Book Review: The Stone Traveler by Kathi Oram Peterson, LDS author

Look at this cover. It's gorgeous. A promise of adventure in the South American jungle.

Does it deliver?

Yes, it does.

Sixteen-year-old Tag is tired. Tired of the way things are. The best way to break away is to be how he likes to be. Though he is fair with a spread of many freckles, he loves his hair black. Along with the spiked dog collar.

After a particular unsavory incident at school, his cousin rats him out and now he is facing his consequence: spending the entire summer with old Grandpa who chats with his wife's ghost.

Perfect.


Well, not exactly. He decides to sneak away when everyone's asleep. That's when he stumbles across the stone. Unable to resist the temptation to take it, he is whisked headlong into the past. Far into the past. When scripture heroes (and villains) roamed the southern part of North America.

This was a fun page-turner for me. I empathized with Tag, though he hated everyone and everything. A hidden darkness haunts him and he doesn't realize it until the purpose of his journey into the past unfolds. I feel as if Tag lost a bit of his voice when he sailed into time, but maybe it is because he is surrounded with others who don't speak slang? I cried when Tag finally finds peace in his heart. And forgiveness.

This is a beautiful, heartwarming story. It left me with much to think about.


Kathi Oram Peterson has created a wonderful, rich world that will have you neglecting your homework!

Add this wonderful read to your library!

The trailer gave me chills!


The Stone Traveler - Blog Tour Contest!
When: Weekdays in September
Important rule: Leave a comment on "every" site on the tour.

Monday through Friday commenter names will be collected from the blog tour. On Saturday, a name will be drawn to win a prize that includes a very cuddly toy jaguar; a stone necklace, and chocolates with the flavor of South America--real cacao and chili. The winner will be announced on the following Monday.



The GRAND prize for The Stone Traveler blog tour will be a (drumroll, please) Kindle.

The cutoff to be eligible is midnight on September 30. The winner will be announced October 4th. If you find the tour midway through and want to participate, you can still go back and comment on every blog simply by going to www.kathiswritingnook.com. Starting in September, the sidebar will list each stop on the tour as they are posted, making it very easy to click to any of the sites and leave a comment. AND even if you've already won one of the weekly drawings, your name will still go in the jar for the Kindle.

Good luck and have fun! ;)

Begin to Let Grow

“Mormonad,” New Era, Aug. 1991, 7

Photography by Craig Dimond

Nurture your creative nature. After all, you take after your Father and He was the ultimate Creator. (See 2 Ne. 2:14.)

I'm thinking, how far can you go with God's help when you write?

Far!!!!

Have a splendiferous week!!

(I decided to repost this today, I had accidentally posted twice on the 15 and it got lost with the other post--shame on me!!!) Thanks for your patience. :D

Writing Compelling Characters Blogfest!

Elana Johnson, Jennifer Daiker and Alex Cavanaugh are hosting this awesome blogfest!

Their purpose is to see how differently every one of us thinks about a single thing. Writing a compelling character. (Yeah, right, they just want to hear our secrets!)

;)

Okay, I believe this will be one fun day. Or two . . . As of now, there are 152 participants. It'll take me a few days, but I promise to visit everyone and leave a comment. I hope you won't mind me jotting notes--this will be one AWESOME writer's conference on how to write a compelling character!


here it goes, my SECRET:

My Word processor's definition for compelling says "holding attention: attracting strong interest and attention."

First of all, I would like to think that I can write compelling characters. It's always good to have a 2nd opinion, though! ;)



Can a story be compelling without compelling characters? Or can a character be compelling without a compelling story?

Like actors in a movie, I believe that they can make or break the show. Same with books. Our MCs can make or break the book.

My formula:

When I write, I'm by the seat-of-my-pants kinda person. My characters are born well-rounded. They are alive the moment I spell out their names. I endow them with strong passions--whether for want of love or writhing in hatred. I love to delve into their minds and make the reader experience their anguish or sorrow or anger.



If my character can make my readers cry, angry or joyful--I've written a compelling character.


The character will refuse to die long after the book has been closed.


What are your beliefs in writing a compelling character?






Let's see how other blogfesters feel about writing compelling characters!




photos found at bing images

I'm Back!

Hi everyone! I'm glad to be back, I've missed my bloggie friends! It's been an uplifting month for me. I appreciate those who left comments and followed me during my absence--thank you!

This is what I've been up to the past month:

The first day of school was stressful. My teengirl slipped down three steps, made it to 2 different classrooms before the tardy bell and realized that they weren't the right ones. She was in tears when she told me how it went and begged me to home school her. I cried with her and hugged her and had a heartfelt talk. Now she's enjoying it. Whew . . .

My other kidlets embraced their new teachers and friends, though it isn't their beloved old school. They're loving it now. :)

It's amazing the work that they bring home from school--it's so intense that it sometimes leaves me frazzled by dinnertime.

I've submitted my resume as an illustrator to a few publishers. I've heard back from one and they said they'd contact me when they need me. I'm so excited!

I've applied for the New Testament Project by LDS Motion Picture Studio. I believe any one can sign up--seasoned actor or no experience, even if you are of a different faith! They start filming Spring of 2011. Wish me luck!

I came a cross a blog that discussed the usage of ing words. I scrambled to my WIP and discovered I have too many of them! Rockstar has 3,898. EEP! So far, in 3 chapters alone, I've cut out 115! Small in scale, but I'm slowly combing through and when I'm done, it'll be much better for it.

I also pulled out an old MS and decided to cut out 40 pages because one character was ruining the plot line. Now I can see it open up before me. Now I can finish, yippee! Has this happened to you? Where you decided to pull out a character that is taking over like a choking weed to your flower garden? Oh, and how many ing words do you have in your WIP?

It's great to be back!
:)



Image found here