LDStorymakers Conference

I came to the LDStoryMakers conference in disguise--or so a couple of people told me.
One lady said every time she saw at me she thought I was Stephanie Meyer.
It was a great compliment, but I'm not so sure I share much of a resemblance.
If I don't look like her, at least I can pretend that I can write like her.

Stephanie Meyer

Me

Apparently that's not the only disguise I wore. I was also told that I look like Dana Delany. 

I thought that was pretty cool so I decided to change my disguise and try to look like other people. 

How do I look as Dan Wells?

Don't you see the resemblance?

And here I am as the famous Sarah Eden!

There were some famous people there...

James Dashner and Dan Wells

And there were a bunch of future famous people there...like those in boot camp 

and those who braved a pitch session.

I didn't sign up for a pitch session--I'm just pretending to be like all of you who did.

But all of us together made a GREAT conference!

I hope everyone had a fantastic time like I did!

Mark of Loyalty a Sequel

When Mark of Royalty came out, I was surprised at the number of people who contacted me and asked for a sequel. The book had a satisfying ending, but it did end before the main characters, Sarah and Prince Alex, were married. Apparently readers saw that as room for another adventure for the new-found princess and the gears in my brain started working.

Stephonie (coauthor) and I came up with some fabulous plot ideas, but we hesitated to put pen to paper as we waited to see how Mark of Royalty sold. It seemed to do really well for a debut novel so we decided to add another chapter (40 to be exact) to Princess Sarah's life.

Mark of Loyalty (working title) is full of adventure and romance and really pushes Sarah to really discover who she is meant to be.

Do you want a sneak peak???
Shhhhh. Come closer and I'll tell you what it's about.

Sarah travels to her home country in an attempt to find her place in her royal family, but when her arrival stirs up some long buried animosity, Sarah turns to her bodyguard, Luther, for safety. But Luther’s protection doesn’t come without cost and Sarah finds herself questioning her relationship with Alex. When Sarah faces a betrayal that nearly takes her life, she must decide where she truly belongs by discovering what was behind the infamous prophecy that took her from her family to begin with. 

We don't know if Mark of Loyalty will be accepted, but we have our fingers crossed. The plot flows with adventure and there are some fantastic new characters that I can't wait to introduce to our readers. I won't spoil it, but I am going to let you in on one of my favorite additions: MARGARET ANTONELLIS. She is Sarah's travel companion, and is a relative to Miranda (Sarah's adopted mother). Margaret is such a fun character, so prim and proper on the outside and spunky with a touch of brass on the inside. No one will suspect that this matronly, collected woman has a secret habit that she tries to hide from everyone. It's so funny, I laugh every time I think about it.

Alright, I must force myself to be quiet now. But Mark of Loyalty is sooo good, I just want to share . . . no . . . must stop typing. . . must not spoil it . . .

Just wish us luck as we get ready to submit it to our publisher. 

    

 

Women of Strength

Author Tristi Pinkston announces the publication of her tenth book, Women of Strength, a nonfiction inspirational novel geared for the LDS market that is perfect for Mother’s Day gift-giving … or as a very thoughtful present for yourself on any occasion. She’s holding an online book launch on her blog all day on Saturday, March 24^th, and you are invited!  Every two hours from 10 a.m. to midnight, Tristi will be holding mini-contests, answering trivia questions, and giving away great prizes.  Head on over to http://www.tristipinkston.blogspot.com to enter and to have a great time!

Create a Home Library

What do Leonardo Davinci, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and Abe Lincoln all have in common?

The answer: They all had their own personal home library.

Lets face it, for most people reading is not a priority. Case in point: I attended a meeting several years ago where the keynote speaker, Bryan Dodge, claimed that he could tell where someone's TV was located just by looking at a floor plan of their house. It was pretty easy actually, he just picked the largest room in a central location. Most of our lives center around our TV. Bryan is self-improvement motivational speaker and when people ask him how they can improve themselves, he again refers to the floor plan of their house and asks them where their home library is located. Really? Reading can improve our lives? You bet!

What Bryan said that day stuck with me over the years, and when we moved into our new house, I designated a corner of our unfinished basement as the location of our home library.

Here's some tips so you can build your own home library.

  1) Where to put it.
Most any room will do as long as you have some wall space. I've even seen a home library built into a closet.
BE CAUTIOUS OF PLACES THAT ARE PRONE TO FLOODING OR ARE HEAVY WITH HUMIDITY (You get mold and insects). AND PICK SOMEPLACE WITH AMPLE READING LIGHT, BUT KEEP YOUR BOOKS OUT OF DIRECT SUN LIGHT. (My first library was set up in our dinning room with 4 cheap shelving units placed against the wall where the sun came in and softly illuminated my precious books each afternoon. Big mistake. All of the book spines faded and the paper became brittle.) 


 2) How to organize
It doesn't matter how many books you have, you should organize them.
Most people organize them accordion to SUBJECT MATTER which is the way I do it. I group my books according to religion, business, do it yourself, classics, educational, fiction, etc.... I can always find a book quickly on my shelves when ever I need it. Other ways of organizing is by AUTHOR, or ALPHABETIZING, or even by COLOR (looks really nice, but not very practical). However you do it, ALWAYS PUT YOUR MOST USED BOOKS WITHIN REACH. SELDOM USED BOOKS GO ON TOP AND KID BOOKS GO ON BOTTOM.

 3) Shelving units--build or buy?  
There is no right or wrong way, but here are some things to consider. built-in bookshelves can provide floor-to-ceiling storage and are space savings. They can be tucked under staircases or other out-of-the-way spaces, and if your willing to build them yourself (there are lots of how-to-books out there on the subject) you can save some money. Freestanding bookcases are widely available in a variety of sizes, colors and price ranges, and are good for renters. Look at what it is made out of. I bought some bookshelves made out of pressed wood and the shelves sagged over time.

Either way you go, you should considering adding a desk or some reading chairs to go nearby.

I am extremely happy with the Library I built. Here's a quick run down of how I built mine:
First I selected the location--a large nook that was begging for some special attention. Then I got to work taking measurements and reading up on the different ways to build shelves. I designed my library myself, I'm proud to say. I framed mine up with 2x4's then faced them with pine and added the shelves. Shelves were 11" deep and 3/4 inch thick, but I faced them with a 1"x 2" board to give it a thicker, more finished look. That also extended the width of the shelf to 12 inches. My total cost was $800 and that gave me wall to wall, floor to ceiling, wooden shelves, molded edging, and poll and ladder. I even carved my favorite classic authors into each rung on the ladder. Nice touch I thought. If nothing else, I feel smarter just looking at it.

2x4's with the pine facing on them.

Shelves put in and held in place with tiny "L" brackets.

Completed shelves with ladder.

Fold out desk.

Ladder.

 

 This is a great site that has step by step instructions on how to build bookshelves:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to-plans/woodworking/4268525

Great Giveaway

Just a note to tell you that Mark of Royalty is being given away on the Mormon Mommy Writers blog.
Along with the book, they are giving away a DVD copy of the music video, with other special features!
There are several ways you can enter--check it out!
http://mormonmommywriters.blogspot.com/

No time to read?

NO TIME TO READ???

Several weeks ago I met with a friend that I haven't seen for 9 years. We had a great reminiscing and catching up on what was happening in our lives. After a while she told me that she had my book, Mark of Royalty, but that she hadn't read it yet. That's okay. I'm not offended by a long shot. After all, there are several books on my list that I've "been meaning to get to". But then she continued to tell me how busy she was and that she never finds time to read. In fact, it's been years since she's been able to read a novel. I had a hard time keeping my jaw from dropping to the floor at her declaration, and I felt sad. No time to read? I can totally relate to being busy, but surely there can still be time to read. I found myself really wishing I could find some time for my friend. What I did find was some great articles on the subject.

Kenny Silva posted an article: Leaders are Readers. He states that the average American reads 3-6 books a year. That same average American will also watch about 35 hours of television… this week! Hmmmmm, that's interesting. He also suggests making a reading plan. It's easy to do once you consider these facts:

• The average adult reads at about 300 words per minute.
• A 200-page book comes in at right around 80,000 words.
• Using that standard, it takes the average adult reader about 4.5 hours to read a book.

Let’s be liberal with the numbers and say it takes you 7 hours to read a book. That gives you plenty of time to slow down, reflect, take notes, etc.

Take a look at your schedule and see how much time you can carve out for reading each day.

• A half an hour a day comes out to 2-3 books a month/26 a year.
• 15 minutes each day means 1-2 books a month/13 books a year.

That’s right. 15 minutes of reading each day will put you on track to read 4 times as many books as the average American reader.

I've mentioned before that I try to read 27 books a year, or about 1 every 2 weeks. I usually go over. But I admit, sometimes I go in waves. I have a dry spell and then suddenly I find myself completing 2 or even 3 books in a week. But, sadly, that bliss cannot be repeated every single week. Eventually my kids will need fed and the laundry can only be piled so high before it hits the ceiling. In a perfect world, there would be more books and no laundry. I can daydream, can't I?

Okay, kidding aside, I just sucked myself into the "I don't have time" excuse. But life and laundry aren't so pressing that I can't manage to carve 15 minutes out of my day--even during my dry spells. 

But what if you were REALLY busy--like a CEO? They're busy right? Did you know that the average CEO reads 4 to 5 books a month? I'm telling you--leaders are readers.

“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, 

or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.”

^{- Confucius}

Best of 2011 Giveaway Hop

Congratulations to Canda Mortensen,

the winner of my Best of 2011 Giveaway!

Canda, you just won a hard back copy of 

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans

winner selected by http://www.random.org/

What a way to start out the New Year! As always, my goal is to read at least 27 books this year. That's about one book every two weeks. I encourage everyone to try it. It's not hard to do, even when you have to take 6 months of the year to write your own manuscript. 

I have a fabulous list of books that I'm making my way through and I just finished one today. Hooray--my first official entry in my reading journal for 2012! I'm well on my way.
Keep reading!!!