A Message from Alison Strobel

Hey, guys. I have a message here from Alison Strobel, author of The Weight of Shadows, whose book I reviewed a little while back. She sent us this message back in July, but, because of a combination of unreliable Internet and my forgetting to check one of my inboxes, I just found it today. Anyway, this is what Alison has to say:

Hey there! I just wanted to say thanks to my fine blog hostess and to her readers. I have been really excited to see how many people are thinking of picking up the book because of the reviews they read during the blog tour. And thank you to everyone who entered the contest! I'll be drawing a winner on July 18 and posting it on my blog. If you haven't stopped by my blog or website yet, I hope you'll pop over sometime and say hi in the comments or on the guest book.


Also, if you're interested in hearing about my next releases and any other exciting news that happens to come up, please sign up to receive my announcements--the sign-up is on my website. I have another novel coming out in September, two more next year, and two children's books that my husband and I wrote (the first of which comes out August 1), so there will be plenty of news coming, and I try to host contests now and then on my blog, too.


Thanks again! And if you do decide to pick up The Weight of Shadows and give it a read, please come tell me what you thought of it. I mean it. :)

~Alison

Awful

Last night, I had the worst dream ever. Among the things one generally faces in a horrible dream (inability to escape, plans being continually thwarted, people attacking my dog), I dreamt that someone was trying to take my stories away from me. My dad had found out that if I don't write for extended periods of time, I'll start to hallucinate (this actually happens to me; I'd literally go crazy if I couldn't write), and in an effort to preserve my mental health, decided to remove from me all means of writing until I got over my insanity. Because this was a dream, and subject to dream logic, he was also taking away the stories I'd already written, gathering them up on hurridly-written, ink stained pieces of paper - and as he took them from me, the stories themselves winked out of existence; he wasn't taking the physical stories, he was taking their very being, past and present.

I should mention that my dad is a writer as well and would never do this in real life, even if it were possible - but that's not the point, as far as my relating my dream is concerned.

I just find it interesting, and further proof that I've chosen the right profession, that my worst nightmare consists largely of my not being able to write - not not being recognized for my writing or having my writing scorned and criticized, but simply having my writing taken away. It reinforces my long-held belief that my intentions, when it comes to writing are, and always have been, pure.

An Interesting Article

Some People Just Need To Be Kicked In The 'Nads

It's the 'e-book vs. real book' thing again, only some tit has gone and made a deal with Amazon to sell all of the books he represents on nothing but kindle. Naturally, this has the publishers annoyed, especially since it cuts them right out of everything to do with the money involved. It also has me annoyed, because I don't want a Kindle and I doubt I ever shall. Apart from all of the other pros and cons...magnets can't erase words printed on a page.

Still...I don't think it's the death knell for paper publishing, as the article suggests. There will always be a market for paper books, amongst those with their heads screwed on straight. I do wish they'd come up with more sustainable sources for paper, though.

Oh...and this can count as this week's discussion question >:D

Discussion Questions...?

...Should we have them?

I'm guessing yes.

This week - Song Lyrics. What makes them so damned effective? Or not, as the case may be. Got some favourites?

Come on people - lets get this site moving again. >:D

The Weight of Shadows

The Weight of Shadows

Author: Alison Strobel

Publisher: Zondervan

Publication Date: May 7, 2010

Paperback, 320 pages

ISBN: 978-0310289456


I don't generally read a lot of Christian fiction. To put that more accurately, until recently I hadn't picked up a work of Christian fiction since I was still babysitting my cousins at their house (the youngest of these cousins has just finished grade 9, the oldest, her first year of university). I don't have anything against religious fiction as a rule; it's just that I rarely have occasion to read it. With Alison Strobel's The Weight of Shadows, the occasion found me - and I'm glad that it did.

The first thing that struck me about this book was how quickly I found myself caring about the characters. Not because they're the most amazing, wonderful, likeable people in the world, but, actually, because they're not. The characters in this book are, really, just people. They struggle. They make mistakes, like everyone else, some huge and life-altering and others mundane and inconsequential, but all of them mistakes that real people would make. Throughout the book, and especially toward the end, I found myself silently cheering them on or telling them off and willing them to make what seemed so obviously to be the right choices.

By the second chapter, the importance of the author's faith to her, and the roll it plays in her writing, is evident. Regardless of my own beliefs, I found myself awed by her expressions of that faith, from the inner thoughts and feelings of her three main characters to the little (but heartfelt) prayers that they utter throughout the entire novel. Before the three seemingly insular story lines start to intersect, they're held together by these thoughts, feelings and prayers.

I can only imagine the painstaking research that must have gone into making The Weight of Shadows the book that it is. Strobel offers readers a detailed look into the life and motivations of a battered woman, the workings of a shelter and the emotions of people trying to cope with long-standing guilt.

The Weight of Shadows is an interesting study in faith, love and the interdependence of people, thoroughly researched and uniquely executed. I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it.

About the author:

Alison inherited the writing gene from her father, Lee, and grew up composing stories on everything from napkins to typewriters. Her talent earned her awards throughout school, a two page spread featuring her work in her senior yearbook, and even saved her from failing college chemistry. But it wasn't until she moved to California after college that she wrote her first full-length novel, and that's when God made Alison's oldest dream come true.

--From Alison's website, www.alisonstrobel.com



For more information about the book, the author or the tour, check out Alison's Blog.

A Quick Reminder...

Just wanted to remind everyone that Saturday is Devereaux Court's stop on the blog tour for Alison Strobel's The Weight of Shadows, and that everyone who comments on the post will be eligible to win a copy of the book.

Also, on July 18, one week after the close of the tour, the author will choose one commenter from a randomly selected blog to receive either autographed copies of her first three books or a gift card to his/her favourite bookstore.

This is a pretty sweet offer, so, let everyone you know know.

Ps, while I'm reminding you about things, another reminder that inviting other writers to join our merry gang is both allowed and encouraged.

A Double-Shameless Plug

So now I'm at the point where I'm shamelessly plugging a product which I created for the sole purpose of shamelessly plugging my book, but what can you do?

As much as it sucks, humble authors are often unknown authors, and I have to get myself resigned to the idea that in order to succeed, I may have to spend a lot of my time telling people how great I am, shamelessly plugging my own work and (and this really scares me) asking other people to plug it for me.

So, I guess the question I really need to ask myself is is it worth it? Is my writing really good enough to warrant asking other people to stand behind it? I think that it is. I don't think I'm being conceited - I really hope that I'm not - but if I didn't believe in what I was writing, what would be the point? There are plenty of other, better paying jobs that I could get if I was willing to work toward them, but my writing is a part of me, hopefully a part that does me credit.

In a round about way, that brings me to something I've been meaning to mention about our ten rules discussion. When I started writing my post, I had one rule in mind, which, due to all of the other things I came up with, I ended up forgetting about. It was this: Never apologize for your writing. Telling someone something is rough is fine, but don't say you're sorry. Never use the word just about your writing. "It's just a rough draft" takes away from its importance. It's not just anything.

I'm not saying that writers should expect other people to love everything about their writing, or that they shouldn't accept criticism with an open mind, but I think knowing that a piece is important, that it's worth the time and effort to polish it, is good for a writer's soul.

This post got really far off topic. Its original point was to plug the Aigaion Girl tote bag which is now available for purchase. It kind of got away from me - but I won't apologize for that ;)