Altared Plans by Rebecca Talley

I read Rebecca's first book Heaven Scent and really liked it. I had a hard time keeping my daughter from stealing it before I finished it. This time was no diferent, as soon as I shut the book, my 15 yo daughter swiped it from me. :)

Altared Plans is about Caitlyn a young woman who has everything planned. The perfect wedding to the perfect man and the perfect life planned after the honeymoon. When on the morning of her wedding the groom runs off, she is left devestated. Her perfect plans gone in the flight of a plane.

To Caitlyn love equals betrayal. She returns to BYU vowing to live the rest of her life as a old maid. What will happen to her when she is called to be the "mother" of her family home evening group opposite a hunky cowboy named Travis?

I LOVED this book! It is smart, funny, and a great read. I give it four stars.

About the Author
Rebecca was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California. She spent countless hours swimming in the ocean, collecting shells, and building sandcastles. She graduated from BYU with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications. While attending BYU, she met and married her sweetheart, Del. Rebecca now lives in Colorado on a small ranch with a spoiled horse, a dog, goats, and a llama named Tina. She and Del have been blessed with 10 creative and multi-talented children. She has had numerous stories published in children s magazines, including the Friend and is the author of Heaven Scent, an LDS novel published by Cedar Fort. Besides writing, Rebecca also enjoys dating her husband, playing with her kids, knitting, and dancing to disco music while she cleans the house. She has consumed at least 4892 pounds of chocolate and even more ice cream (which is why she needs to dance while she cleans house).

Epithany (AKA apostrophe)

I use that word alot, but the word in itself is powerful.

As a writer I walk around open to almost everything. I see fantastic stories in the everyday world. I hear dialogue in my head and I have characters walk in a room, sit down, and start telling me thier story.

Wednesday night, my Kyo Sa Nim (instructor) started to tell us about the history of Tang Soo Do. The curious person that I am, I came home and started looking at the websites dealing with Tang and Korean Martial Arts history. Of course, it inspired me. I took many notes that I believe will help me with my book. Personally I love research and enjoy the process of making my book better.

The epithany I had this morning was amazing, to me at least. There are fables, and myths in history that explain the workings of the world. So. . . I know the people in my book and thier home planet have thier own history and myths I just haven't figured out what they are. Well, now I know I need to write my peoples history and thier own myths. I am sure it will help me, I know it will make my story better.

So, the next few days/weeks I will be a historian to the characters in my book. At least I have something for my daily goal for Tristi's July writing challenge.

Bone Warriors by Bron Bahlmann

We spent a few days at Mesa Verde and then a day at my In Laws and then a day at Primary Childrens Hospital with my 5 yo son. NOW I am home and needed to post a way overdue book review.

Bone Warriors by Bron Bahlmann

The first thing you neeed to know is that Bron was FIFTEEN when he published this book. FIFTEEN!!!!! Think about this, if he's fifteen now what is he going to be able to do when he's twenty?????

The plot of this book is epic fantasy, two young boys righting a wrong, setting off on a grand adventure, rescuing people near and dear to them.

What impressed me was the boys ability to write. He has a descriptive ability that is beyond his age. His ability to write unique, belivable, and likeable characters is inspiring. I especially liked Tweaks, the main characters best friend. He has a quirky personality that immediately made me smile.

My recomendation to you is read this book and be impressed at this BOY'S ability. The story is a great adventure with likeable characters in a unique world.

Valor Publishing Group LLC Opens its Doors.

I am excited to announce that Valor Publishing has opened its doors. After months of work and planning Candace Salima has announced that Valor is open and accepting submissions. I am so excited! Candace has very innovative ideas and I believe that she will take this company far. She has allready signed Mark Shurtlef, and Karen E. Hoover. Check it out here.

When God closes a door. . . revisited.

I am at the end of my writing journey for Emergence. I sent my baby out to readers and worked diligently on every editing aspect I could do on my own. I pulled my hair at the whole grammar thing even though I am ten times better than I was five years ago. I was thrilled with some amazing comments and suffered through a really emotionally squashing crit. But I worked and fixed and found and replaced and cut thousands of words only to replace them with new words.

Then I sent my baby off to the big wide world out there.

I was rejected, and for a few days that REJECTION was all I saw in that email. I cried and said I was going to quit, and dealt with the emotions of that rejection. Then when things calmed down and I decided that maybe I wasnt really going to quit and re-read the rejection letter. The letter offered a second chance based on changes that they wanted me to make.

Of course I am going to make those changes,I want to be a writer, I want to touch someone with what I write. I have a mesage and its a good one.

In the quiet of a early Sunday morning I realized that this was exactly where I wanted to be. I have wanted to work with this editor like an addict wants a fix. I admire this person so much and have never been able to aford an edit on my own now they are offering it to me out of the graciousness of thier heart. This is what I wanted, and actually asked for the last time I went to contemplate and serve at the temple. That I be sent in the direction I needed to go with my writing. My prayer although I initially recieved it the wrong way was answered in the way I needed it not the way I wanted.

So . . . When God closes a door. . . he opens a window.

Comparison and disapointed

I know from drought to flood, I can't get my voice to cooperate.

After I finish writing. I usually take a few days weeks to read some books this time is no diferent. I didn't, however, expect the disapointment I recieved at about one last night.

I picked up two "romances" for reading enjoyment at the library.

One was a campy paranormal romance which I loved and literally laughed through the whole book. I can't wait to find the sequel and read it too. The characters were great, the setting unique, and the plot really good. I would read lines from the book to my teenage daughter and we would laugh together. I finished that book with a sense of satisfaction and went happily on my way.

The second one I picked up and read just yesterday, I loved the begining of the book although there were parts that were so predictable. I was actually asking myself why I hadn't read something of this authors before, they were that good. I loved how the author played on the stereotypes and made it work I also liked that the narrator talked to me as a reader intermittently. I was sucked into the book and stayed up after DH went to bed (A BIG NO NO IN MY HOUSE) to finish it. Then I get to the end and the two characters in the book who have had all this romantic tension and SHOULD get together in the end don't. I sat there in my kitchen at the table with a blank stare and felt SO BETRAYED! It felt bitter on my tongue and I have vowed never to read this author again because the betrayal was so huge in my eyes. I laid in bed for nearly an hour after that and wondered about the end of this book. I am sorely disapointed.

Now granted there are those of you who will probably pick this book up and love it. Either the story WITH the ending will grab you, or you will love it solely because of who wrote it.

I am begining to think about it this morning and I am realizing a few things.

First, is that this book was marketed wrong, if this is literary fiction/chic lit it was not billed that way. The jacket blurb does not tell you this is not a romance, it lied to me and I feel that sting.

Second, this author in my opinion made certain plot promises at the begining of the book. The author didn't fulfill them and the reader, ME, is feeling riped off. So much so that I will not read anything they write without a million glowing reports of the book.

I've learned this the hard way this year. You make your reader plot promises in that first chapter and you stick to them. Even if you as a writer half to decide what those plot promises are, write them down, and hang them above your desk so you see them everyday. The reader does not like to feel ripped off, or go to bed and hate what they just read.

You have a message to tell your readers? Great, decide what it is and stick with it. Your tale has a moral? Make sure you stay consistent with it. Granted characters have a mind of their own. I know, mine do too. Infact, that is why I am writing a nine book series instead of two books like I origonally planned. But there is this thing called revising and editing to reign in what your characters have done. If your characters change the book completely? Fine go back and change that plot promise in the begining so your not turning you reader on thier ear at the end.

As a writer you owe it to your reader to not leave a bitter taste in thier mouths as they close that back cover.

Writing Progress

I promised you I would blog three times a week, and I dropped the ball, but it's for a good reason I assure you. Last week was preparation for the paegent the time was full of meetings and practices. I also taught two writing classes at the local library. One for 3-10 year-olds and one for 10 +. This week I finished my three chapters for Kirk Shaw for the Grand Prize three chapter review and sent it and a summary of the book to him. I also submitted my MS Emergence to Valor Publishing Group with all of the things I needed to send with it.

So no, I didn't fall off the edge of the earth and I am still here treading water like usual. But it's all good.