Amazon's Breakthrough Noval contest

Tomorrow at 12:01, (10:01 my time), entries will be accepted for the Amazon Breakthrough Noval Award contest. I plan on entering my YA novel Literary Loom. I was just wondering how many of my writing friends are planning on entering as well? I didn't plan on entering this contest until just last Friday. I got thinking, my manuscript is basically finished, it just needs a few last rubs of polish. Why not give it a try? What do I have to lose? If any of you have a finished manusript, and you are not currently published--this is for newbies only--then you might want to give this contest a try. If you happen to place in any of the rounds of elimination, it could be another notch to put on your reseme. If you don't place, you're not out anything, as the cost is $0.00. Here's the link:  .http://www.amazon.com/b?node=332264011
Just for the heck of it, I'm going to post my 300 word pitch for my readers to see. If any of you who are entering would like to share your 300 word pitch, I would love to read it and allow my followers the same privailage.

PITCH:
Josh Sawyer is not only stuck with a dad who tells him how to live his life, he is stuck in a new high school with a weird girl named Ester for his partner in a historical literature assignment.

Desperate to ace the assignment, Josh agrees to let Ester’s brilliant, but batty uncle help them. Josh and Ester experience book travel with the help of Uncle Reuben’s literary loom. Josh rides alongside Joan of Arc and her army in an unparalleled virtual reality reading adventure and begins to believe in Ester, her uncle, and himself.

Josh aces the assignment and is invited to join debate team, which he thinks will be the solution to all his problems. He soon discovers debate drags him into the throes of even greater problems. The coach, Mr. Pierce, is not only manipulative, but dictates Josh’s beliefs and has an intense resentment toward Ester. Josh stands up to Pierce. Pierce takes disciplinary action in the form of a huge outside-of-school debate—a debate on the existence of God.

Once again Josh recruits the help of the literary loom. He experiences the lives of William Tyndale and George Washington and pieces together a picture of how God’s hand played a role in the freedom of America. Josh goes on to win the debate match against all odds. Pierce is left bitter and revengeful, determined to destroy Josh and the Loom.

Meanwhile, Ester puts together the pieces of a mystery, and frees herself from the ridicule of others. Josh puts together the pieces of history, and learns that he really is free to make his own choices.

Literary Loom is geared to teen readers, but would appeal to any reader with a love of history and a passion for freedom.

My Version of Red Robin's Baja Turkey Club

If you are looking for a quick, easy meal and you are a fan of Red Robin's Baja Turkey Club sandwich, you will want to try this recipe. I've been pleasing my family for years with this sandwich, so I thought it would be a good thing to share for this month's Mid Month Make-something Madness.

To prepare Baja sauce, add to a small bowl and mix well:

2 TBS mayonaise

2 TBS taco sauce (you can use the packets you get from any mexican fast food place)

1 tsp chili powder

(This makes enought sauce to make about 3 sandwiches).

Spread Baja sauce on each side of two pieces of bread. Add thinly sliced
pepper jack cheese to each of these pieces of bread on top of the Baja
sauce. Add a thick layer of thinly sliced deli turkey and one whole green
chile (from a can) that has been sliced open. Put the two pieces of bread
together and butter the outside of each slice and cook on a griddle the
same as you would a grilled cheese sandwich.

(P.S. These sandwiches look and taste better than my picture.
I'm not a food photographer by any means).

Book Review: Matched, by Ally Condie

Here is another local author that is going to go places. Ally Condie did an awesome job of drawing me into her new novel, Matched, not only effortless (on my part), but with a story line that falls in place with Hunger Games and Maze Runner as a must read in dystopic YA. I love a book that I introduces me to a different world and pulls me into a character's head without feeling confused. I also love books with invisible writing; ones that are well written and don't distract me by prompting my internal editor to reach for a red pen. Matched is one of those books. Thank you, Ally.

Cassia lives in a future time where everyone's choices seem to be made for them by the government, including one's choice of a spouse. Frustration, fear, and appreciation of my own freedoms, were some of the emtions Matched evoked as I read its pages. Cassia starts out not wanting to do anything contrary to the Society, for that is the way to be safe, to keep life easy. But as she starts to fall in love with someone other than her match, and discovers the beauty of poetry that is not sanctioned by the Society, Cassie's life becomes complicated and I as a reader can't help cheering and urging to break free from the shackles of that incipent Society she lives in.

I would easily recommend this book to young readers and old alike.

Book Review: The Limit

I purchased Kristen Landon's The Limit as my first e-book for my new NookColor I received for Christmas.

Matt is a thirteen year old math wiz who lives in a future society where family debt is managed by the government. When families go over their limit, a child is taken from them and put into a work house where that child helps work off the family's debt. Usually they don't take kids as young as Matt, but things are changing. Matt is taken. He discovers the work house is more like a prison and is lied to about many things, including his ability to contact his parents.

The book was classified as dystopic. I guess technically it could fit there. But it didn't have that dark feel I've come to expect in a dystopic novel. It was more like a mystery where the kids at the workhouse uncover the corrupt dealings of their own particular workhouse. If they had not been the victims of a corrupt workhouse, then life would have been fine--other workhouses were painted as a good thing. That is why it probably didn't feel dystopic.

I found the plot predictable and simple. The writing was heavy with gerunds. I reminded myself as I read, that it was, after all, a middle grade book. I did however, find myself enjoying the storyline and had a desire to keep reading. That is a good thing.

I can comfortably recommend it to kids 8 to 12. They would not be as critical as I, and it does have a story I feel would appeal to kids.

Round up the Year with a Rhyme

Another year has drawn to a close.
Yet life's pace never rests or slows,
flying me into yet another year
without time to reflect or shed a tear.
Was it good? Was it bad?
What things made me sad?
Better yet, what things brought a smile?
The year, did I make it worth while?
Yes.
Two graduates and one new grandson;
I wrote a book and read twenty one;
taught primary songs to bright smiling faces,
rode our new Vette to lots of new places,
sent a son to Alaska via the MTC--
though for two years his smile won't be mine to see.
Life has been good. Life has been grand.
And I owe it all to God's good hand.
Then why am I sad at the end of twothousand ten?
Because I hate good-byes to things I'll never see again.

The Sweetest Christmas Gift

      All week long our family has been the recipient of a hodge-podge of confectionary neighborhood gifts; carmel corn, cookies, chocolate, etc. Every year it's the same, women of the neighborhood add to their stress level, yeilding to feelings of obligation, scrambling to give their neighbors something because their neighbors have given them a "gift." So they run to the store, purchase a sugary concoction of Christmas candy, wrap it in cellophane so it lends a whisper of "homemade," and deliver it to their neighbors. Their neighbors each accept it graciously, never letting on that their kitchen counter is already filled with enough aresenal to create a diabetic out the the healthiest of individuals.
     I must confess, I'm as guilty as the next neighbor. I do this every year. And I graciously accept the gifts every year. I might not enjoy all the candy, but I do enjoy the thoughts behind it.

     But tonight, when the doorbell rang--again, there was a different species of gift bearer standing at my door. Four-year-old Charlotte Steed; she held a loaf of bread in her hands and a brilliant smile on her face. With her little arms, she held the loaf cinnamin raisin bread out toward me. A warmth filled my heart. I rushed to her. "Is that for me," I responded--though if that had been an adult I would have never dared be so bold. But I was sincere. I was truely delighted that she would think of me, the lowly Primary chorister. My reaction ignigted an even bigger smile on her sweet little face, a smile so warm with pure childlike innocence and joy it could have melted and iceberg in winter. Add with it her angelic little voice saying, "Merry Christmas," and my heart was a puddle.

     Her dad explained how they had put together gifts to give her Primary teachers. Then Charlotte said, "What about Sister Frank? I want to give a gift to her." He dad said she loves singing time because of me. That made the gift even sweeter. I gave her a hug. We wished each other a merry Christmas again, and she was gone. I walked away from that front door with a gift that will stay with me longer than any of that candy (well, only if I get back on a diet after Christmas). That being the gift of a child's sincere appreciation.

     And that's better than any confection man could ever hope to create out of butter and sugar.

Seven Seas, rather 7 C's for Christmas: easy neighbor gift

This year for neighborhood Christmas gifts I gave all of my friends the Seven Seas--actually 7 C's:
Carolyn's crunchy, chewy, Christmas cashew caramel corn. I've include the recipe and the card I made to go with it. You are welcome to copy--especially if you want a quick, easy, cleavor gift for your neighbors.

Carolyn's Crunchy Chewy Caramel Corn
6 quarts of popped pop corn (remove all of the old maids).

In a sauce pan bring to a boil, stirring occasionally:

1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt

When the mixture comes to a rolling boil, let boil without
stirring for 6 minutes. Then add:
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup roasted/salted cashews
Stir together (mixture will froth slightly), and then pour
over the popcorn and mix together thoroughly.
Place in plastic bags as soon as mixture is cool enough.
Attach the follow poem, using your name, and you're
good to go.