And Now For Something Completely Different...

For breakfast every day, Ken places a plate of liver and bacon under his chair, and locks himself in the cupboard.

*BOOK NEWS*

A newsletter just for authors YA Books Central

Galen Kindley discusses the reality of editing at Imagineering Fiction

Mayra introduces us to a great writing book at Mayra’s Secret Bookcase

Alex J. Cavanaugh discusses the similarity of fiction and science fiction at Southern City Mysteries

How do you select names and book titles? Elizabeth wants to know! Mystery Writing is Murder

Arlee Bird discussed blogging, etiquette and stuff at Tossing it Out
And on the same day I discussed it was well! Blogging and Other Strange Things
We had a good laugh about that!

And finally, news of the really weird…
$7000 talking sex robot. Yes, you read that correctly! I can’t make this stuff up…
CNN

*BOOK GIVEAWAY*

That's right! Spunky is giving away a book!

On Tuesday I reviewed "Personality Plus" from Florence Littauer. Well, I discovered a brand new, unread book on my shelf, and after all the comments, decided to give it to one lucky person!

Leave a comment with your email address for one entry.
And if you blog about it as well, you'll receive two more entries! (Leave link to your post.)

This contest open thru Thursday February 11th - winner announced in Friday's post.

* And don't forget my other giveaway for Book V - side top of sidebar for my Mystery Man contest. Just guess the name of Heather's love interest, send me an email, and you could win a copy of Book V!

*MOVIE REVIEW*

Wallace and Gromit in 'A Matter of Loaf and Death'
First off, I confess - I love Wallace & Gromit! I even have a Wallace & Gromit alarm clock and a Shaun the Sheep backpack...
For those not familiar with these characters, Wallace is an inventor and Gromit his silent but extremely intelligent dog. They've been featured in numerous shorts and movies, most of which have won an Oscar, and this short is also up for an Academy Award.
What makes them endearing is the humor and expressiveness. It's all done with clay animation, which means it takes over a year just to make one of these shorts. The details in the sets is incredible! Nick Parks is the creator and genuis behind these British characters, who have been around for 20 years now.
In this short, Wallace & Gromit run a bakery. Meanwhile, bakers are being murdered! A chance encounter with the former Bake O Lite girl sends Wallace head over heels in love. However, Gromit is suspicious...
If you like a little murder-mystery with your animation, then this is the film for you!
Includes an episode of Shaun the Sheep on the disc, too.
Rating - A

*PHOTO OF THE DAY*

Rocko's back!!! And hanging out on the bookshelf.  (Okay, she's actually IN the bookshelf - it's lying on the ground in this photo.)

Poll Time! Your Opinion Needed

I am revamping my Thursday post and need opinions and suggestions.

Currently my schedule is as follows:

Sunday - The Sunday Sillies
Monday - Guest post/open - and I welcome guest posts from any blogger, writer, author, editor, etc! If you are interested, please let me know.
Tuesday - alternating between Photo Tuesday (relating to writing) and Tales From the Bookshelf (book reviews)
Wednesday - latest book from Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
Thursday - now open!
Friday - And Now For Something Completely Different - the weekly roundup of book news, a movie or music review, photo of the day, and of course a Monty Python quote
Saturday - my day off!

What would everyone like to see for the Thursday post? Promotional tips? Event updates? Movie news? Blogs of note?

Leave your suggestions here and I'll make it happen next week!

Maybe Rocko should take over my blog that day...

Author Lisa Wingate

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing
Never Say Never
Bethany House (February 1, 2010)
by Lisa Wingate

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lisa lives in central Texas were she is a popular inspriational speaker, magazine columnist, and national bestselling author of several books. Her novel, Tending Roses, received dozens of five-star reviews, sold out thirteen printings for New York publisher, Penguin Putnam, and went on to become a national bestselling book. Tending Roses was a selection of the Readers Club of America, and is currently in its fourteenth printing.

The Tending Roses series continued with Good Hope Road, the Language of Sycamores, Drenched in Light, and A Thousand Voices. In 2003, Lisa's Texas Hill Country series began with Texas Cooking, and continued with Lone Star Cafe', which was awarded a gold metal by RT Bookclub magazine and was hailed by Publisher's Weekly as "A charmingly nostalgic treat." The series concluded with Over the Moon at the Big Lizard Diner.

Lisa is now working on a new set of small-town Texas novels for Bethany House Publishers. The series debuted with Talk of the Town and continued with Word Gets Around and Never Say Never. A new series is also underway for Peguin Group NAL, beginning with A Month of Summer (July 2008), and continuing with The Summer Kitchen (July 2009) and Beyond Summer (July 2010). Lisa's works have been featured by the National Reader's Club of America, AOL Book Pics, Doubleday Book Club, the Literary Guild, American Profiles and have been chosen for the LORIES best Published Fiction Award. In 2009, A Month of Summer was nomiated for the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year award.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Kai Miller floats through life like driftwood tossed by waves. She's never put down roots in any one place--and she doesn't plan to. But when a chaotic hurricane evacuation lands her in Daily, Texas, she begins to think twice about her wayfaring existence.

And when she meets hometown-boy Kemp Eldridge, she can almost picture settling down in Daily--until she discovers he may be promised to someone else. Daily has always been a place of refuge for those the winds blows in, but for Kai, it looks like it will be just another place to leave behind. Then again, Daily always has a few surprises in store--especially when Aunt Donetta has cooked up a scheme.

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764204920

Tales From the Bookshelf

Couldn't decide, so posted two reviews today -
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip
Personality Plus by Florence Littauer

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld
by Patricia A. McKillip
Young Adult

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Magic Carpet Books
ISBN-13: 978-0152055363

A young wizard named Sybel lives alone in her mountain home, surrounded only by the beasts she has 'called' to live with her. A young man named Coren brings his enemy's infant son to her and she raises Tam to a boy. His father, King Drede, comes seeking Tam and tries to convince Sybel to his kingdom as well. When he employs another wizard to force her to comply, Sybel marries Coren and plots to use his house and her beasts to destroy King Drede.

This was one of the few 'young adult' books available when I was a teen and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Most fantasy seems to have a familiar feel and storyline, but this book is refreshingingly unique. It's a tale of revenge and love - will Sybel sacrifice one for the other?

The cover art is the original - I felt it was better than the current reissue!

Personality Plus
by Florence Littauer
Psychology/self-help
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
ISBN-13: 9780800754457

Littauer defines the four basic personality types - choleric, phlegmatic, sanguine, and melancholy - and describes their strengths and weaknesses in detail. It is designed to help us understand both our own personality and those of the people around us.

This is one of my key resource books for writing! When I design a new character, I select one of the four personalities that best suits his or her nature. It helps me to define that character, understand his or her motivations and behaviors, and set that person on a logical course. For me, it provides a basic foundation from which to build a complex and real character. I highly recommend it to any writer or author!

Thanks once again for visiting the bookshelf!



 
 FTC disclaimer - I own both of these books, paid for by my own money.