what all is going on with that once they send out information about it. As of right now, I don't know what the deadline for entering is, but I'm pretty sure it will be end of January/beginning of February like it was last year)

- Goal 2: get someone to design a new cover for "King's Warrior"
- Goal 3: republish with new text and new cover through createspace
- Goal 4: set up some book signings at bookstores/libraries with re-designed and re-written "King's Warrior"
- Goal 5: Win the ABNA (well... it's good to have goals... right?)
- Goal 6: find an agent or publisher willing to take on "King's Warrior" (if I don't win the ABNA) ;)

Sammy and His Shepherd - Great Read

2010-10-31T16:19:00.001-04:00

Sammy and His Shepherd by Susan Hunt, is a bit longer than most of the books I have reviewed thus far, although I would still consider it a “children’s” book. It is based on the 23rd Psalm and each 1-3 page chapter’s title comes from one of the lines of the 23rd Psalm. The story is about Samuel (called “Sammy” for short) who has a good shepherd. One day, Sammy meets an unnamed sheep who has a lazy, uncaring shepherd. Sammy calls this sheep “My Friend,” and they compare stories about their shepherds. Sammy keeps an eye out for “My Friend” and one day, when “My Friend” gets into trouble, he starts bleating and running around until his shepherd becomes aware of what has happened. The good shepherd buys “My Friend” and renames her, “Precious.”

It takes Precious a while to come to trust her new shepherd, but with time and Sammy’s help, she begins to realize that she has been bought by a shepherd who will take good care of her, lead her beside still waters, allow her to lie down in green pastures, and keep away their enemies. She also learns how to get along with other sheep who even annoy her sometimes because Sammy reminds her that every sheep in their flock has been bought by their shepherd and is precious to their shepherd, and that they should try to get along if only for their good shepherd’s sake.

This is a touching story that parallels the 23rd Psalm in a way that young children can understand. It has a set of questions at the end of the book for each chapter so you can discuss the book with you child(ren). The pictures of the sheep are a touch cartoony, but they are also beautiful with lots of bright colors and beautiful scenery.

My two year old doesn’t have the patience to listen to the whole story at once (as it’s 43 pages long), but she does enjoy reading a few pages at a time. This will definitely be one of our “read it again” books.

Many thanks to Reformation Trust Publishers for providing this book for my review. They did not ask for a positive review, merely an honest one.

Book Give-Away

2010-10-18T12:35:00.000-04:00

I have 3 copies of Dawn of the Dragon's Eye, in hardcover, to give away!

Contest Deadline: November 17th, 2010
How to enter for your chance to win one of these (3) free copies:

Either:
1) Post about my books on your facebook or your blog
or
2) Get 5 people to "like" my author fanpage

Then: come over to my fan page and leave me a comment with (a) information on your post (and the link to your blog if you posted there) or (b) the names of the people who you invited to "like" my fanpage.

The winners of the contest will be decided by a random drawing of all the names entered.

Creation Curriculum: "God Made the World & Me" Review

2010-10-12T14:40:00.001-04:00

What is even more exciting right now than getting free books? Getting free educational materials! This book, God Made the World & Me by David and Helen Haidle and Susan Laurita is a 13 lesson curriculum unit on the Creation Story. It goes hand in hand with the book I reviewed a few weeks ago: The Creation Story for Children. You can read my review for that book in the post before this one.

Anyway - I have read through this curriculum and I will definitely be using it. Though most of the material is preschool-oriented, I may even use some of the ideas now with my 2-year old. And I felt that the material would scale well - you could use this with older kids (not tons older, but definitely anywhere in the 3-7 range), which would be nice if you had two children in that age range and wanted to use the same curriculum for both of them.

Pros:
-Cross curriculum activities. For example, each lesson has ideas for a Physical Center, Science Center, and Art Center. Each lesson has songs that you can sing with the kids, a memory verse, and quite a few game ideas. Each lesson also has at least one Older Children idea and one idea for Younger Children, which helps to make the curriculum scale well depending on the age of your children.

-There is a parent note for each lesson if you were to be using this in a larger classroom as a teacher.

-There are discussion questions for each lesson.

-There are extras for each lesson as well if the other ideas aren't enough to keep you busy.

-I like that they have large group vs. individual instructions for some of the activities. I also like that there are often multiple options for the same type of activity (e.g. two art options in Lesson 2, two physical options in Lesson 3).

Con:
-The only thing that I found to be a con was that there was a graph that the kids were supposed to make during the week for Lesson 2, and I thought it would have been nice if the curriculum had a sample graph for the kids/parents to look at. I know that it would be an easy thing to figure out, but I'm so very visual and graphs are not my strong suit.

Overall, this seems like a great, hands-on, curriculum that is very cross-curricular. It's not just a set of science lesson plans, it also includes art and music, PE, critical thinking, some writing, and it is not at all just a workbook. It is very home-school oriented, but I like that it would also be very easy to use in a classroom full of kids. This is definitely something I will use with my children.

Many thanks to New Leaf Publishing Group for providing this curriculum for review. The FTC requires that I inform you that NLPG did not ask for a positive review, merely an honest one. Therefore, I like NLPG more than I like the FTC... but I also like not being fined... so I include the disclaimer as ordered.

The Creation Story for Children by David and Helen Haidle - Great Read!

2010-09-29T09:20:00.001-04:00

The Creation Story for Children by Helen and David Haidle is a simply told and beautifully illustrated retelling of the creation story. Each page encompasses one day of the creation. Each page begins with the verses from Genesis and then has a short paragraph that retells those verses in more of a story-form.

Pros:
-The verses are taken from the King James Version, which some might consider a con, but as an English major, I appreciated. I don't think children and younger generations get enough exposure to the sort of beautiful language that can be found in the King James Version of the Bible.

-The illustrations: every page has a beautiful depiction of what was created on each day. I really enjoyed the inclusion of dinosaurs in the illustrations.

-The last few pages after the story of creation talk about how God specially created and cares for each person from conception through our entire lives, how He thinks about us, how He has plans for us, etc.

-The story ends at the end of day 7 of the creation, before the fall. After thinking about it for a while, I actually am listing this as a pro. After all, the book is called: The Creation Story.
Cons:
-I can't think of any.

Overall:
-This is a great book. I loved how it used the actual Bible verses in the retelling of the story, it kept me from feeling as though the authors were "adding" or "changing" the Bible story. I really can't say enough about the illustrations, they are gorgeous. The text of the book is a bit advanced (a lot of words per page) for my 2 year old daughter, but she loves the pictures, and if I just read the Bible verses or just read the story part to her she can pay attention for the whole story. Her favorite part? The day where God created fish and whales, of course! :)

The FTC demands that I inform you that I received this book for free. New Leaf Publishing Group, however, demanded nothing from me. They did not ask for a positive review, just an honest one.

A Christmas Prayer by Amy Parker - Good Read

2010-09-24T09:12:00.002-04:00

Always ready to add to our Christmas book collection, I requested this book to review from booksneeze. I was not at all disappointed. This story is a very cute retelling of the Christmas story. A child, surrounded by parents and small sibling, acts out the Christmas story and thanks God for the various characters in the Christmas Story - calling them each "precious Christmas gifts" to all of us. The story ends with the child thanking God for Jesus, the "perfect Christmas gift."

With uncomplicated, yet very cute illustrations, this retelling of the Christmas story in rhyming verses from a child's perspective is simply adorable. I enjoyed the inclusion of all the characters from the story, and I especially loved how the story includes the Wise Men, without improperly placing them at the stable in Bethlehem. I also loved how the story emphasizes the true reason for the season of Christmas on the first page, where the child says, “So this, my Christmas prayer, is not for toys and dolls - it’s thanking You for Christmas gifts, You’ve given to us all.”

My two-year old also approves of this book and it will definitely be one of the stories we pull out at Christmas-time for years to come.

The FTC demands that I disclose the following information:
Many thanks to Tommy Nelson for providing this book to me for free. They did not ask for a positive review, merely an honest one.

Free Books? Sign me up!

2010-09-23T09:17:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I've gotten sucked in. My friend, Shannon, has been signing up to review books for various publishing companies (they send you the book for free and in return, you review the book on your blog for them, they do not require a positive review, just an honest one). After hearing about all the free books she is getting, and realizing that I can get children's books for free through these programs... I have decided to jump on the bandwagon... so, I'm sorry, you're gonna have to put up with reading some book reviews every now and then. I am only planning on requesting/reviewing children's books though, b/c they require a smaller time commitment. Hopefully those of you who read this blog and are parents will find some of those reviews helpful. :)

Hey... free books? I mean, why not?

Yet Another Story Idea

2010-09-14T09:57:00.002-04:00

A few months back, my brother sent me an idea for a story. I have it rolling around in the back of my head and am looking forward to expanding on it. I thought I'd let you take a sneak peek at it.

*******

     The whole world looked muffled. If you’ve ever lived within a University dormitory and had to put your head under your pillow to try and get sleep or if you’ve ever heard a conversation through a wall you would know the feeling. However, Devlin blinking hard at the hazy surroundings, noted that the world did not sound muffled, it looked muffled.
    Devlin was perplexed. He was standing in the middle of an open space. A foreign and unknown open space. Yet not a moment ago he had known exactly where he had been. He had been in his hotel room getting ready for the last leg of what had already been an overlong journey home.
    Slowly, it seemed his eyes were adjusting. The fog that was either filling this space or filling his head seemed to dissipate. And yet he remained motionless. Frozen to the spot in which he had been standing.   It was as if he had woken up only to realize he was still dreaming. He had been awake he thought to himself.
    “You’re not dreaming you know.”

The Skin Map Review

2010-09-08T09:50:00.000-04:00

When I heard Stephen Lawhead was writing a new book, I was thrilled. When I learned the title of the new book was The Skin Map, I was confused. It didn’t sound very ... well... Lawhead-y. However, as I began reading this beginning to a brand new series, I swiftly became engrossed in the story.

Filled with descriptions that beguile all five senses and all the beauty and charm of the language I have come to expect from Lawhead, this book is a fascinating blend of fantasy and sci-fi. In the world of The Skin Map, there is an Omni-verse, a universe filled with alternate realities that are easily accessible to those who know where to look via roads known as “ley lines.” These alternate realities are also located in different “time zones” as it were, and thus jumping from one reality to the next also inevitably includes a certain amount of time travel.

The book follows the stories of several different characters: Kit Livingstone a young man from modern-day London, who encounters his great grandfather and is shown how to ley travel; Wilhelmina, Kit’s girlfriend, who, when Kit tries to prove to her that ley travel is real, gets trapped in 17th century Prague; Cosimo (Kit’s great grandfather) and Sir Henry, ley line adventurers who wish to use the ley lines for the betterment of science and humanity; Lord Burleigh, the villain of the story, whose motivations seem to stem from greed; and Arthur Flinders-Petrie, the “Ernest Shackleton” of the ley line adventurers who mapped out the ley lines and had them tattooed on his body so they could never be stolen or lost.

Something I love about this book is the masterful way Lawhead subtly uses his characters to point to Christ. He never beats his audience about the head with his beliefs, despite publishing with a Christian publishing house. Instead, he allows his books to unfold the message of his faith - either through characters whose faith is an integral part of who they are (such as Etzel), or through characters who don’t know what they believe and the conversations they have with other characters about questions they have (such as Kit and Lady Faythe). As always, Lawhead is unique in that he is not a writer of Christian Fiction. Rather, he is a Christian Author who writes Fiction.

On the flip side of this rave review I do have a couple of negatives to mention. First, is that I have to wait until next September to read the second book in the series. Second, don’t read this book expecting to have any questions answered. I was about 10 pages from the end when I realized that the book was leading me to a cliff-hanger ending, and I was going to have to wait for the rest of the series to find out what happens. Since Lawhead is delving back into sci-fi with this series, this first book was mainly an introduction to the characters, the concept of ley travel, and a tantalizing glimpse at the story this series will become.

Overall, I would say I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who likes a good blend of sci-fi, fantasy, and history as well as the idea of time travel and being able to mess with historical events.

Technically, nobody ever asked me for anything, but I'm sure that the FTC would like me to explain that I received this book for free but was not required by the publisher to give it a good review.

A new adventure

2010-09-06T10:00:00.002-04:00

Hey all, thought I'd share the prologue to the new story I'm writing. Let me know what you think!

***

Prologue
    Firelight flickered across the man’s face, shadows making his wrinkles seem deep, deeper than they were. The room was small and nearly empty, bare of decoration. There was a small rug, woven in threads of blue and gray, in front of the hearth and the wooden chair in which the old man sat staring into the dying fire. Three walls of the small garret room were lined with bookshelves and every shelf was filled with large, ancient, hard-bound books, dusty from disuse. In the middle of the room was a small, square table with two mismatched chairs. Against the one wall that had no shelves was a small counter with a sink that allowed running water, an odd luxury for so poor a dwelling. A cabinet held a few pieces of pottery, presumably for holding food, and further down the wall was an old cot with a straw mattress.
    The old man sat hunched over, wrapped in an old cloak. His white beard hung nearly to his waist. In a different time he had kept his beard shorter and neatly combed, but what, really, was the point anymore? Closer inspection would have revealed that the tattered, gray cloak the man had pulled about his shoulders had once been very fine. It had once been a royal blue in color, with fabric as soft as a newborn chick and as waterproof as a duck’s feathers. It was lined with gray silk and trimmed with silver cords. But there was no one around to examine the cloak, none left to wonder how such a fine cloak had come into the possession of this old man living in this poor tower room.
    The fire in the hearth had burned down to a handful of glowing embers and the room began to grow chilly. The man sighed and shifted, looking into the hearth and then glancing out the one window above the wash-basin at the rising silver moon. He could get more firewood easily, now that it was dark, and restarting the fire itself would require little effort at all, and yet there he sat, as immobile as carved stone, his face filled with bitter sorrow. What was the point? What point in keeping the fire burning? What point in keeping his post. All was well, all had been well, all would most likely continue to be well. For two hundred years, nothing had needed his attention. Perhaps allowing himself to slip into oblivion would not be a desertion of his duties after all. He long to sleep, to be reunited with his brothers. He glanced guiltily at the table as though to reassure himself, as though afraid that his very thoughts might cause some change. The orb, however, did not flicker.
    The orb was the only decorative piece in the room: a small, round, glass ball no larger than an apple, made of what looked like blown glass and so delicate that a breath might cause it to shatter. It sat wrapped in the open jaws of a silver statue carved to look like a dragon in flight. the orb glowed a steady, pure blue and the man sighed again, a sound that was filled with both relief and weariness. If all was not well, the orb would become streaked with orange and red, but there would still be time, time to stop the darkness. If the streaks grew until the orb was overwhelmed... the old man shook his head, not liking to think about what that would mean.
    It would not happen, it could not, he had seen to that. He pulled his cloak tighter and snapped his fingers, expending very little energy, but more than it would have taken to actually go get the wood from the nearby forest. The fire in the hearth blazed up, warming the room and chasing back the shadows that had risen up and threatened to overwhelm him. Dalmir blinked back tears at the sudden memories and scowled into the fire.

Roadblock

2010-08-31T21:16:00.000-04:00

I just sat down to do some editing, and hit a brick wall. I came to a part I had completely forgotten about and now don't know what to do with. I need to discuss with my Editor. My knee-jerk reaction is to cut the entire section (about 6 pages worth of story), but I'm not sure.

Sigh.

Well, I guess I'll go read something instead.

Clash of the Titans

2010-08-30T11:00:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I reviewed a movie here. So, here goes:

Last week... I don't remember what day... Derek and I watched the new "Clash of the Titans." Now, I went into this movie expecting it to be singularly ridiculous, somewhat amusing, fairly lacking in content, and pretty much laughable. I believed it would be entertaining, but what I did not expect, was that I was going to love it.

Very rarely do I watch a movie (especially a movie that I didn't expect anything from) and wish that I had seen it in the theater. Possibly this is because I am pretty picky about the movies I go see (and am getting pickier as theater prices sky-rocket to ludicrous heights), or possibly it is because we watched the movie on my laptop, but either way, as we watched "Clash of the Titans" I found myself wishing that I had gone to see this movie when it was in theaters.

The visuals and special effects are fantastic. The monsters are realistic and frightening (but not horrifying to look at). The action is well-choreographed and intense, but not gory. The characters are likeable and heroic (as it should be in the retelling of a Greek myth), and they are none of them cowards.

The plot is pretty simplistic, which Derek listed as a con, but I list as a pro. You see, I am a student of mythology... being an English major and all... and the movie is pretty true to the story of Perseus. If you read Bullfinch's Mythology, which is one of the best compilations of Greek and Roman myths that is out there, you will see the problem with turning any of them into a full-length movie: the longest story in the book is probably about 6 pages long and some of them are as short as a paragraph or two. Also, most of the stories are interconnected, so as to make it difficult to pick one out to tell without leaving your modern audience completely confused. Thus, the fact that the movie stuck closely to the storyline of the myth without becoming too tangled and confusing was, to me, a major bonus. The story was told with artful simplicity and although it strayed in a few places from the original myth which you can read if you click on that link... it did not do so by too many extraordinary leaps, and the leaps it did make gave the movie a focus and direction that is lacking in many of the myths and would make them hard to turn into movies (they tend to meander around a bit).

A few things I noticed while watching that did sort of bother me. In the movie, Queen Cassiopeia says that her daughter, Andromeda, is more beautiful than the gods. However, in the myth, Cassiopeia compares her own beauty to that of the gods, which is the vanity she is punished for and the reason that the gods demand her daughter as a sacrifice to the sea monster. Also, the movie has a Kraken threaten the city of Argos, instead of the sea monster Cetus. Now, I understand that, "Release the Kraken." is much cooler to say than, "Release Cetus," and it was probably one of those points that Liam Neeson's agent negotiated for... however... the Kraken is from Norse mythology, while Cetus was from Greek mythology and is the creature that actually attacks Argos in the Perseus myth... so that kind of annoyed me. The other points where the plot strayed from the original myth were fairly minor and didn't impact the overall story too much.

However, those two points were pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. There were no scantily clad people running around, I noticed one swear... mostly because it was so obviously out of place in the language of the time/place... and no sex scenes, for which I was thankful and quite impressed.

Overall, if you're looking for something fun to watch on a Friday night, go ahead and rent this one. There's action, adventure, great special effects, a rather fantastic soundtrack, good characters, and even a little bit of a plot, and nothing offensive to jar your senses as you watch the movie. It's not a "thinking" movie, it's not one that I'll probably own. But it is one I'd be willing to watch again, because it was fun.

Getting closer

2010-08-26T15:55:00.002-04:00

77 pages left in my rewrite (out of 251)!

A Dream Realized

2010-08-17T10:00:00.001-04:00

One of my dreams as a writer has always been to see my book(s) on a library shelf. I love libraries. The books, the smell, the quietness, the peace, did I mention the books?

Today, a dear friend sent me this picture. He and his family were at the Evansville Library, one of the oldest libraries in Indiana, and he was perusing the young adult fiction section, when this caught his eye. He took a picture and sent it to me... and it made my day... for obvious reasons :)

Upcoming

2010-08-10T13:39:00.001-04:00

Hey all, sorry it's been a while since my last post. Summertime is crazy and busy for me, and to top it all off everyone in my family has gotten sick in the past week, and now the cold has hit me as well. Yech.

Anyway, just wanted to apologize for my lack of posting. I'm still trying to decide whether or not I like blogger or if I want to do something else with my writing blog: what do you think?

Be on the lookout for an upcoming book giveaway - details to come soon!

Also, be on the lookout for updates on "The Dragon's Eye" I am down to about 90 pages left in my re-writing process!

That's all I've got for now. Thanks for your patience.

Random Trivia

2010-07-27T13:41:00.000-04:00

I would like to announce that my author fanpage now has 126 members!!

Also, I just discovered today that since Oct. 2009 I have sold 49 copies of my books. (The publisher I originally went with from 2005-2009 got merged with CreateSpace and I don't have easy access to the records of how many books I sold before the merger - I know it was upwards of 200 total - 2 books).

I am over half-way through the editing/re-writing process of "The Dragon's Eye."

I am exploring ideas of how to merge this blog and my personal blog into one big, happy family... but I'm not sure of the best way to go about it. Ideas? Thoughts? Anyone?

Also, if I do merge the two blogs, I'd like to port my old posts over to the new blog (my personal blog is xanga-based, and this one is, of course, blogger), anyone know how to do that or which format would support that sort of thing?

I'm also open to running a "Name the New Blog" contest... or just accepting name ideas here. Any ideas?

Author Questions

2010-07-22T14:14:00.007-04:00

Here are the questions they asked me (and every author who is chosen for the book of the week... which eventually will be every author who is a fan):

Breakout Books

‎~

1. How long have you been writing?
2. What, if anything, inspired this book?
3. How long did it take you to write this book?
4. Are any of the characters based on people you know in real life?
5. Who is your favorite author, and does he/she inspire you?
6. What is your favorite part of writing? Least favorite?
7. Any exciting news for your book, big or small?

My Answers:

~

1. I have been writing for as long as I can remember. I think I started my first "novel writing experience" in 3rd or 4th grade. I never finished that book, but I think it's still around somewhere.
2. My dad told me that if I wanted to be a writer, I should be writing. The summer after my freshman year of college he challenged me to write 10 pages a day - a story he could read out loud to the whole family every night. He said he'd pay me $1 per page and a $1000 bonus if I finished the book before school started again.
3. The book took 3 months to write (give or take a week).
4. Some of the characters are based on people I know in real life. For example, Brant is based on a combination of my dad and one of my brothers, aspects of Kiernan's character are based on my other brother, and Kamarie is very much the person I wish I could be. Other characters started out archetypical and sort of expanded, and several are pure imagination.
5. I can't pick a favorite author, but I am inspired by quite a few: Timothy Zahn (I aspire to write the way he does, have more than one "style" and "world" that I write about), Terry Brooks, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Stephen R. Lawhead, and my Grandma - Gwen Walker. She died when I was eight, but she left behind a lot of poetry and one of my favorite novels. I hope that one day I can get it published for her.
6. My favorite part of writing is the actual writing of the story... I love how it sometimes surprises me where the story goes, even if I have a pretty comprehensive outline. Sometimes the characters just decide they want to say or do something other than what I had planned, and that is really fun. My least favorite part of writing ... I don't know if I have a least favorite. Probably writer's block... or having hundreds of ideas and nowhere near enough time to write them all down...
7. Being the book of the week here at Breakout Books is pretty exciting! :) I am in the middle of a major edit/rewrite of this book and have been working on query letters and a synopsis. I am halfway done with my edit and have already received a rejection letter or two... maybe it's weird that that's exciting... ;)

Book of the Week

2010-07-16T11:50:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone! If you have time, go check out Breakout Books where "The Dragon's Eye" is book of the week! Pretty exciting stuff! :)