Awesome Kids! Awesome God!

The youth of Woodforest Presbyterian Church led the worship service last Sunday. That's right. The kids led the service and it was fantastic, from the Call to Worship to the Benediction and everything in between.

Many in the congregation congratulated the kids, and "good job" was heard often as people left the sanctuary. I know the kids did a good job, but what's more, it was also a great learning experience. The youth led service provided the kids an opportunity to better understand the order of worship, self-confidence in speaking in front of a crowd, and a better understanding of the work and preparation that goes into a service.

Here's one of the songs that the kids picked out and that the congregation sang! They are awesome kids that praise an awesome God!

Lost Subscribers - Feedburner to Google/Feedburner Transition

Due to Google's acquisition of Feedburner, I recently had to change my RSS feed to the new merged site. I'm not technical and am not sure the why, but suffice it to say it was a required move. In the switch, it appears I lost subscribed readers. My apologies if you were dropped in the switch. Please feel free to re-subscribe if you want to be sure to continue receiving these posts. And as always, your comments are welcome.

Insomnia

Last night, I tossed and turned fitfully before succumbing to insomnia. Even though the rain typically produces a lulling melody that makes sleep come easy, I was too excited and in a state of agitation and worry. Finally, I got up and headed for the word processor.

First, the excitement. Recently Dorlana Vann of Humble Fiction Café gave an informative presentation on pacing and tension, and I am delighted to be reading a book that vividly reflects those teachings. More on the book in a review once it's finished.

Through Dorlana's lesson, I realized how important constant tension is to the overall enjoyment of a book. The writer not only has to make the reader care about the character and what happens to him or her, but be concerned about what happens next. When the character has overcome one challenge, the next adversity must already be set up. The presentation was very insightful.

As far as the agitation and worry, I love to blog, but of recent, my blog postings have fallen off in frequency. Partly due to my incredibly busy life, but I also wonder where to go with the blog. I feel like it's time to notch it up a bit, take it to the next level, but how and what is that?

And if it isn't enough that I've let my blogging posts fall off, I have been equally remiss in setting aside sufficient writing time for my novel. Oh, I'm working on it. Slowly. I complain about not having the time to work on the novel, yet I realize we all have the same amount of time – 24 hours each day. What we do with that time is what counts. My fault is in not making writing a higher priority.

In a nutshell, my worries stem around writing and the goals I've set for myself for this year.

I may or may not do a facelift on the blog. It hasn't been so long ago that I gave the blog a new look, but I am thinking about exploring a three-column layout. The reason is so that I can post my 2009 writing goals in plain view as a continual reminder of the things I hope to accomplish this year, and for my readers to hold me accountable. I want people to ask how the novel is progressing and keep me to task.

How are you doing with your goals for this year?
Do you think it is helpful to have your goals in front of you on a constant basis?
Is it helpful for others to know your goals?

Book Review - Remember Me by Trezza Azzopardi

Remember Me by Trezza Azzopardi

rating: 1 of 5 stars

Warning: Contains Spoilers

Remember Me by Trezza Azzopardi was a struggle, at best, to read. Several times I almost put the book away thinking why bother, but somehow I managed to get through. It was not worth the effort to me.

The book is about the life of an older woman who is half-loony. It starts with her living the streets and getting her small amount of belongings stolen by a girl. The story then recounts the woman’s childhood, and how everyone that had ever meant anything to her left or abandoned her at some point. She isn’t quite right in the head throughout. In the end, we learn that this crazy lady stole a baby for a day during her lifetime, and shaved the baby’s head. That baby grows into the girl who steals the woman’s possessions. They meet, discuss why it all happened, and then the loony-lady burns everything she owns in an abandoned building with her in it.

That's the gist in a nutshell. It's a difficult story to follow, not to mention the lack of quotations and strange formatting, as well as shifts in time and place. I would not recommend this book.

View all my reviews.

Book Review - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

rating: 4 of 5 stars

Following the Prologue, Chapter One starts, “I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other.”

In Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen paints a picture of depression-era life in a second-rate circus from the memories of a now old man. The story contains danger, romance, circus history (with some great photo’s), and even murder. But best of all, Sara has done an outstanding job in capturing the feelings and realities of aging through the ninety or ninety-three year old Jacob Jankowski, who resides in a nursing home and receives family visitors on Sundays. A truly enjoyable read.

View all my reviews.

The Letter that Prompted the Story

Several readers have asked me about the initial letter I had received that prompted my story, The Story of Chris A. Venger. I had a particularly difficult time coming up with a story, and although the story has a dark thread (Chris steals Laura's story after inflicting her with the BD disease), it also has a silly element (for one, Chris is a complete klutz).

Here is the letter that prompted the story.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Feel free to use the letter as inspiration for your own story, and if you do, please post a link to your story in the comments section.

The Story of Chris A. Venger – A Short Story

In a previous post here and here, I mentioned a letter-writing project of my writers' group, Humble Fiction Cafe. Belatedly, but no less happily, I bid you my story created in result of this project. It is entitled, The Story of Chris A. Venger, and I hope you enjoy.

Please don't be shy. I welcome your feedback, good and bad, in the comments. It is through constructive critique that I learn more about the craft of writing and I am able to hone my skills.

The Story of Chris A. Venger
by Sheryl Tuttle

Chris A. Venger picked up his electro-active diffractive eyeglasses. They had fallen out of his breast pocket, again, but upon inspection appeared undamaged. He put them on his face, and the laboratory instantly came into focus, all 800 square feet of shiny steel surfaces, stark white walls, sterile benches and shelving with scientific apparatus and pharmaceutical experiments at various stages. The place Chris felt most at home.

Searching for his eLabBook, Chris knocked a beaker off a bench and pungent fumes circled upward off the floor where the liquid landed. "Oh dear," he said to no one in particular as he turned to get the chemical spill kit and RoboChem. His pant leg caught on the lab bench chair, tripping Chris and setting the chair in a twirling spin that launched various lab reports into the air like paper airplanes.

Just then, his Ubik mobile device buzzed. With his pant leg still caught on the chair, Chris wobbled over to the desk, dragging the chair along. He bumped his funny bone on the edge of the desk as he reached for the device and flipped it open.

"Augh," he said, rubbing his elbow. "Hello, Chris here."

Click here to read the full story

Holiday Memories 2008

Special memories!