Word Praize

WRD: Best Summer Read 2006

Today is World Refugee Day. Journalists all ove the world have united to highlight refugee issues today. However, I want to highlight a book that I have selected for my girl scout troop parent committee to read to their daughter's this summer. This book is also on my list of great summer reads.

 

Drita, my Homegirl, by Jenny Lombard

 

"You got to start to let her go and let someone in..."

 

In short, the novel is about two fourth graders Drita and Maxie. Drita is a Kosovo refugee that immigrated to New York and is having trouble at her new elementary school. Maxie, an African-American "Chatty Kathy", who is also Drita's new classmate can't stay out of trouble. In lieu of another punishment Maxie has to do a school project on Drita and Kosovo. As Maxie begins to learn more about Drita's home country, they both begin to learn that they are similiar, both share a secret pain regarding their mothers and can lean on each other. The book is written well and in an authentic voice for both teenagers and their cultural differences. I think this is a great book for the scouts and mothers with daughters. (March, $15.99)

 

Dee Stewart is a mother, book critic, book marketing consultant and syndicated columnist. She hosts Third Thursdays Reader Event Series and served as a judge for the 2006 Christy Awards. She’s written for Spirit Led Woman, Gospel Today, Anointed and Precious Times Magazines. Her short story, “Straddling the Fence,” is featured in Infuze Magazine’s Best of 2005 Christian Shorts Anthology.

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Artist Call: The Perfect Romance

"But now listen, I will woo her, I will go with her into the wilderness and comfort her" (Hos. 2:14)

 

Last year, we launched Third Thursdays, an Atlanta Live Christian Event Reader Series. This year we've gone a step higher.  This summer you are invited to

 

The Perfect Romance

A Christian Romance and Word Event Series

 

When: Every Second Friday from July-September from 7:30-9:30 pm

Where: Firenze Coffeehouse & Gallery

             145-B Satellite Blvd., Suwanee, GA 30024

Cost: Free to the public and free to the artists

Contact: Dee Stewart(here)

Details: The Perfect Romance Reader Series encompasses the Hosea scripture, as it will portray God, the consummate romantic through the arts(literature, fine art, music and dance.) Click the underlined text below to be directed to the artist call for these events. Please pass this info onto those who may be interested that live in or around the Atlanta, Georgia vicinity or who will be doing booksignings in the coming months.

 

Artist Call for July, August and September

 

 

Dee Stewart is a mother, book critic, book marketing consultant and syndicated columnist. She hosts Third Thursdays Reader Event Series and served as a judge for the 2006 Christy Awards. She’s written for Spirit Led Woman, Gospel Today, Anointed and Precious Times Magazines. Her short story, “Straddling the Fence,” is featured in Infuze Magazine’s Best of 2005 Christian Shorts Anthology.

 

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What Character Reminds You of You?

For the past few weeks Brandilyn Collins has been lecturing about character empathy at her Faith & Forensics Blog. How to get your readers to care about your characters.  An excerpt...

2. Particularly good at something

Two subpoints here. (A) Emphasis is on the word “particularly.” She’s not just talented at the piano, she’s stunning enough to rise above all others, to capture our attention and admiration with her style, her touch of fingers to keys. (B) This approach involves details... We see him in action... The proficiency of his hands, the tilt of his body as he sights, his absolute stillness and measured patience until the perfect moment arrives to ease back the trigger.

I commented on her blog that this approach was similiar to a technique I learned a few years back called Building Authority. However, this method gave authors a choice to build authority[empathy] through two methods- the heart or the head. If a person was very good at something, then the author used the heart method. If the character had an enduring, but universal flaw, then we call that the heart method.

Last month, Westbow Press release Charles Martin's When Cricket's Cry. It is a beautifully written novel about a broken hearted man and a fragile little girl who are brought together for God's glory. There are so many wonderful passages in this novel I can't pick one. But as this novel relates to Brandilyn's discussion, Charles uses both methods in the opening chapter to pull his readers in. The front cover says that this is A Novel of the Heart. As cheesy at that line may sound, that line sums up the entire novel. Best tagline I've read this year. He uses the heart method to introduce us to the very sprite, but sick Lily.

She was small for her age. Probably six, maybe even seven, but looked more like four or five. A tomboy's heart in a china doll's body...She was pale and thin and bounced around like a mix between Eloise and Tigger.- first lines of When Cricket's Cry.

As the chapter unfolds we learn that this man isn't just a neighbor from a nearby town that occasionally wandered into Clayton, Georgia. But he's Reese, the town's recluse. No. He's more than that--he's a brokenhearted physician, who believes that he is a failure. We learn in the first chapter that he is not a failure, because he saves her life. Martin allows us to enter Reese's mind once he becomes the physician again, if only for that short moment. We see--as do the rest of the town--that Reese is more than he believes. It is the head method and the heart method combined. Because we know what it feels to not digest our full potential, especially when we haven't puled ourselves up from falling. I know this reality too well. In fact, I'm going through the same self-contempt as Reese.

Claudia Burney and I had a similiar conversation last week about our issues. Wink. Wink. Nod. Nod. :) She's a dear.Now let me ask you. Out of your most favorite books what endures you to the characters the most? Shoot. What characters can you identify with the most? I like to say I identify with Elizabeth Bennett of Pride and Prejudice and Sophia of The Color Purple. What about you?

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Review: Sweet Magnolia

Sweet Magnolia

Norma L. Jarrett 

Harlem Moon

ISBN # 0-7679-2142-9

3 Tambourine Players

Ever since Summer Ledoux was a little girl she wanted to get married at her family’s New Orleans estate-the Ledoux Mansion. But when she returns home for her nuptials she finds that her prestigious and well-guarded family name is steeped in dark secrets and a legacy curse that haunts her every night. Although Summer quells this curse through her spiritual connection to Christ, she prays that her older and misguided sister, Misa will seek His refuge before its too late.

Misa Ledoux knows that her supermodel days are almost over. So when she receives Summer’s wedding and family reunion invitation she returns to Magnolia Lane hoping that this opportunity will be beginning of a fresh start for her. But her anxiety attacks and addictions to booze and bad men may destroy her future before it begins. Her caustic behavior with the family further strains her relationship with Summer-- the only person who could possibly help her through her depressive bouts.

Jarrett writes beautiful prose. Her close attention to detail, t romantic scenes, and New Orleans cultural references create an sweet, southern genteel mood for this story. Yet, the constant flashbacks and episodic chapters slow the story’s pace. Too many surprises and secrets add so much drama that it clouds the central themes of redemption and family responsibility from greater view. (June, 256 pp, $16.95)

Dee Stewart,

for Gospel Fiction

Dee Stewart is a mother, book critic, book marketing consultant and syndicated columnist. She hosts Third Thursdays Reader Event Series and served as a judge for the 2006 Christy Awards. She’s written for Spirit Led Woman, Gospel Today, Anointed and Precious Times Magazines. Her short story, “Straddling the Fence,” is featured in Infuze Magazine’s Best of 2005 Christian Shorts Anthology.

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Dee, Judas & the Pursuit of an Anti-Hero

Check me out at The Master's Artist blog today. I'm talking about National Geographic's The Gospel of Judas.

 

Quick question: When you read do you prefer the villain's point of view?

 

OT: Also I'm writing a novel, whereby my hero starts as a villainous type, but during the novel my heroine's point of view and the reader's will change. Are you a sucker for bad boys or is just me?

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2 Time Crunch Reads

Check me out at The Master's Artist today. I have two short reads to recommend to those of you who are like me this week- celebrating Spring Break with your child or just swamped with Easter egg hunts,  paying bills, and life. I love short stories. How about you?

 

Click here to see my picks. And come back this week I will have some more for your fancy. And if you are a short story writing phenom I have a writing opportunity for you. 

 

I also want to give a shout out to Mary G. Loved meeting you face to face this week. You are a powerhouse and I am going to the thang and get my book done. Thanks for your swift kick in my rear. :)

 

Think Pink!!

 

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Spring Reads Nominations Open

I'm at The Master's Artist Today praying about my Mind and Soul.

Over at Gospel Fiction I'm seeking books to nominate for great Spring and Summer reads. If you have a book that you think deserves to be on this list, hit me up here or at either Gospel Fiction or Christian Fiction Blog.

 

I added Kate Mosse's Labyrinth to the list. She also has a fantaberific site. They you can learn more about over at Gospel Fiction. Note: this book is not a CBA title or what you would call Christian Fiction. Be advised.

 

Check out my book review for Jacquelin Thomas' Defining Moments and Kendra Norman-Bellamy's More than Grace in Romantic Times Magazine's April edition, which are on major magazine stands and your local public library.

 

And I have two more slots open for Dee's Storyteller's Workshop. Contact me for details.

 

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The Storyteller in You

Dee's at The Master's Artist Blog today. Check it out and comment, if you will.

 

Reminder: this month I'm hosting a storyteller's workshop that will help participants discover themselves as storytellers, determine what themes speak to them the most, and show them different methods to help get these stories told. Two seats are still available. Contact me here.

 

Technorati Tags : chuck, palahniuk, toni, morrison, dave, long, faith, in, fiction, christian, writing, dee, stewart, william, faulkner

 

 

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Pen/Faulkner Award: The March

 The PEN/Faulkner Foundation will announce today that E.L. Doctorow has won its 2006 fiction award for his novel The March. It is the second PEN/Faulkner award for the much-honored Doctorow, who won in 1990 for Billy Bathgate.

 

Pearl fell forward to her knees and clasped her hands. Dear God Jesus, she whispered, make a place fer dis good woman beside you. An me, yore Porhl, teach me to be free.

 

Click here to read the full excerpt.

 

I'm adding this novel to my buying wishlist, because I could only get through chapter one when I received a stack of books to judge for an award contest. Now, this book wasn't published by a Christian publisher, but there are some elements in there very illuminating.

 

So...you have until May to pick up this book, because I'm nominating it for our first Gospel Fiction Summer Reading Project. If you have any books you want to nominate, hit me up, give me a nomination and tell me why they should win. Seven books will be featured to vote upon and one will win. I will upload nominations from now until May 15, 2006.

Dee Stewart is editor of Christian Fiction News and also hosts Atlanta’s Third Thursdays: Altartainment Event Series. She's written for Spirit Led Woman, Gospel Today, and Precious Times Magazines. Her short story, "Straddling the Fence," is featured in Infuze Magazine's Best of 2005 Christian Shorts Anthology. She can be found at Gospel Fiction dot com.This month she's hosting a Storyteller's workshop at her site.

 

 

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Storyteller's Workshop

Story Tellers a course in writing a story celebrating Christ

Sponsored by

February 20 thru March 13

When a book leaves your hands, it belongs to God.
He may use it to save a few souls or to try a few others,
but I think that for the writer to worry is to take over
God's business. - Flannery O'Connor

Storytellers – Parables and stories have been hallmarks to Christian culture, since before Christ’s ministry, and it continues today. Whether you've been dreaming of becoming a published writer since childhood, stomped on your own novel writing process or just want to learn a new hobby, this six-week tutorial will give you the basic building blocks to create a compelling story. Assignments include a story idea, scene building primer, a character sketch, an outline, a story and a revision. Instructor: Dee Stewart. Registration only $15. Spaces are limited. Register today!

INSTRUCTOR Dee Stewart is editor of Christian Fiction News and hosts Atlanta’s Third Thursdays: Altartainment Event Series. She's written for Spirit Led Woman, Gospel Today, Spirit Led Writer and Precious Times Magazines. Her short story, "Straddling the Fence," is featured in Infuze Magazine's Best of 2005 Christian Shorts Anthology. She can be contacted at vidae@writing.com.

The first fifteen people to register will be entered for a chance to win The Christian Writer's Market 2006. ($29.99 value)

 

Contact Good Girl Book Club or stay tuned to sign up for classes.

 

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