The Blue Willow Inn Banana Split Cake

If you've been looking for a delicious dessert that's cool and sweet, check out the recipe for the Banana Split Cake I've posted on F.A.I.T.H. today.

Book Review: THESE BOOTS WEREN'T MADE FOR WALKING by Melody Carlson

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
These Boots Weren't Made for Walking
(WATERBROOK Press June 19, 2007)
by
Melody Carlson

MELODY CARLSON HAD ME HOOKED FROM PAGE ONE.

As I learned Cassidy Cantrell had never owned anything Valentino in her life, but decided to splurge on a pair of Valentino boots, and open up a credit card, I could see myself in the store beside her! Then, the 31 year old, who's biological clock is ticking and she hopes that any day her boyfriend is going to propose, wears them to work to be walking into a lay off of her department! And then, only like a day or two later, her boyfriend breaks up with her for the chic Cassidy befriended at church!

Somehow, as I sat cross legged on my couch, book in hand, I felt like Cassidy was sitting next to me and we were old girlfriends, her spilling her story of the last few months of torture! As she searched her apartment for a Snickers bar, I was looking in my cupboards for one too, just to break open and share with her!

I don't remember if this is when she learns her Valentino credit card has been stolen and suspects her "friend" across the hall, Monica or not! But soon, Cassidy is lending a helping hand to Monica's ex-boyfriend Will, because Monica walked out on him, too! - and they're sharing sob stories and Chinese food. It's around this time, Will's not looking like such a slouch, or is Cassidy just on the rebound?

But Cassidy is a smart girl and she heads home to lick her wounds and regroup with her Mom, who's totally reformed from the down and out divorcee to a hot, real estate saleslady who's caught the eye of a hot guy Cassidy's age. Good grief! When did Cassidy's Mom do a 360? Who can tell who's the mom and daughter anymore? Is Cassidy ever going to get a break? Is she going to survive the spinning class her Mom talks her into? Is she going to land a better job? Is Cassidy going to find the man of her dreams in an older man or will it be an unlikely ally?

I'm not telling - You need to read this book and enjoy every page of it.

Let Cassidy be your new best friend. But have the junk food ready... as you laugh with Cassidy, you'll be ready to box for her too. That's what girlfriends are for. Have the Snicker's bar ready and happy reading - this one's a keeper!

This link for These Boots Weren't Made for Walking will take you to Amazon to buy the book.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Melody Carlson has published over 100 books for adults, children, and teens, including On This Day, Finding Alice, the Notes from a Spinning Planet series, and Homeward, which won the Rita Award from Romance Writers of America. She and her husband, the parents of two grown sons, make their home near the Cascade Mountains in Central Oregon. Melody is a full-time writer as well as an avid gardener, biker, skier, and hiker.

Writerly Advice - article 2

Join a critique group.

I joined a group last fall. There were four of us then. Nine months later, we're down to three, but that's just fine.

We started out all gung ho. Everyone was submitting a chapter or two over email. We were hurrying to critique each others and couldn't wait to get our own back. Then, one returned to work, the holidays came, and first thing you know the four of us are hanging by a thread. Two of us maintained contact while one stopped writing altogether. The fourth simply didn't have the extra time to write.

Now, it's summer. Our group of three kicked off the season with our second critique group meeting. The first meeting was at a restaurant. We don't count that meeting as productive.

This one we had Saturday, however, was very productive.

After crossing off about four hours of our day, Dianna and I went to Christina's house. We had a light lunch and sat around her dining room table with our laptops open, ready to work. Books on the writing craft were stacked around our work spaces, along with a few dictionaries and thesaurus's in between.

We each took turns giving another a review of their work. Christina's novel is finished. Dianna's is just getting started. I've been swimming in quicksand for a while. I've exhausted The Distance... manuscript and have decided to put it aside for a month. Luckily, an idea for a new story was born out of The Distance... Our afternoon ended with the group brainstorming ideas for my new MIP and thus, I've been working steady to put my ideas on paper, sketch out my synopsis and color in the characters.

This is what having a critique group is about. I think each one of us walked away from Saturday with more useful information than we came in with. We exchanged books and good fellowship.

If your writing, but don't have another writer to bounce your work off of, I suggest you look into it. Writers are looking at other manuscripts for the points you need to be making with your characters and making sure the little things make sense. They're looking deeper into your plot to see the arch, the black moment and that all your facts tie together. You need someone to go through your manuscript with a fine tooth comb before you submit it to an agent or editor and a critique group is a good, basic place to start.

My writing has improved tremendously since I found my critique partners. I value their opinion and look forward to our next meeting.

BTW, my MIP(masterpiece in progress) is typed with a laugh. I don't want anyone to think I'm being haughty or proud. While the finished product, and I will finish it, may be a masterpiece to me, it may not be to everyone.

I picked up the acronym MIP from Debra Dixon's Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. It is wonderful! I'll be sharing some advice that I learn through studying this highly recommended book on our craft.

Writerly Advice - article 1

My disclaimer on advice:

I am a writer working on my craft. I am not published. My advice in itself is a work in process. If what I blog here doesn't work for you, I can't be held responsible.



With that said, my first article on advice is:

Get a room all your own.

Set up your office in the closet if you must. Whatever works for you - that's the key.

I've been slaving over my laptop for months now, wondering why my story wasn't working. This weekend I had several epiphanies. One is that I spent way too much time on the Internet. Unfortunately, I wasn't researching material for my MIP (masterpiece in progress :-)

Yesterday, I moved my laptop to the bonus room.

My husband's L.A. Dodger memorabilia is all over the walls. His Godfather poster has the gang staring me in the face. On the other side of the window, it's Star Wars. So far, neither is interrupting my creative process.

Never mind the fuse ball table is covered with a piece of plywood and layers of blankets. Don't worry about the fact that I've got the laptop propped up on another box so my posture won't suffer. What counts is I spent TWO HOURS THIS MORNING - working on my character analysis and journal. Then I reviewed my synopsis. I even secured a 16 word one liner...

What's that? You may be wondering?

Why it's step One in the Snowflake Method! See Randy Ingermanson's website for more info. I've heard so many writers rave about this technique. Since my old ways aren't working right now, I'm giving it a shot.

Except, Randy says 15 words is better.

Since I'm long winded, I'm going to keep my 16 for now and feel happy I've accomplished something.

Blogging on FAITH Today - Speedy Gonzalez or Slowpoke Rodriguez

Until recently, I'd forgotten that I can be obsessive-compulsive when it comes to reading. If I am enjoying a novel, I want to be fully absorbed in its world until I turn to the last page. Sometimes, I'm disappointed when that last page comes and I find myself wondering what life would've been like, if I were living in Ireland, if I were Amish, if I lived back in the 1800s and was driving West with a wagon train...



Read more on F.A.I.T.H.

Spirit of Sweetgrass by Nicole Seitz

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing

SPIRIT OF SWEETGRASS
Integrity/Thomas Nelson (March 6, 2007)

by
Nicole Seitz


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

NICOLE SEITZ is a South Carolina Lowcountry native and freelance writer/illustrator published in South Carolina Magazine, Charleston Magazine, House Calls, The Island Packet and The Bluffton Packet.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Journalism, she also has a bachelor's degree in illustration from Savannah College of Art & Design. Nicole is an exhibiting artist in the Charleston, South Carolina area where she owns a web design firm and lives with her husband and two small children.





ABOUT THE BOOK:


Essie Mae Laveau Jenkins is a 78-year-old sweetgrass basket weaver who sits on the side of Hwy. 17 in the company of her dead husband, Daddy Jim.

Inspired by her Auntie Leona, Essie Mae finally discovers her calling in life and weaves powerful "love baskets," praying fervently over them to affect the lives of those who visit her roadside stand.

Relations are strained with her daughter Henrietta, who thinks Essie belongs in a retirement center. If Essie can't pay $10,000 in back taxes to save her home, she may have no choice. More tensions: her grandson EJ wants to marry a white girl, Essie discovers that a handsome man she's trying to find a girl for is gay, and her daughter carries a hidden secret.

When she's faced with losing her home and her stand and being put in a nursing home, Daddy Jim talks her into coming on up to Heaven to meet sweet Jesus-something she's always wanted to do.

The SPIRIT OF SWEETGRASS shifts less successfully to the afterlife, where her Gullah-Creole ancestors surround her; but soon, her heavenly peace is disrupted, for she still has work to do. Now Essie Mae, who once felt powerless and invisible, must find the strength within her to keep her South Carolina family from falling apart. Together, with Daddy Jim, they team up to return to Earth and battle two spirits conjured up by Henrietta's voodoo that threatens to ruin an attempt to save the sweetgrass basket weaving culture.

Defiant Heart by Tracey Bateman ~ My Review!

Unfortunately, I wasn't finished with this book when the CFBA blog tour rolled around. But if you like historicals and stories of pioneers searching for a new life in the young West, this is the story for you.

Fannie Caldwell is desperate to escape her life as an abused indentured servant with her twin siblings. Although Blake Tanner is reluctant to allow Fannie to come along on his wagon train, he can't deny the determination he sees in her. As they head West, they discover Christ's love and a new love between them. But will they ever be able to escape Fannie's past?

Tracey Bateman kept me hooked throughout the story. Just when I thought Fannie was safe, another challenge would strike. I loved Fannie's determined character. It was a joy to read about Fannie and Blake's blooming relationship. Supporting characters in Sam and Toni make me look forward to Book Two!