Online Book Reviews on Haunts Haven

Ali Cross

Amazon

Deseret Book

Six LDS Writers and a Frog

de Queen of the Clan

Joyce DiPastena

Nicole Giles

LDS Women's Book Review

Contest winner!

Congratulations to Karen Adair, the winner of the SimplyMemzelle ghost apron!

Thank you to all who entered the contest and those who became followers and have made comments on my blog.

L C Lewis--Free Men and Dreamers

At this time, 2010, we need to learn from our past to protect our freedoms in the future. Free Men and Dreamers is about those who had the vision and gave their lives to obtain those freedoms.

Free Men and Dreamers Series Featuring
Volume One: "Dark Sky at Dawn",
Volume Two: "Twilight's Last Gleaming", and
Volume Three: "Dawn's Early Light"
Double Finalist in the National Best Books 2008 Competition

Volume 3: DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT

The week Washington burned. . .

Volume One: DARK SKY AT DAWN

The prelude to the War of 1812

Volume Two: TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING

Families torn between duty to God, to country, and to family

They were the first generation of free-born Americans,

Charged to build a nation upon the framework of their Founding Fathers.

They were farmers and mothers, entrepreneurs, visionaries and religionists;

Unprepared for the fight they faced.

Learn more at:

www.laurielclewis.com
www.laurielclewis.blogspot.com

Weight Watchers Recipes Blog

My daughter is blogging her way through her Weight Watchers experience. She has posted the recipes she has used and developed. They are very yummy!

Visit her blog

Signing in Seattle

I will be in Seattle doing a book signing for Haunts Haven on Feb 18, Thursday, noon to 2 pm. If you are in the area, please come visit. I will be giving out Callie Wilford's favorite treat--Ding Dongs!

Beehive Books and More
10213 24th Street East Edgewood, WA 98372-1765
Feb 18, 12 noon to 2pm.

Don't miss entering to win the Simply Memzelle Ghost Apron. Read about it below.

Strengthen Your Prose

I came across a great list of words to avoid while writing. These words "deserve to die" because they are overused or passive. All you do is take one word at a time from the list, put it into your word processing "find" function, find each word and eliminate or replace it with a better word that fits what you are saying.

For instance, we each use the word "just" hundreds of times in everyday language, so we naturally use it in our writing. "Just" has seven different meanings. Each of those seven meanings have several words to express that meaning.

Try it yourself. Put "just" in your word find, open your thesaurus and then replace "just" with the word you actually mean. Another word to eliminate is "got." I've got to see her tonight! should be, I have to see her tonight, or even stronger, I must see her tonight! In most cases, replacing these words strengthens your prose.

The list is overwhelming. I started with the words I abuse the most.

...and spent a day and a half on the word "was." Sheesh!

Here is the list. The Tameri website also give explanations.

any infinitive (to walk) about all almost always anxiously believe eagerly every

feel finally frequently got just merely nearly need never

not often only so that “the public” then very

Reminder: Become a follower of this blog by Feb 20 and be entered into the Ghost Apron Giveaway Contest (picture below.)

LDStorymakers Conference!

The 2010 LDStorymakers Writers Conference, will be held on April 23rd & 24th at the Provo Marriott. Great speakers, classes, music are lined up for the two day event. Click here to learn more about it!

Click here to enter the Show-Your-love-for-Storymakers Conference contest and win a ticket for a great seat at the dinner Friday evening.

Win a copy of Crayon Messages by Christine Thackeray

I blogged about Christine Thackeray's books last week. This week you can enter a contest to win a copy of her Crayon Messages on Lynn Parsons' blog.

The Stranger She Married by Donna Hatch

I was excited to receive Donna Hatch's Regency romance, The Stranger She Married as a Christmas gift and enjoyed reading it very much. It contains romance, mystery, adventure. The Stranger is Book One of the Rogue Hearts Series. Each book tells of a different brother in the Amesbury family.

Here is the synopsis:

Torn between a disfigured war hero with the heart of a poet, and a handsome libertine who may not be all he seems, impoverished Alicia must marry by the end of the month. Despite a murder threat looming over her, learning to love the stranger she married may pose the greatest danger of all … to her heart.

The cover is gorgeous! In this interview with Donna Hatch, she tells how about how cover come into being.

Donna: Most publishers don't let the authors have any input, but I was lucky -- but mine does. I filled out a questionnaire with character descriptions and a concept of what I'd pictured. The finished result was nothing like I'd imagined, and the hero looks nothing like the cover, but they got the heroine spot-on right down to the eye color. And I do like it, too.

What are you working on now?

Donna: I'm finalizing the edits on book 3 of the Rogue Heart's Series which isn't titled yet. (Gulp.) Book 2, "The Guise of a Gentleman" will be out in April. Each book is a stand-alone book, about a different brother of the Amesbury family, and the family members wander in and out of each other's books.

You have a posse of kiddos, how do you find time to write? How do you balance family with writing?

Donna: Yes, with 6 children, making time to write is very challenging. I do much of my writing at night after they are in bed, or during nap time, but when I'm on a roll, I write instead of unimportant things like fix dinner. I haven't dusted since last Christmas and I gave up scrap booking. This year, my youngest child just started kindergarten, so now I can write after they all leave for school. I also work in an office part time every afternoon, so that really cuts into my writing but I'm very focused, (or obsessed) so I keep at it at odd times of the day. And night.

What is the coolest thing about being an author?

Donna: A huge rush came when I got my contract and I was giddy about it for months. But I have to say that was nothing compared to the day my book came out and I saw it on the home page of my publisher. The euphoria was almost a surreal experience. The giddiness is still with me and I've noticed people inching away from me when my grin gets a bit too happy. I guess I scare people. And now I do it without even opening my mouth.

What has surprised you about being a published author?

Donna: How excited my friends and family were for me. I knew they'd be supportive, but I had no idea how they'd rally around me and help me promote it like they have. My niece even set up a fan of The Stranger She Married fan page!

What do you like to do when you aren't writing?

Donna: I love to read more than almost anything else. And I love music; I sing, play the harp, and am the choir director for church. I also like to swim, water ski, snow ski, and dance. I’m totally uncoordinated, so I don’t play any team sports and sports worldwide thank me for it. And, sappy as it sounds, I love to spend time with my husband, talking, walking, playing racquetball, or just cuddling.

Visit Donna's webpages at http://www.donnahatch.com http://donnahatch.blogspot.com/

Order The Stranger She Married on line at www.thewildrosepress.com_