Fiction – Page 8

Top Ten Reasons I Love my eReader

December 20, 2011 by Carey Jane Clark

With Christmas just around the corner and an eReader on many Christmas lists, I’m joining the blog hop over at The Broke and the Bookish for Top Ten Tuesday to list the top ten reasons I love my eReader. I am a traditionalist in many ways. Probably, if it weren’t for our move to China, I would be less ready to jump on the eReader bandwagon. But now that I have, I see so many advantages to my eReader.

Although I’m an incredibly visceral person–I love the feel and smell of a book–once I’m lost in the story, it frankly doesn’t matter how I’m reading it. The words carry me away and I don’t notice the package the story is in, just the story itself. So here are the Top Ten reasons I love my eReader.

Space Conservation – The main reason we purchased our first eReader was so that we could pare down on what we’re shipping to China when we head back. I chose books for our curriculum that we could download via audiobook or find in ebook format. I even purchased a lot of homeschool curriculum in PDF format.
Convenience – The core of our curriculum this year is the Story of the World. I purchased the PDF version and moved it to my eReader. Now, when I do a lesson, we read the story, I print out any relevant activity sheets, but read comprehension questions and other instructions straight from the eReader.
Intimacy – I would have purchased things in PDF form anyway, and possibly ebook format as well, but I would have been forced to read them from our computer. Now, with our eReader, I still have the feeling of sitting down on the sofa with my children gathered around to read a book.
Cost-effectiveness – Admittedly, there is the initial outlay of funds on the eReader, but now that we’ve purchased two of them, there is a tremendous savings. Aside from the savings of purchasing curriculum in PDF form (which tends to be cheaper than paper-and-print versions), we can now purchase one copy of a book and have two children reading it at a time. Pumpkin and Sweetpea are both reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, each on a different eReader. We paid for the book once.
Novelty – This may wear off, but right now the idea of the eReader is making reading more attractive to my kids. And now that I’ve signed with Trestle Press, I’m realizing there is a world of story out there that doesn’t even exist in print! After my kids finish the Narnia series, I plan to have them read Mark Miller’s Emypirical Tales.
Ability to organize books for my kids – I’m able to set up shelves, one for each child. Even when they share a book, they can each have it on their own “shelf,” easy to find, and with their own individual bookmarks, so they never lose their place. In fact, even if they forget to mark their place, the eReader will open up to the place they left off. Wonderfully convenient, particularly if you’re prone to falling asleep while reading!
Adjustable print size – Occasionally, when I’m tired, I have difficulty reading smaller print. I can change the print size in a couple of strokes and make things easier to read.
Easy to read in bed – This might be minor to some, but when I’m reading a paper-and-print book in bed, I’m constantly moving around in the bed. If I’m reading on the right hand page, I lie on my left and vice versa. With an ebook, the page is always facing you, easy to read.
I like the e-ink. It really is easy on the eyes and makes reading so much easier to do compared to reading on an LED device.
Ease of finding new materials to read – The shop online feature on my eReader is wonderful. I just finished part two in a trilogy. I can switch over to the store and purchase part three and begin reading right away. (Granted, this feature can challenge the self-control of a bibliophile.)

If you’ve been considering an eReader for Christmas, but don’t know what to buy, here are some useful links:

Top ten ebook readers of 2012
How to choose the right eReader for your needs (considerations of storage, display preferences and connectivity, etc.)
the eReader Configurator – answer questions about your eReader needs and receive recommendations about which one to buy

Don’t forget today’s stop on the Virtual Book Tour. Rebecca of Mom’s Mustard Seeds writes a glowing and touching review of After the Snow Falls:

Guest Post at My Only Vice

December 17, 2011 by Carey Jane Clark

I want to thank Julie for the opportunity to be a guest at My Only Vice. I’m honored. Julie asked me what my inspiration for After the Snow Falls was–basically why I would choose such a difficult topic to write about, and whether there was a personal connection to the events of the story. (For a synopsis of the story, see the review yesterday.)

I don’t think I set out to write about a difficult topic. My desire was to write something meaningful. I think it’s just as possible to write something meaningful in a quirky, light hearted way. I really enjoy authors who are able to do that–to entertain you and keep you laughing and then turn around and make you take a look at yourself in the mirror.

A Christmas Journey Home: A Review

December 16, 2011 by Carey Jane Clark

What would Christmas be without stories? Of course, there is The Story, which we always keep at the center, but some stories around this season help us to do that. A Christmas Journey Home is one such story.

Kathi, who has just been named Author of the Year by BooksAndAuthors.net, is a prolific writer not afraid to take on difficult topics. She doesn’t shrink away from her mission just because it’s Christmas. In fact, what better time to speak up for justice? In A Christmas Journey Home, Kathi handles the tough issue of human trafficking with tenderness and compassion.

She takes the issue from an impersonal headline to a very personal collision between the worlds of two women: Miriam, an embittered widow whose husband was murdered by Mexican drug smugglers, and Isabella, a pregnant Mexican newlywed, struggling to put her faith in El Senor while she journeys across the US border, led by an unscrupulous “coyote.”

Pregnant Isabella and her husband Francisco flee Mexico after the brutal slaying of Isabella’s entire family at the hands of los malos, the bad ones, who have sacrificed the safety of Isabella’s once idyllic community for the sake of the drug trade. But the situation they find themselves in once they are “safely” across the border isn’t much better, as they learn their caretakers are involved in human trafficking. They eventually escape, but Franscisco is killed, leaving Isabella a widow with a baby soon to be born.

Living on a ranch along the Arizona Border, Miriam has developed a hatred for all immigrants after her border patrol husband is killed in a skirmish with drug smugglers. She is bitter and angry at God.

When these two widows’ lives collide, grace steps in.

A Christmas Journey home is a wonderful read. I especially enjoyed the way the author wove in difficult questions, such as Isabella’s grandfather’s struggle of conscience over whether he was right, after praying about it, to encourage his granddaughter to escape to find a better life. He wonders: “Was it wrong to try to save a life when doing so involved breaking the law?”

Her grandfather also has a deep relationship with his God, and through that relationship, some other gems in the story emerge. Such as his musing that he “was well acquainted with the faithfulness of God, but he also knew that the road to fulfillment of His purposes was nearly always costly to those who traveled there.”

The portrayal of his faith is beautiful. Don Alfredo is in constant fellowship with God. At one point, he is preparing for bed:

“‘I am weary, Senor,’ he whispered a he climbed into the familiar bed that had seen so many nights and heard so many prayers. ‘And I am yearning to see Your face.’

And I, yours, came the response.”

I found the story suspenseful, and the characters easy to care about, particularly Isabella. I really wanted to know that she was going to be all right. In a busy week, when I couldn’t read in long sittings, I found myself wondering what her fate would be. The ending was satisfying, and the epilogue was the most beautiful portion of the book, in my opinion.

From the author’s webpage:

Kathi Macias is a popular speaker for women’s retreats and conferences. She has won numerous awards for her prolific and outstanding writing, which includes both fiction and nonfiction. Red Ink, part of her 4-book “Extreme Devotion” series, won 2011 Golden Scroll Book Awards Novel of the Year and was named a finalist for a Carol Award.

Her latest series from New Hope Publishers is the “Freedom” series on human trafficking.

Note from me: Don’t forget to check out the puzzle challenge at The Borrowed Book today for a chance to win a FREE Kindle or Nook copy of After the Snow Falls. A second giveaway is going on over at My Only Vice If you’re a winner, stop back here and let me know what you thought about it. Have a wonderful Friday!

Author Karen Anna Vogel

December 9, 2011 by Carey Jane Clark

I have a passion for fiction. I decided it was time to do something about that here on my blog. So starting today, most Fridays I’ll host Fiction Fix Friday. I plan to review fiction and host guest posts and today I’m interviewing fellow Trestle Press author, Karen Anna Vogel, author of Knit Together: An Amish Close Knit Novel and the best-selling Amish Knitting Circle fiction series.

Karen writes about the Amish from a unique perspective, as a trusted “English” friend.

CC: How did your friendship with the Amish begin?

KV: My family moved to Upstate NY where there’s a large population of Amish settlements, and so we became acquaintances with many, but good friends with one family in particular, Harry Hershberger, (Eli Hershberger in Knit Together: An Amish Close Knit Novel.) He was in a wheelchair running a variety shop when I met him. His buggy was hit while trying to help put out a fire as a young man, after the birth of his daughter. When we met he was middle-aged and enjoyed my four kids coming in the store to buy coloring books and crayons.

Harry and his wife, Katie, were the most inspirational people I’ve ever met. Harry believed God allowed him to be a paraplegic for his glory, to meet many people in his store the Amish built for him so he’d have employment. He wanted to just shine the light of Christ on everyone. He was the first one who called me a trusted English friend, which carries a lot of weight in the Amish community. Now I live back in Western PA, and the Amish here know Harry and Katie from circle letters, and they immediately trusted me too. I found that amazing.

CC: What is it you most admire about the your Amish friends?

KV: When they give their word, they keep it. The Amish built our barn and addition, and I’ll never forget when Noah, a newlywed, showed up to work a little forlorn. I asked him what was wrong, and he said his wife wasn’t too happy with him. When I asked him what he did wrong, he said he got his calendar mixed up and couldn’t go with her to a wedding that day. I told him he should have called (from the phone shanty) to cancel with us, but he said he gave us his word. This blew me away!

But they’re so much fun too, and that’s what many people don’t understand. They’re not staunch, stoic people. When the men replaced our roof, all five of them sang most the day in harmony, talking and laughing. Some brought a “joke of the day” and I’d have one ready for them.

CC: In a recent blog post, you talked about simplifying life to live more like the Amish. When you consider that, what’s one thing you think you couldn’t live without?

KV: I couldn’t give up the internet or my Kindle. But, never say never, right?

CC: If you could sum up the message of Knit Together in a sentence, what would that be?

KV: You don’t have to be Amish to live a simple life, but we have a lot to learn from them.

CC: Your books are doing very well. How did that happen? What’s your secret of success?

KV: Well, I can only go by what readers are saying, and it’s that they’re learning a lot about Amish culture. They also see issues in the Amish community that surprise them; alcoholism, marital problems, poor body image among women, adoption within the community…maybe issues that aren’t normally talked about.

CC: Tell me about the serial stories. How did that get started and what do you like most about them?

KV: Well, Trestle Press asked Suzanne Woods Fisher to write the series’ and she referred them to me. I like writing a serial since they’ve made a comeback; 80% of Americans are too busy to read a novel, so short stories are popular.

I also get instant feedback from readers and it helps me see what is touching my audience. Serial books have become classics because of audience response. The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, Anne of Green Gables ~ Lucy Maud Montgomery and The Mitford Years ~ Jan Karon are some examples.

CC: What’s next?

KV: I’m writing a novel set in Upstate New York where I used to live. It was such an interesting place to live, being near Amish and also Native Americans who owned some of the surrounding land. I love learning about other cultures and hope readers will too. That book will also deal with kidney transplants. I started writing it last winter when my sister-in-law was on the transplant list and things looked bleak. It was great therapy. Suzanne is Amish in the book, waiting for a kidney and goes to Pittsburgh for surgery. Since the Amish use modern medicine, it fit into the story. And in real life, my sister-in-law got a transplant and is doing very well, and we’re so thankful.

Thank you for having me on your blog, Carey. So glad we met at the “Write His Answer Conference” in Philly!

Thank you, Karen, for visiting here in the first edition of Friday Fiction Fix!

Karen Anna Vogel blogs at Amish Crossings. You can also join her author page on Facebook.

Also, don’t forget to check out the Virtual Book Tour starting Monday, December 12 for After the Snow Falls.

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