A New Book By Mary E. DeMuth: Life In Defiance

Life In Defiance is the final novel in the Defiance Texas Trilogy. In book one, a young girl named Daisy Chance disappears and is found dead. In book two, we focus on the dead girl's mother. In book three, we focus on the preacher's wife, Ouisie Pepper, who is keeping a terrible secret. She knows who the murderer is, but she hasn't told anyone.

Since Book One, I have speculated on who the murderer might be. I wanted this terrible crime solved and justice dealt to the murderer. Author DeMuth writes with such depth of emotion about the murder and the reactions of the town's people. My heart ached for Ouisie as she tries to please a husband who won't be pleased while her children suffer emotionally and physically over the abuse of their mother.

We experience the indecision of a woman who is torn between protecting herself and her children and obeying the tenets of a book on womanhood.

Take the time to read the first two books so you can fully enjoy the solution to the crime. I was wrong in my guess. Read the books and see if you can figure out who the killer was.

The Anonymous Bride by Vickie McDonough

Calling all would-be fiction writers--especially historical fiction writers. Stephen King's famous quote tell us, "if you don't have time to read, you don't have time or the tools to write." Here on Books to Write blog, we usually tell about craft books, but today I'd like to tell you of a fiction book called "The Anonymous Bride." I met author Vickie McDonough a couple years ago in Tulsa. She's a quiet, unassuming, talented lady, and her new book catches your attention with the first line and holds on to the last sentence.
In craft books, fiction workshops and online courses, I repeatedly hear to grab them at the beginning. McDonough starts with "Sometimes God asked difficult things of a man, and for Luke Davis, what he was fixing to do was the hardest task ever." Yep, my thoughts exactly. I wanted to read more. This book is the first in the Texas Boardinghouse Brides Series by Barbour which came out in April this year. I fell in love with the characters, not only the hero and heroine, but the hero's two cousins and four (count them-four) mail order brides.
Humor tantalizes the reader, but the book overflows with drama and suspense and a little "who done it," besides. The thing I liked best was there was no draggy downtime at the end. McDonough kept the reader eager for more until the end.
A question put to Vickie McDonough was how she got her start in writing. Here's her answer, "I have always been an avid reader, so I'm sure that influenced me to become a writer, even though I'd never planned to be one. A story started going through my head, and it got to the point where I wasn't sleeping at nights because of it. I decided to write it down, hoping it would go away and leave me alone. As soon as I finished that book, another one starting running through my mind. At this point I took a step back and started praying about my writing, and that's when I felt God leading me into the writing field."
I, for one, am glad Vickie couldn't sleep until she started writing them down for the rest of us to read. I got this book free but plan on passing it on to a writing friend specializing in historical romance. Then, I'll buy Vickie's next book.

Sworn to Protect by DiAnn Mills

I met DiAnn Mills when I stepped "out of the box" and signed up for her Mentoring Class. I've been a fan since that time.

Her latest book is Sworn to Protect which is book #2 in her Call of Duty series. Janet Brown, who took the Mentoring Class at my suggestion, wrote about the first book, Breach of Trust .

Sworn to Protect features a female Border Patrol Agent whose husband's unsolved murder haunts her. Her life is complicated by threats against her own life and her brother-in-law's resentment.

DiAnn states she rode with the Border Patrol to get a feel for the job. I feel like I have a greater appreciation for the dangers the Border Patrol agents face as part of their daily routine.

DiAnn also presents the plight of the illegals who are preyed upon by individuals who take advantage of them and exposes the tactics of those who traffic in humans and drugs.

The problems of the border are front page news. This work of fiction gives a glimpse of both sides of the situation without taking sides while weaving a story you won't want to put down.

I enjoyed this book as well as the first one and will be anxiously waiting book three in the series.

I ordered the book from my local bookstore and received no compensation from DiAnn Mills for writing this review.

Brainstorming Weekend

Our local writers group recently had a weekend retreat at the country home of one of our members. We met for dinner in town on Friday night before convoying to her home. Once we carried all our blankets, pillows, air mattresses, and items for the weekend, we shared the bare bones of our work in progress.

The next morning after breakfast we started in with each member introducing their main character. Other members could ask questions for clarification. Several members brought copies of character questions to share.

After lunch, we took a short country walk and resumed with our one sentence log line, which we helped each other refine.

We decided that each member should go ahead and describe the plot, conflict, and elements of their stories. After stopping for supper, we worked until bedtime.

On Sunday morning, we finished helping plot the remaining members stories. We ended our time together, agreeing we all were leaving with enough ideas to finish our projects. We decided two issues: 1. We all needed to diet after all the food we'd eaten this past weekend. 2. We definitely wanted to make this an annual affair.

So, I would strongly suggest that any writer get together with at least one other writer and devote some time so brainstorming your ideas for a story. Bring things you've learned from workshops, books, and articles to help with plotting. You'll be glad you did.

The Narrow Path by Gail Sattler

During a brief time with Ms. Sattler in a critique group, I received good advice on writing an interesting story with a clear, strong Christian message. Since I had never read a book by her, she sent me online an advanced copy of her newest book "The Narrow Path." Never before had I read a Mennonite book, so I found Gail's book not only a good read, but informative as well. This delightful romance pits the old, traditional sect with a modernized version of the same values which gave me a well-rounded view. Sattler gives insight into a different way of life, and colorful characters dot the pages. I found some of those characters in a work I was critiquing for her. I'm sure that will make an interesting sequel. I asked Gail a few questions to probe her mind.

1. List your 5 top favorite activities.

Number 1 music. Number 2. music. I say that because I'm in 2 different bands, a jazz band where I play my electric jazz bass and a concert band where I play my double bass with a bow because there is no electricity allowed with a concert band. I can't count the worship team for church, because I've played both basses and piano for that, so it's kind of a rerun. Number 3, reading; Number 4, walking my dogs: Number 5 I'd say after all that, sleeping.

2. Do you write in other genres as well as romance?

Yes, but I'm not published in them yet. I'm working on a woman's fiction that has a touch of romance, a cozy mystery, and the most fun, a supernatural thriller that I'm writing with my husband.

3. What does a typical writing day look like for you?

I don't have a typical writing day. I have a day job, so that takes my day. I write when I can on the evenings and do editing in the mornings before work, and I do a lot of writing on the weekends.

4. What 1 piece of advice would you give a beginning writer?

Best advice. Write and keep writing, and while you kep writing, keep learning the craft. If you think you know it all and think you can stop learning, you might as well stop writing. Write because you love to write, not because you want to sell. Selling is a bonus. I guess that's more than one piece of advise, but I write. I don't do math.

For more information about this good author, go to http://www.gailsattler.com/

"The Narrow Path" will be out in May, 2010. I would recommend buying a copy.

As writers, we are always searching for new books, articles, magazines, courses… anything to help us become more effective writers. Oftentimes, those pursuits can get expensive. Today, however, I want to share a resource that is completely free and yet one of the best online magazines for writers.

This monthly online magazine is called Christian Fiction Online Magazine. It is filled not only with articles on helping your craft but also current industry news that will help you stay abreast of market changes.

Check out this months issue HERE.

Top Five Best Craft of Writing Books

In all of the conferences, workshops, and meetings I've ever attended, I've heard the same titles touted amongst the masses as the best books to learn to write by. We here at Bookstowriteby strive to bring you such books to cultivate your craft. I thought today we would review, in my opinion, five books which I believe should be on every writer's bookshelf.

In no particular order, here are the five:

Dwight Swain
Techniques of the Best Selling Writer

Donald Maass
Writing the Breakout Novel

James Scott Bell

Plot and Structure

Jack Bickham

Scene and Structure

Margie Lawson

Empowering Charactions' Emotions

Granted this last one is not a book, but you can go to her website and order her lecture packet. I have the packet, plus I have had the honor sitting through one of her workshops as well as enrolling in her online courses. The content of her lectures are outstanding. I learned more about characterization through her workshop then I have reading books on the subject.

If you are in the market for buying books, add these to your shelf. If you are in a money crunch, then look at local library annual book sales, half.com, amazon.com to see if you can buy a used book. If you just want to borrow a book check them out at your library or borrow from a friend. You won't be sorry.