Guest Post: Christine Pisera Naman, author of Nine Days

Author Christine Pisera Naman is on the blog today, sharing some of her favorite comforting Scripture verses.

My Bible is worn, dog eared, and very well used. I so often turn to it when I am having a bad day or going through a rough time. Because I read it daily, it doesn’t have time to collect dust. Through my many readings, I have underlined passages, fragments, and sometimes even single words that have touched me. It is in times of trouble that I reach for my Bible. I actually do it constantly. I keep it on my night table next to my bed. But sometimes, when things really seem to be bleak, I actually carry it through the day with me. And throughout these darker days I steal quick peeks at the gems I found throughout my previous readings. They always seem to give me comfort no matter how familiar they have become.

One passage that always comforts me is Romans 8-38-39

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Could there be anything better than knowing that nothing could ever separate us from God’s love? To me, no. Sometimes, this is exactly what I need to hear. When I feel myself growing distant I remind myself that His love is stronger than all and ever present.

I’m not by nature the most confident person and, sometimes I open my Bible for a little pep talk. Philippians 4:13 is short and sweet but does the trick for me.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

I think what I like most about the way I read this passage is that it’s not about what I can do or choose to do but instead it is about God’s will and His glory. And that in itself somehow makes me feel strong and confident.

But I think the passage I turn to the most often is Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

As much as I’m always fighting God for the steering wheel I know it is best when He’s driving. I love knowing that He has not only a plan for me but a good plan at that. I know I’m happier and better off when I’m letting Him guide me and I feel an excitement inside of me when I realize the endless possibilities of the wonderful life He has laid ahead of me.

My worn, written in, tattered Bible remains my most precious possession. In it I find passages to turn to when having a bad day or going through a rough time. In it I find serenity.

 

In NINE DAYS, twenty-three year-old Mary Grace Mastrianni returns home to face her difficult past. She had a lonely childhood after the painful death of her mother, and Mary Grace left it all behind her when she escaped to New York City to attend college and build a new life. When Mary Grace is forced to return to sell the family home, memories of her early years suddenly surround her, making her come to terms with unresolved feelings and desires she had pushed away for so long. 

Mary Grace finds her mother’s tattered sweater that has not been touched since the day of her mother’s passing, Mary Grace slides her hand into its pocket to discover a yellowing square of paper on which a Novena is printed. The prayer promises that any request will be granted as long as the person fervently prays the prayer in church for nine consecutive days. Mary Grace, who often lacks faith, decides to stay in town just long enough to pray the Novena. In her heart she holds a very special request. In addition, Mary Grace stumbles upon the “to-do” list her mother was in the middle of when she died. Mary Grace understands that her mother was the most faith-filled person she ever knew, and Mary Grace decides to not only pray the Novena but complete the “to-do” list as well. She hopes that by walking in her mother’s shoes, her chances of having her Novena request granted will increase.

Mary Grace spends the next nine days completing her journey of prayer, visiting the church each day and following through on the not-so-easy tasks on the “to-do” list. During these nine days, Mary Grace meets a variety of people who help her build her own faith by sharing their faith with her: She volunteers in a hospital neonatal unit caring for a sick baby, reads to children at the local library, visits with a lonely elderly man in need of company, serves food in a soup kitchen, goes to Confession and visits the gravesites of family who have passed. As Mary Grace dutifully proceeds along her nine-day journey of prayer, she feels her faith growing. The beauty of God surrounds her, but she can’t help but wonder if her most private, heartfelt prayer will be answered.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christine Pisera Naman is the author of six books including, Faces of Hope 10 Years Later (Health Communications, 2011), The Believers (Kirk House Publishers, 2011), Christmas Lights (Random House, 2007), Caterpillar Kisses (Random House, 2005), Faces of Hope (Health Communications, 2002). Christine has appeared on many national television programs including the Today Show and Fox & Friends, featured in a variety of national and local print and online outlets and interviewed on numerous radio shows around the country. Prior to her illustrious writing career, Christine was a Catholic school Kindergarten teacher. For additional information please visit her at www.christinenaman.com.

Guest Post: Cathi Shaw, author of Five Corners

Today we have YA fantasy author Cathi Shaw with us, talking a little about the editing process.

The Secret to Editing

            Editing is the secret to good writing (but if you’re reading this you probably already know that). Editing is also the most skipped over part of the writing process. I always tell my students that 60% of their writing time should be taken up by editing. Unfortunately, most of us hate editing.

            I think one of the ways to make the editing process work best, is if you can take a break from your project before you leap into the edits. We all feel as if it is DONE when we put those final few words on a draft. In reality it is just starting but it’s hard to see that when you’ve just finished your masterpiece.

            My practice is to finish the draft and then take a week or two off. Write something else, take a break from writing altogether, do some spring cleaning – whatever will keep you away from your project (I usually start a new project if I can because there’s nothing so all encompassing as a new story idea).

            After I’ve taken some time away from my manuscript, I sit down with it and start reading it. I try to do this with fresh eyes; to look at the story from the reader’s point of view. And inevitably by the second page I’m making changes (some of them big and some of them small).

            For me, this first stage of editing takes anywhere from a week to several months. It doesn’t really matter how long it takes – the crucial piece to making it successful is that break at the start.

            After I’ve edited my MS to death (at least that’s how it feels at that stage), I send it out to my trusty beta readers. I do it at this stage for a few reasons. First, if there are any major problems with the plotline that I’m too blind to see, I’d like to find out at this stage rather than at the stage when I think the story is actually finished. Second, by this time I really can’t see what needs to still be done with the MS – sometimes there needs to be more character development, sometimes a certain scene doesn’t make sense to an outside reader, sometimes it’s just massive rewording of some sections of the story. So I turn to my readers.

            By the way, if you do have some trusted readers who will give you honest feedback, it’s helpful to provide them with some guiding questions. I keep these pretty general: where did you feel lost in the story, what parts were boring or repetitive, what parts needed more information or description?

            Give your beta readers some time to get through your masterpiece. This is one of the toughest parts – waiting (I’m impatient by nature so waiting for anything is akin to torture for me). Be realistic. For my novels (which are about 70,000 words) I give a month. If you need feedback within a certain timeline, let your readers know. Some of them might not be able to help you out. That’s okay, too. Just move on to other beta readers (you should start collecting as many eager readers as you can early on).

            When you get feedback from your readers, read it. I know that sounds pretty simple but often you won’t necessarily agree with the feedback or it will be a bit negative and it’s hard to read a critique of your own work. It is normal to be hurt by less positive feedback, but if you truly want to improve your MS, you really need to listen to what your readers are telling you. Sometime the advice or suggestions is totally off base, but, more often than not, it actually is the truth. Especially if two or more of your beta readers are saying the same thing, you probably should listen to them.

            I try to read my feedback, give it a few days and then reread it. From there I jump into the next round of edits, making changes as suggested by my readers, correcting an errors they caught and so on. This stage takes me between 2-3 weeks usually but it really depends on how big the edits need to be.

            And then I’m ready to send the manuscript to my publisher! Don’t think the editing is over at this stage … it just reaches a new level. Depending on your publisher, you may have to engage in major edits to the storyline or simple copy edits. I’ve had to do both, depending on project. At any rate, expect to make changes after the publisher receives the book.

            So the editing process is fairly detailed. The best advice I can give is to remember that editing really is writing. It takes up the bulk of your time as a writer and, yes, it can be onerous. But a detailed editing process is what makes a mediocre manuscript into a masterpiece!

Author Bio

Cathi Shaw lives in Summerland, BC with her husband and three children.  She is often found wandering around her home, muttering in a seemingly incoherent manner, particularly when her characters have embarked on new adventure. In addition to writing fiction, she teaches rhetoric and professional writing in the Department of Communications at Okanagan College and is the co-author of the textbook Writing Today.

 Five Corners Book Blurb (from Goodreads)

Growing up in a sleepy village untouched by distant wars and political conflicts, it was easy for Thia, Mina and Kiara to forget such horrors existed in the Five Corners. That is until the dead child is found; a child that bears the same strange birthmark that all three sisters possess. A Mark their mother had always told them was unique to the girls. Kiara's suspicions grow as their Inn is soon overrun with outsiders from all walks of life. Strangers, soldiers and Elders who all seem to know more about what is happening than the girls do. After Mina barely survives an attack in the forest, the sisters are faced with a shattering secret their mother has kept from them for years. As danger closes in around them, the sisters are forced from their home and must put their trust in the hands of strangers. With more questions than answers, Kiara finds herself separated from everyone she loves and reliant on an Outlander who has spent too much time in army. She doesn't trust Caedmon but she needs him if she has any hope of being reunited with her sisters and learning what the Mark might mean.

Contact Links

Twitter: @CathiShaw
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMarkedOnesSeries
Tumblr: http://themarkedones.tumblr.com/

Buy links for book:

PUBLISHER: http://ink-smith.com/product/five-corners-the-marked-one/
AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/Five-Corners-The-Marked-Ones/dp/1939156246/ref=sr_1_1?
BARNES AND NOBLE: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/five-corners-cathi-shaw/1117922571?

“Standing out in a sea of Dystopia” Guest Post by Rebecca Finlayson

Today we have author Rebecca Finlayson on the blog, talking about her experience with writing YA dystopian.

When I go into a bookshop or a library in the UK it’s always satisfying to see so many books on offer for the YA market. In our fast-paced world we can access everything we want, when we want, at the touch of a button – and even get frustrated when it doesn’t pop up instantly. (First world problems or what?) 

Anyway, to see so many YA books around and to know that teenagers are reading them and devoting hours to them, is great and exciting for any lover of books, particularly.

The challenge that I had with “X&Y” was making my book stand out. There are so many great YA Dystopian books out there, after all. It was a mountain to climb.

The first thing that encouraged me, though, was that I had a story to tell that – as far as I could tell – had not been told before. Genetic engineering had been touched on in various stories but it wasn’t the main story. I thought it would be fascinating to look at it through the eyes of a teenager.

The second thing was the position of my female lead. Olivia Adonane is from a very wealthy, very powerful family, and so to have a protagonist in a position where she literally has everything to risk made for very interesting writing from my perspective!

Another important thing was setting. Most of the YA Dystopian books I’ve read and enjoyed (The Hunger Games, Divergent, and the Gone series) take place in the USA. I thought it would be really interesting to have the focus on Britain, and how it would have adapted to the ‘System’ which is in place.

Apart from the authors of the above books, one particular author who has inspired me is Joanne Harris. She does plot so well, and the stories and twists of her novels like “Gentlemen and Players”, “Holy Fools” and “Five Quarters of the Orange” are just fantastic. I’ve learned a lot from her work about timing in particular – for example, what to reveal and when to reveal it.

I really enjoyed writing “X&Y”. The subject matter made for really fascinating exploration, and putting the characters in a quietly brutal setting was equally thrilling and difficult to work through. It’s been great having people read my work and give me feedback from it, not to mention seeing the number of downloads increase, particularly on my “free promotion” days!

Below is the opening chapter of “X&Y”. You can head over to Amazon Kindle for a free seven-chapter sample.

Excerpt:

Thunder rumbles in the early hours of this morning and when I wake I think of Lily and what we’re going to do today. We’re meeting before school so we can post off our university applications together. To anyone who does not know who we are it seems such a little thing, but in this day and age it is not. My Ambition means I’m guaranteed a place at a prestigious institution, but Lily’s venture is a little more uncertain. Her portfolio, given to her parents when she was still in her mother’s womb, states that her Ambition is to be a waitress, which I’ve always thought was some kind of mix-up, as I’ve never thought she was right for the Service Industry. Very clumsy, and perpetually distracted by “higher things”, as she calls them, her different Preparation Experiences in cafes and restaurants have always ended spectacularly badly, though I will give her current boss come credit; she is unremittingly patient.

Lily is also extraordinarily clever, which is why I persuaded her to fill in a university application in the first place. Strange, I think, considering her family’s Ambitions, that her Tag gave her the chance to advance as much as she has. I know that Lily thinks this is too risky, bordering on dangerous – especially when the admissions boards find out about her humble family background. What harm is there in trying, though? Despite her reluctance, I know when she gets offered an opportunity to study Philosophy and Poetry she’ll be ecstatic and all the fear will have been worth it.

My own Ambition is very different. I will be following my father down the Designer route. First, six years of medical school followed by three more years of theoretical and practical study at the School of Human Design. I will learn how to create Tags with which to start unborn babies off on their uniquely selected paths, learn to further the research that reduces – and, hopefully, eventually eradicates – glitches in the System, and such like. My father is the most renowned Designer in the country, the head of the Triad – the Triad comprises of the country’s top three Designers – and one day I will take his place. It is a huge responsibility, but it is one for which I have specifically been Designed. I have no need to doubt myself.

“Good morning, father,” I chime, kissing him on the cheek as I bounce down to the dining room for breakfast, schoolbag and big brown envelope at the ready. I fling them down untidily on a chair and fix myself some cereal. “Where’s mother?”

“Still in bed; she’s a little under the weather this morning. Not to worry though, she’ll be up and about in no time,” he says while sipping his coffee and reading the newspaper.

“What is the news like this morning?”

“Calm, as usual,” he smiles, and my curious doubts are quieted. Why do I harbour them? Our Society is near perfect. While other nations are constantly embroiled in bitter civil struggles, slowly destroying themselves from within, our country enjoys peace and prosperity. The “Utopia”, that the old writers dreamt of, is being achieved at last. I just wonder what the other countries are doing so wrong. Father soon breaks me out of my reverie.

“Is that what I think it is?” he asks, indicating the brown envelope.

“Yes,” I say proudly. “I wonder which school will want me.”

“All of them, I expect. Look how strong your application is, after all.”

“It doesn’t hurt that I have your name on it, though,” I say slyly.

“True,” he says, winking at me. “But if your Ambition was not to follow in my footsteps, they would turn you down as any other school would turn down an applicant whose Ambition did not meet with their requirements.”

“There’s something I wanted to ask you related to that,” I say. “You know Lily, my best friend?”

“Yes?” His tone is careful. He has never met Lily and there’s something about his wariness whenever I mention her that makes me uneasy, like he doesn’t think we should be friends.

“Do you know if her Tag and her Ambition portfolio got mixed up somehow before she was born?” I ask.

“I don’t know; I wasn’t assigned to her case. You would have to find that out from her hospital. Why?”

“Well, her Ambition is for her to be a waitress, but she’s not suited to that at all.”

“Waitressing is a perfectly good and sturdy profession,” my father says, his tone reprimanding.

“I know; I’m not being high and mighty. It’s just that, Lily doesn’t seem to enjoy it at all. She seems much more interested in pursuing Academia after Mandatory Education is over. I just wondered whether her original Portfolio was along the lines of some kind of Higher Educator, and the folder got mixed up in the hospital.”

“That’s impossible,” he says, though his dark eyebrows narrow a little over his thick-rimmed black glasses. 

“Are you sure this isn’t just some Secondary Interest that she is feeling quite strongly about at the moment?”

“I don’t think so,” I say, although my instincts tell me to shut up.

“Even in between her work breaks she’s always reading a book of some poet or another. She excels at school – really, she would do much better at my school – and it crushes me to think she can’t do what she really wants.”

“She wants to be a waitress,” my father says quietly. “If her portfolio says so, then that is what her Tag has prepared her for, and that is what she will do. I think you might be seeing more in this situation than there is.”

“But-” I start to argue, about to reveal that I’ve helped her fill in university application, but something in his voice tells me that would be dangerous. His mobile phone rings and he frowns when he sees who is calling

“What is it?” he snaps into the phone. His eyes widen as the speaker on the other end rapidly relays information, though I can’t hear what he is saying. “I’ll come immediately.” He clicks off, his expression a mixture of annoyance and something else. Dismay?

“We’ll talk about this later,” he says quickly as he dons his suit jacket and picks up his briefcase and I assume he means our earlier conversation. “I have to go. I’ll see you for dinner. We’re going out to The Glade tonight.” He kisses my head and leaves. Soon I hear the car rev up and speed away, gravel flying everywhere.

“Sure,” I murmur, wondering what on earth that was about.

Find the book online:

Amazon

Goodreads

Rebecca's Blog

About the Author…

Rebecca Finlayson was born in the north of England - specifically Blackburn, Lancashire – but actually spent most of her childhood in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire (fans of Harry Potter will recognise that name!). Inspired by reading a children’s version of “The Odyssey” 20+ times while growing up, she decided to study Classical Civilisation at Warwick University and took a job as a Teaching Assistant upon graduating. After two years she decided to take a year out in order to do some charity work but, more significantly, pursue some writing projects that had been nagging at her for some time. The first of these projects to be completed, a Young Adult Dystopian novel entitled “X&Y” is now on sale on Amazon Kindle. The second – a fantasy novel entitled “The Secrets of Nethiaria: The Magician’s Book” will be out in Spring 2014.

Reading the Prophets: Guest Post by Heather Zempel

Today we have Heather Zempel, author of Amazed and Confused, on the blog talking about the Prophets of the Old Testament. Be sure to check out her new book as well as all the other books in the InScribed series! 

Several years ago, a friend of mine commented, “I really hope I don’t get seated next to Obadiah at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, because I’m going to have to tell him, ‘I’m really sorry, dude, but I never read your book.’”

I laughed, but I also embraced a new mission to help people navigate the odd world of prophetic writings. They seem so weird and irrelevant. In Handbook on the Prophets, author and professor Robert Chisholm admits:

The prophetic literature of the Hebrew Bible presents great interpretive obstacles. Its poetry, though teeming with vivid imagery that engages the imagination and emotions, challenges the reader’s understanding because of its economy of expression, rapid shifts in mood, and sometimes cryptic allusions. The reader of the prophetic literature quickly realizes that these books were written at particular points in time to specific groups of people with whom the modern reader seems to share little.

So true. However, Chisholm also contends that they demand our attention because they are the Word of God and contain a message that transcends time and space by helping us see dimensions of God’s character more clearly and challenging us to relate to Him and the world around us according to His ways.

As I read the prophets with new eyes, I realized they were more relevant than I had thought. The prophets accepted the tension of living in a fallen world while waiting hopefully for a new world to come. Their hearts pounded for justice, and they warned that religion was empty unless accompanied by action. They lived through circumstances that didn’t make sense, questioned authority, and challenged people to live at a level higher than the rest of culture expected of them. To me, it seemed the Prophets might be the most real, raw, and relevant writings in the entire Bible. The world in which these authors lived, though separated from my own by thousands of years and thousands of miles, also felt very familiar. Their voices and their messages were as critical and germane to my life as they were to a distant generation; it just took some unraveling and cultural and historical insight to ensure their words resonated in my ears the way they hit their original audiences.

The prophet Habakkuk begged God for revival and that He would turn the hearts of faithless people back to Him. God’s answer to Habakkuk was “Take a look at the nations and watch what happens! You will be shocked and amazed” (1:5, The Voice). The vision God gave Habakkuk was on of warfare and exile. Not exactly the response you’d expect from a “good God.”

Have you ever prayed for something or someone in earnest, seeking God’s will, only to be left confused by God’s response? Have you questioned why a good God would allow bad things to happen to good people? Has a long-standing prayer request gone unanswered? In Amazed and Confused I’ll tackle these questions head-on by exploring the book of Habakkuk,

How do you respond when God’s actions seem out of line with his character and promises? Amazed and Confused proceeds systematically through the book of Habakkuk, exploring the prophet’s prayer, God’s response, and the prophet’s journey from confusion to worship. Please join me on this journey of discovering the Minor Prophets and the wealth of wisdom they have to share. I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback if you do. Leave me a message on my website, heatherzempel.com or connect through social media, Facebook.com/heather.zempel or twitter.com/heatherzempel.

**Amazed and Confused is part of the InScribed book collection. Learn more about InScribed and other books in this collection by visiting InScribedStudies.com. Parts of this blog are excerpts from my book, Amazed and Confused, released March 4, 2014 through Thomas Nelson.

Heather Zempel - Heather Zempel is the discipleship pastor at National Community Church in Washington, DC. Having obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biological engineering from Louisiana State University, Heather worked as an environmental engineer and as a policy consultant on energy and environment in the United States Senate. Heather lives on Capitol Hill where she can be found searching out the best barbeque joints, watching college football, and enjoying theater with her husband Ryan. In addition to InScribed’s Amazed and Confused : When God’s Actions Collide with Expectations which is  available now (http://inscribedstudies.com/) Heather is also the author of Sacred Roads and Community is Messy.

Guest Post: David Mckay Barker, author of Science and Religion: Reconciling the Conflicts

Today author David Mckay Barker is on the blog talking about a topic discussed in his newest book, Science and Religion: Reconciling the Conflicts. 

In an age of severe contrast between the Bible and science, how are Christians to view the subject of science? How can we remain open-minded without letting unbiblical scientific theories influence our beliefs?

The severe contrast between the Bible and science has been a subject of intense interest to me for over 40 years. While a young guy it dawned on me that things I’d been taught in Sunday School as truth (like Noah’s flood) were not supported by popular geologic theory, or history as taught in public schools. Even though I’d had several history classes in high school and college, not one mention was made of the Flood. This and other concerns led me to a passionate and long-lived spare-time study of Bible chronology, Egyptian chronology, and science. This, in turn, has led me to some intriguing and promising possibilities for reconciling the conflicts between science and religion.

Let me share with you some of my favorite quotes (sung to the tune of “these are a few of my favorite things”). This one is from John A. Widtsoe, a scientist and religious leader (now deceased): “The Church holds that the methods used by science to discover truth are legitimate.” But he also cautioned: “In this wholehearted acceptance of science, the Church makes, as must every sane thinker, two reservations: [1] The facts which are the building blocks of science must be honestly and accurately observed. . . . [2] There must be a distinct segregation of facts and inferences in the utterances of scientific men. Readers of science should always keep this difference in mind. Even well-established inferences should not lose their inferential label.” Clear back in 1954 he wrote: “The failure to differentiate between facts and inferences is the most grievous and the most common sin of scientists.” One would think that the problem had improved since the, but it seems to have gotten worse.

In my opinion, far too many people attribute their loss of faith to “scientific enlightenment.” They seem to think that anything labeled “scientific” means tested and proven, not realizing that science not only includes facts, but also highly speculative guesswork (although scientists prefer other descriptions). After all, what is a hypothesis? And, what constitutes “proof”? “People in general have no notion of the sort and amount of evidence often needed to prove the simplest matter of fact.” (Peter Mere Latham). “When, indeed, is a thing proven? Only when an individual has accumulated in his own consciousness enough observations, impressions, reasonings and feelings to satisfy him personally that it is so. The same evidence which convinces one expert may leave another completely unsatisfied.” (Professor Nibley).

Another favorite quote: “What seems to be proved may not be embraced; but what no one shows the ability to defend is quickly abandoned. Rational argument does not create belief, but it maintains a climate in which belief may flourish.” (Austin Farrer)

As I’ve studied the subject over the years, I’ve found that far too much science is presented as though totally unbiased fact. Yes, facts and observations are involved, and theories are postulated to try to explain or make sense of those facts and observations, but science includes untestable suppositions—many of which have nearly achieved a “consensus” status among main-stream scientists. Furthermore, an atheistic view of science seems to have gained such a stronghold as to exclude science recognizing God’s hand in it from most of the collegiate and peer-reviewed papers.

One of the really big conflicts between popular science and Bible belief is the timing of events in Earth's history. I’ve found some works of scientists who have posed some important challenges to scientific dating techniques. These suggest that much of the contradictory information is based on assumption and surmise, not factual data only.

So, in short, my answer to the questions you posed “How are Christians to view the subject of science?” and “How can we remain open-minded without letting unbiblical scientific theories influence our beliefs?” can be summed up with: I don’t think we can, or should be, totally open-minded or unbiased—we, as converted Christians have received some knowledge from a source which science not only doesn’t generally recognize, but which its adherents often ridicule. We can learn from science though, and often find beautiful truths. We can enjoy those truths and strive to discern what parts of science really are truths and what parts are merely inferences or theories.

We can take comfort in the understanding that the revelations God has shared with us on any given subject are much more likely to stand the test of time—although we don’t always adequately understand those revelations. We should strive to maintain humility in our quest for truth and be open-minded enough to recognize that we don’t have all of the answers to all of the questions on all of the subjects. For instance, how much has He given us about the Creation? (There are only 55 versus in the Bible describing the Creation). It has been said that: “In that day when the Lord shall come, he shall reveal all things—Things which have passed, and hidden things which no man knew, things of the earth, by which it was made, and the purpose and the end thereof—Things most precious, things that are above, and things that are beneath, things that are in the earth, and upon the earth, and in heaven.”

Thanks, David! Be sure to check out Science and Religion: Reconciling the Conflicts on Goodreads and Amazon. Find out more about David on his website.

Guest Post + Review: Beauty's Daughter by Carolyn Meyer

*I use Grammarly's plagiarism checker because cool kids don't steal things.*

Today the lovely Carolyn Meyer is with us, talking about her newest book, Beauty's Daughter. I'm excited to hear what she has to say about it!

~RESEARCHING AND WRITING BEAUTY’S DAUGHTER~

Writing the story of Hermione, the daughter of Helen of Troy, was a huge intellectual challenge. All of my earlier historical novels are based on actual people, and I had learned that the further back I went in history, the scarcer the material I had to draw on. Cleopatra, for example, was really tough to research. Whatever possessed me to tackle characters who existed only in myths going back thousands of years?

Well, I thought it was a good story--actually many stories, not just Hermione’s--and I believed I could make the lives and characters exciting and involving to young readers of today. But first I had to learn as much as possible about Bronze Age Greece.

I started with Homer's Iliad, composed around 800 BC, where I found most of the main characters of the story I wanted to tell—except Hermione. She doesn’t even appear in the Iliad. In fact, there isn't much about Hermione anywhere, just occasional mentions in other myths. I had to track down those occasional mentions from a number of sources. For that I relied on The Greek Myths, a scholarly work that brings together all the elements of every myth—800 pages! For the realistic details that bring a story to life--the palaces Hermione would have lived in, the clothes she might have worn, the food she'd have eaten--I drew on several books and many internet sites. The search for the little details (what kind of sails were on the ships? what kind of sandals did the messenger wear?) continued as I worked on characters and plot, right down to the final draft.

Most of the characters appear in other myths and plays, but some are my invention, created to deepen the story and to move it along. Zethus, Paris’s servant, is the first to appear. Later, Ardeste, Hermione’s maid, comes into the story, and several others.

 The plot is my own, woven from threads drawn from several myths. In the first part of BEAUTY’S DAUGHTER Helen tells her daughter, Hermione, about her own mother’s encounter with a swan--actually Zeus in disguise--that resulted in Helen’s “birth” from an egg. She describes the circumstances of her marriage to Menelaus, Hermione’s father. Helen’s sister Clytemnestra comes to visit, along with her three daughters, her son Orestes, and her husband, Menelaus’s brother Agamemnon. Then Prince Paris arrives in Greece from Troy, and the stage is set for the beginning of the Trojan War. Achilles and Hector appear, the gods swoop down from Mount Olympus to interfere.

Meanwhile, I try to figure out how to keep them all straight—particularly when the names are unfamiliar, hard to pronounce, and vary from myth to myth—make the reader believe in what’s happening and care how it all turns out, and bring all the mayhem to a satisfying conclusion. 

Review:

*I received this book in exchange for an honest review*

Published: October 8^th, 2013 (HMH Books for Young Readers)

Pages: 352

Rating: 2/5 (DNF- did not finish)

Source: From the author

Goodreads ~ Amazon 

Hermione knows her mother is Helen of Troy, the famed beauty of Greek myth. Helen is not only beautiful but also impulsive, and when she falls in love with charming Prince Paris, she runs off with him to Troy, abandoning her distraught daughter. Determined to reclaim their enchanting queen, the Greek army sails for Troy. Hermione stows away in one of the thousand ships in the fleet and witnesses the start of the legendary Trojan War.

In the rough Greek encampment outside the walls of Troy, Hermione’s life is far from that of a pampered princess. Meanwhile, her mother basks in luxury in the royal palace inside the city. Hermione desperately wishes for the gods and goddesses to intervene and end the brutal war—and to bring her love. Will she end up with the handsome archer Orestes, or the formidable Pyrrhus, leader of a tribe of fierce warriors? And will she ever forgive her mother for bringing such chaos to her life and the lives of so many others? (Description from Goodreads)

I’ve read many of Carolyn’s books in the past, and enjoyed her historical fiction when I was younger. She writes brilliant, entertaining books that can also be very educational. However, Beauty’s Daughter just didn’t do it for me. As much as I wanted to like it, I couldn’t seem to get through it. I felt like there was a lot of backstory information at the beginning, which was, and normally is, necessary. Especially in historical novels. However, it seemed to weigh the story down and get in the way of character/plot development. Also, I felt like Hermione’s character was a bit dry. Not overwhelmingly so, but enough to bother me a little.

 Another thing is that the subtitle of the book tells us that it’s “The story of Hermione and Helen of Troy,” but at times it seems to be solely about Hermione. I was hoping for a bit more about Helen, but as the book is titled “Beauty’s Daughter,” I guess I shouldn’t have expected it to be focused on anyone but Hermione.

I honestly wanted to enjoy this book so much, yet it just fell short for me. It failed to grab my attention at the beginning, and though I kept reading, I still had to force myself to continue even after 50+ pages. However, I enjoy Carolyn’s writing on other time frames in history, especially on the princesses and queens of Europe. Despite my disappointment in this book, I hope to see more of her work on these time periods in the future.

Blog Tour: Solstice by P.J. Hoover (Guest Post + Giveaway)

Today we have author P.J. Hoover on the blog talking about the many cover changes of her new book, Solstice! After reading her post, be sure to check out the massive giveaway hosted by the author, as well as the tour giveaway below.

SOLSTICE: THE STORY OF A COVER

Hi! P. J. Hoover here, author of the upcoming dystopian/mythology YA novel, Solstice (Tor Teen, June 18, 2013), and today I’m talking about book covers. As an author, I have very little say about the cover that ends up on my book. That said I feel like with Solstice I won the book cover lottery for real.

For those who don’t know, Solstice was originally independently published with the help of my agency, Andrea Brown Lit, back in 2011. (Just a side note that yes, there have been changed to Solstice on the inside, too. But that’s a story for another day). Anyway, back then, Andrea Brown Lit hired a cover designer, and this is what the cover designer came up with.

Pass 0.5:

The designer did a really great job, and I think that, although the cracked earth to hint at the dystopian world is shown at the bottom, the cover speaks romance. It’s all about a mysterious girl who is searching for answers and searching for her true love.

When Tor bought Solstice, I got all excited when they started talking about covers. Very exciting was when they sent me links to two different cover models and asked me which one I thought looked more like my main character. And then they did a photo shoot. So cool. Anyway, they sent me an initial pass at the cover which was this.

Pass 1.0:

Pretty awesome, right from the start, right? So Cerberus in the sky had to go (way too busy), and the phallic building under Piper was also not a win, but otherwise, I was in love. I had very little to contribute. I did request that the city skyline be changed to Austin since that was where the story took place. Also, I wondered how Piper would look in a skirt.

Pass 2.0:

Yay, Austin! Yay, my picture on the back. The skirt? Not so much. The consensus was that she looked like Supergirl. The request had been made to add some plants near her feet to hint at the hope that plants could grow in the dying world once again.

Pass 3.0:

Done. Wrap it up and ship it because I am totally in love with this cover. The girl looks like she could kick some butt. The colors pop off the shelf. And—can I just say it—cities under domes. I adore cities under domes.

The end J

About Solstice:

Piper's world is dying. Each day brings hotter temperatures and heat bubbles that threaten to destroy the earth. Amid this global heating crisis, Piper lives under the oppressive rule of her mother, who suffocates her even more than the weather does. Everything changes on her eighteenth birthday, when her mother is called away on a mysterious errand and Piper seizes her first opportunity for freedom.

Piper discovers a universe she never knew existed—a sphere of gods and monsters—and realizes that her world is not the only one in crisis. While gods battle for control of the Underworld, Piper’s life spirals out of control as she struggles to find the answer to the secret that has been kept from her since birth.

About the author...

P. J. Hoover first fell in love with Greek mythology in sixth grade thanks to the book Mythology by Edith Hamilton. After a fifteen year bout as an electrical engineer designing computer chips for a living, P. J. decided to take her own stab at mythology and started writing books for kids and teens. When not writing, P. J. spends time with her husband and two kids and enjoys practicing kung fu, solving Rubik's cubes, and watching Star Trek. Her first novel for teens, Solstice (Tor Teen, June 18, 2013), takes place in a global warming future and explores the parallel world of mythology beside our own. Her middle grade novel, Tut (Tor Children's, 2014), tells the story of a young immortal King Tut, who's been stuck in middle school for over 3,000 years and must defeat an ancient enemy with the help of a dorky kid from school, a mysterious Egyptian princess, and a one-eyed cat. For more information about P. J. (Tricia) Hoover, please visit her website www.pjhoover.com.

*Check out the massive giveaway (42 books, awesome swag, and some sweet treats) P.J. is hosting over at her blog! Click on the Red Zone image below to enter.*

Tour Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check out the rest of the stops on the tour! Each day features two stops with guest posts, spotlights, interviews, and more!

Team Myth:

18th Character Spotlight: Shayne @ JessaBella Reads

19th Solstice Depicted @ In Bed With Books

20th Solstice: The Publishing Journey Guest Blog @ Water Color Moods

21st Setting Spotlight: Elysian Fields @ Books Beside My Bed

22nd Solstice Excerpt @ Through the Looking Glass

23rd Character Spotlight: Melina @ Evie Bookish

24th Author Interview @ Cuts of Paper

25th Author Writing Process Guest Blog @ Best Books Ever

26th 5 Inspirations @ Ruby Reads

27th Setting Spotlight: Asphodel Meadows @ A Dream Within A Dream

28th 5 Favorite Myths @ Book Swoon

29th Character Spotlight: Tanni @ Leanna

30th Playlist @ Unofficial Book Addiction

Go Team Dystopia!!! Woooo!

Team Dystopia:

18th Character Spotlight: Piper @ Swoony Boys Podcast

19th Solstice Depicted @ Girls in the Stacks

20th Cover Changes Guest Blog @ Gobs & Gobs of Books

21st Setting Spotlight: Botanical Haven @ Books, Bones & Buffy

22nd Excerpt @ ReadingTeen

23rd Character Spotlight: Chloe @ Paperback Princess

24th Author T-Shirt Addiction Guest Blog @ Addicted Reader

25th The Character of Names @ The Mod Podge Bookshelf

26th 5 Inspirations @ Readergirls

27th Setting Spotlight: The Drag @ The Bookish Daydreamer

28th 5 Favorite Dystopians @ Frellathon

29th Character Spotlight: Reese @ YA Midnight Reads

30th Playlist @ Reviewing Shelf