Holiday Havoc

Well - the madness is about to begin. It's all good madness though.

Tomorrow, five family members will be arriving in our midst and I couldn't be more excited. My brother and sister-in-law and their three girls (13, 11, & 7) will stay with my in-laws, and the girls will stay with us for part of the weekend. My nieces are so sweet and loving that I can't help but to feel encouraged even when my health isn't so great.

So - they arrive Wednesday, Thanksgiving is on Thursday, Friday we'll probably take the girls, Saturday & Sunday Jeff works, and by next Tuesday my parents will arrive from California to stay with us for about three weeks. Whew.

I can honestly admit that I'm so excited that it drives my problems to the back of my mind. Tomorrow, I'll also be making my very popular Pumpkin Cheesecake. I can't stand pumpkin pie. Yeah - okay, I'm a freak. However, I make a mean pumpkin cheesecake that so far has gotten rave reviews. I have discovered a very key shortcut this year. I've ditched the spring-form pan and cheated by buying premade graham cracker crusts. I get more pies and it eliminates my stumbling block. I'll be cranking out cheesecake like there's no tomorrow. :)

"Christmas shopping?" you ask. Nope - not a stitch. I'm in denial. I've been crocheting up a storm in preparation, but I haven't purchased so much as a roll of tape. I'm not the type to get up at the crack of dawn (or earlier) the day after Thanksgiving to race off to battle the soccer moms for a $2.99 pair of slippers. Not me. No way. I'm a self-proclaimed procrastinator and if I'm not scrambling at the last minute of Christmas Eve, then something has gone awry, alert the authorities.

Altogether, I've realized that with my family near me I feel better. Love and laughter have been my best medicine and that's just fine with me.

Musings...

This just sort of popped up one night and I had to get it out. There is no place for it in any story, but it began a whole new train of thought, an autobiographical one. So without further ado, here are my musings:

As a kid I dreamed of the future and knew many aspects of life would change. I truly had no clue that I was to be a part of one of the most amazing times in history. So many developments and inventions, ideas and awarenesses, and information and perspectives have flooded our collective conciousness.

Born in 1977, I was a child of the eighties, a teenager of the nineties, and an adult of the new millenium. This year, 2007, I turned thirty and feel yet again on the cusp of change. My environment changes, as do I, yet delliniating one from the other is nearly impossible. The age old debate of nature versus nuture really has no platform on which to stand. My world and myself shift in waves of awareness broken only upon the shores of the unchanged and the unchangable. These timeless beaches of truth exist for us all, yet few recognize the shore and insist that the sea must extend beyond the boundaries of absolute truth.

My goals and dreams from childhood hold no less mysticism than they did twenty years ago. I'm now old enough to see just how simply my ten-year-old mind had imagined the future, and young enough to see that simplicity is beautiful and fulfilling yet difficult to attain. Someday, I may aspire to lead a more complicated life, but that won't be for many years to come. Perhaps I'll retire, lose some of those whom I hold dearest, and pray for action and excitement to distract my deteriorating mind. Hopefully, regardless of those around me, I'll have a reliance on my faith and my ultimate destination that will carry me through my final years on the earth.

Fantastic Fantasy - Wayne Thomas Batson

As a fan of Fantasy, I've decided to start a series of posts about books I'm reading, have read, recommendations, and so forth. As you can see by the title, it's called Fantastic Fantasy. I'll feature different authors and their books and try to give very fair reviews and let you know if I'm having trouble being unbiased. My intention is to keep this a fairly regular feature, but we shall see. Also, check out my Shelfari link here or in the sidebar.

My first installment is, appropriately, one of my very favorite authors, Wayne Thomas Batson:

Wayne Thomas Batson:

The Door Within

As many of you already know, I'm a HUGE fan of Wayne Thomas Batson. His books speak so well of the Christian walk, while disguising themselves as amazing Fantasy Fiction. Today, I'm going to review the first book of his that I read, The Door Within.

Author Links

Blog: Enter the Door Within

Amazon Link: The Door Within

Recommended Age: 12+ (Although, my daughter began it when she was 8.)

The story begins with a very average kid, Aidan, who lives in the shadow of his best friend's great achievements. Aidan's grandfather's failing health tears him away from his friends and home, as he and his parents journey to Colorado.

Aidan cannot see the good in the move, but his own anger is left behind as he discovers three mysterious clay pots in his grandfather's basement. Glowing and containing "The Story," the pots open a whole new adventure that has little to do with his own will and everything to do with the will of King Eliam.

Aidan's journey through The Door Within teaches him to look beyond his circumstances and find the greater purpose he may serve.

Aidan discovers an unseen world, The Realm, populated with human-like creatures called Glimpses. His purpose becomes clear; he is to be the 12th knight of the Elder Guard. How an awkward teenage boy can become a knight and fight an evil force in two weeks, is beyond Aidan's comprehension. However, he steps forward and accepts his task with greater courage than even he realizes.

His journey of faith in himself and faith in King Eliam teaches him that to serve is to be loved and that we are "Never Alone."

Swords, knights, strange creatures, evil traitors, castles, dragons, and adventure await all who dare step through The Door Within. I recommend this book to my non-Christian friends more often than my Christian friends. Why? This book will capture their imaginations and take them for a ride, all the while, asking themselves, "Can I, like Aidan, be Never Alone!?" It's a quiet ministry that begs our hearts to find our own greater purpose.

As a Christian, I felt the book speak to me of the rocky and sometimes overwhelmingly difficult path of Christianity. We, like Aidan, have family and friends whom we want to see in Heaven, but who smile and pat our heads in the "that's cute" way. We've all faced trials that seemed impossible, yet find ourselves standing on the other side asking ourselves, "How in the world did I get through that?"

Aidan's journey is one that we can all relate to, whether Christian or not, but does an amazing job of leading us up to those big questions in life.

Until next time friends...

A-M-Y is M-I-A...

One word: bronchitis. I've been taken out of the game of life for about a week now. I'm on antibiotics, but so far, to no avail. Fever, body aches, and the cough - oh, the cough. It's deep and thick and crackling - ugh! Because of my asthma, they put me on these horse pills of antibiotics. It could be dangerous for me to develop pnemonia.

In addition to the anitbiotics and cough syrup, my doc perscribed the only drug I will absolutely refuse: Prednisone. As many of my close friends know, I was destroyed by the drug two years ago; six months of 60mg per day. That spelled mood changes, body temperature irregularity, weight gain, moon face (it seriously looked like a dinner plate), and loss of bone density. I'm still recovering from the weight gain and bone density loss, and won't head down that road again.

The good news is that I actually don't need the steroids anyway; my asthma has been in check. I've been taking really good care of myself and doing my nebulizer treatments and all that jazz. I'll do whatever it takes to avoid Prednisone.

So - if anyone is wondering where I've disappeared to or why I haven't responded - now you know. As soon as I'm on the mend, I'll be catching up with everyone.

This sickness has seriously knocked the stuffing out of me. I've dealt with some severe chronic health problems, but this thing is a monster. It's the infection that wouldn't die! If I'm not noticing improvement by Monday, I'm supposed to go see my doc. We'll see...

All prayers are welcome! Until next time - remember that as God closes one door in our path, He always opens three others, we just need to keep our eyes and hearts open and take that step of faith.

CSFF Blog Tour - Austin Boyd's The Return

With nothing left for him on Earth, Rear Admiral John Wells didn't hesitate to lead a third NASA team to Mars, but he never dreamed that one day they'd look out their laboratory module into the lights of a slow-moving vehicle not their own. In the third installment of the Mars Hill Classified series, life on Mars becomes increasingly more unpredictable as the past collides with the future, and nothing, not even the dead, is as it seems...
(back cover of The Return)

Well - unfortunately, I only just received my copy of The Return. I'm afraid that one week has not been long enough for me to finish or even get into this book. I'm going to post anyway and hopefully bring some interesting information to you all.

Be sure to check out Austin Boyd's website as well, to find out a little more about the man behind the Mars Hill Classified series, published by NavPress.

Here's an updated list of CSFF Blog Tour participants:

Trish Anderson
Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Amy Browning
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Lisa Cromwell
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Janey DeMeo
Merrie Destefano or Alien Dream
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Christopher Hopper
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Kait
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Rachel Marks
Karen McSpadden
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
Lyn Perry
Deena Peterson
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Laura Williams
Timothy Wise

I haven't updated my sidebar list yet, so this will do for now. Make sure to check out who's posting what and leave comments so they know you've come by.

Happy touring!

New Weekly Poll

Poll Question:

As a Speculative Fiction fan, what do you tend to read?

Make sure to vote and discuss this topic with us.

I, myself, tend to read a combination of both. When I discovered The Door Within Trilogy, I actually didn't know it was a Christian series. I had found it at my local library and instantly fell in love with it. After ordering all three from Amazon.com, I kept noticing parallels to the Christian life and struggles I've personally faced. The more I read, the more I was convinced that the author must be a Christian. I'd had little experience with Christian Fiction up to this point and assumed it would be blatent and preachy. The words God and Christ never appeared on the pages, but the story was all there.

Eventually, I got into contact with Wayne Thomas Batson and discovered that not only was he a Christian, he was a Christian author published by a Christian publisher. My initial suspicions were at last confirmed. This realization opened up a whole new genre for me. I had found my writing home.

I still love any good Fantasy. It may be secular, and if it's Christian - Bonus! Now though, I'm constantly exposed to excellent Christian Fantasy books and can't fit them all in to my reading schedule. It's a good problem to have.

My favorite kind of book to read, and what I hope to get published some day is a Fantasy that has an amazing story, told by a great story-teller, that has subtle suggestions of faith. The kind of book that a non-Christian would be just as likely to pick up and read as a Christian, and end up wondering where they personally fit into the grand scheme of things. It's like a ministry unto itself, without turning away the people that need to hear the message the most.

Suspense Technique #4: Frustration

Wayne Thomas Batson has posted the winner for the fourth of his Suspense Techniques Contest: Frustration. While I didn't win the prize, I'm honored to have received an Honorable Mention. Here's what he had to say about mine:

Amy: Brilliant stuff. He was trying so hard to get out of the kingdom and then to run into the boy with the mysterious past...awesome

Check it all out at Wayne's site: Enter the Door Within.

Here are my entries for Suspense Technique #4 - Frustration:

#1:


“Are you aware, Master Kalon, that you will need far more supplies than this house contains during such a long journey?”

“Yes, Bastion, I’m aware. I don’t have the option of waiting for the market to open. I must leave now. They are coming for me,” Kalon replied urgently.

Kalon quickly gathered the rest of the dried meat, a loaf of bread and filled his wineskin. Panic began to grip his insides; he knew he had very little time to spend on preparations, a fact that would make his difficult journey nearly impossible. There was no choice; he had to leave before the soldiers discovered what he’d done.

As he reached to grab his long bow, he realized that he’d used most of his arrows hunting the day before and hadn’t had time to make more. He’d have to rely on his broadsword for protection. As he strapped the sword to his waist, he simultaneously slung the bow and quiver across his back, and hastily snatched his full pack from Bastion. Rushing out the door, Kalon caught his arm on the iron hinge, a gash several inches long began to bleed freely. If he didn’t stem the flow, the soldiers’ predatory beasts would surely catch his scent far sooner than Kalon could afford. He tore a strip of cloth from his own shirt and carelessly bandaged his aching arm.

With a brief nod of his head, he bid Bastion farewell and rounded the house to the stable. His steed had been saddled and readied for the flight from danger. Finally, a bit of hope crept into Kalon’s heart. He knew once he passed the main watch tower at the end of town, he would gain distance between himself and the pursuing soldiers. He drove the horse hard and was passing the watch tower, just as a familiar form stepped into his path. Not that boy, not now! I cannot stay idle for long; his interference could cost me my lead, but I cannot leave him without a proper explanation. The boy deserves at least that much.


#2:

Selinium knew that the secrets to her parentage lay inside the sage sitting before her. The ancient man sat gazing into her pleading eyes, while his remained inscrutable. She searched his face for some sign of an impending response or greeting. It never came.

“Sir Ezreal, do you know who I am?” asked Selinium.

Ezreal silently nodded his head. She’d been searching for someone who could tell her who her parents were and the man who could tell her refused to speak. Maintaining her patient tone she spoke again.

“Sir Ezreal, do you know who my parents were?”

Yet again, her inquiry was met with nothing but a nod. The days of traveling began to weigh on Selinium; her body ached, her feet were blistered, and her head felt dizzy with hunger. Yet, she could not leave the company of the only one with the knowledge she sought. Her tactic changed in hopes of eliciting an explanatory response.

“Sir Ezreal, I beg you. I have traveled far and survived many dangers to come to you. Please, tell me of my parents, of the land they came from, or any way I can find the answers I seek. I beg you.”

The aged wise man tilted his head and looked puzzled, as though he were examining a rare species of insect. Selinium felt as though the man knew much more than she had even expected. She saw a glimmer of familiarity in his gaze. Yet the man continued to sit and stare.

Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes; her throat felt constricted. Why was he just sitting there? Why didn’t he answer? Was her entire quest for naught? Was her only hope of knowing the truth lost?

Ezreal straightened his back in a bird-like posture. “You are not ready,” he said in a tone of finality. He closed his eyes and began to meditate, clearly the conversation was over.

Well - there they are. I'll be putting up my entries for #5 soon. I welcome any feedback. Thanks.

Don't forget to check out the weekly polls.