Kingdom's Dawn - Book Review

This year, I am participating in a book challenge. (check it out here.) I set the goal for myself of reading one book a month. (since I also want to work on writing and editing my own books) Here is my review of the book I chose to read for January.

the first book in "The Kingdom Series," Kingdom's Dawn is an allegory based on several stories from the bible starting with Adam and Eve. In this book we meet Leinad, a simple farm boy living with his father and a young peasant girl named Tess whom they have taken in. Leinad enjoys sword fighting lessons with his father and living a hard, but pleasant life of farm work. However, his happy life is soon turned upside down when his father is killed and his homeland ravaged by an evil called the Vactor. With no home to return to, and wild game scarce, Leinad and Tess struggle to survive. What will they do now and where will they go? Leinad struggles with his responsibility to care for Tess and overcome the many other trials they face both together and separated. Most of all, Leinad struggles to find his purpose. Should he stand for his beliefs even if he must stand alone? And can he carry out his mission to serve a king he's never seen?


Chuck Black weaves a wonderful tale of adventure filled with biblical truths and challenges we face on a daily basis. Challenges such as sin, overcoming adversity, forgiving and showing love to those that wrong us, standing up for our beliefs, and being faithful during the hard times... just to name a few. There are plenty of characters and circumstances to relate to, plenty of lessons to challenge you, and a bounty of adventures to imagine. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this!

The one negative note I will make is this - towards the end of the book, there is a pack of small desert animals called "The Moshi Beasts," which begin to eat away at Leinad's flesh. Although Chuck Black was able to write it in a way that wasn't too gory, I would imagine that it would still be a rather graphic scene for young readers. I myself felt a little uncomfortable while reading it. (but then, I have a very active imagination)

In parting, here is a quote that really stuck out to me in reading this book.

"If you begin to rely upon yourself and become arrogant in your skill, that is the day you will fall."

Along with all the amazing things I've already mentioned, there is a very wonderful and thought provoking list of discussion questions for each chapter in the back of the book. :) *happy sigh* I love reading books that are both a pleasure to read and help me to grow in my faith!

I give this book four out of five stars and am anxious to read the next book in this series!


I hope you find this review helpful!

Blessings,
Jessica

Journey Of A Writer: Starting off

Though I've already written an entire book filled with more than 83,000 words, the task of writing that first line, first paragraph, and first chapter of a book hasn't gotten any easier. There is something so daunting about a blank piece of paper. Questions such as "Where do I begin?" and "What should I say first?" flood your mind. You mull these questions over in your head and come up with an idea. Maybe not one you particularly like, but an idea none-the-less. so you write. You type in (or handwrite) the first sentence. Then, if you are anything like me, you squint your eyes and hit the delete button. After several more similar cases, you come to a sentence that will suffice, for now, and you continue in your writing.

But what if you hit a wall and aren't satisfied with anything you've written. Or perhaps, you sit there, and you haven't written anything at all. If this is the case don't let it get you down. I've been there myself and so have many other writers. The  job of writing those first words can be overwhelming and scary. For me, I am very meticulous with my first chapter. It's the chapter that the rest of my book is based upon. It is the foundation of my story. And with that in mind, I want to make sure that I get it right.

I know that not every writer is this way. I have a writing friend who just starts and keeps writing. Her thinking is, that she can change it later. And she does. As she writes her books, she changes drastic things about the plotline and then when she is all finished, she goes back and re-writes the things that need fixing in the beginning. If you can write like that without qualms about your beginning, then consider yourself lucky. I envy you, my fellow writer. Me... I can't do that, unfortunately. I need to know where things are going for the most part. I like to plan out at least the skeleton of my story. So, if I don't have that first chapter as a good solid base, my whole story is going to tumble down like a pile of children's blocks with a weak foundation.

If you have problems with this, here are some things you can do that will help when writing that first chapter/sentence.

• First of all, don't stress about it. I know that you see that saying a lot in relation to this subject, but seriously, don't stress. When you get stressed, it leads to frustration and the blocking of creativity. Soon, you will give up for the day. So, keep calm and don't quit yet! As two writing buddies of mine remind me, "it is better to write some than none at all."

• I know people say this all the time, but write something on the paper. I mean it! If you don't have anything written, you can't make it better. When I write and rewrite a sentence, I almost look at it as a process of elimination. I have to write all the bad first sentences before I can get to the one that will spark inspiration and lead me to write the rest of my first chapter.

 

• If you have written and hit the delete button a dozen times or more, leave what you wrote and set it aside until another day. Really, it's okay to call it quits. Chances are, you'll be more creatively inspired the next time you take a stab at writing that first paragraph.

• If you do the above step, make sure you treat yourself after quitting. You aren't a failure, your just having writer's block. You'll have many more such days before your journey with this book is over. So you didn't succeed today. Fine. Eat some chocolate and move on. You can work on it again tomorrow.

I hope these tips are of some help to you!

Good Luck!
Jessica

It's {Not That} Complicated - Book giveaway!

Check out this great looking book giveaway for the book "It's {Not That} Complicated" by: Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin.


It's (Not That) Complicated by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin

Writing Goals for 2012

So my blogging was kind of sporadic in 2011 and my writing prompts were inconsistent at the least. Thanks to my readers for sticking with me through all the irregular posting.

This year, I have a few writing goals on my to-do list so I thought I'd share them with y'all.

• Finish editing my first book
• Finish writing my second book
• Read a book a month
• Blog more consistently
• complete the MOHL "His Word in our Hearts: the 1 Peter Project" memory verse challenge

I know that last one isn't writing related, but I wanted to put it in as a shout out for the biggest challenge I'll be facing this year. I, along with my sister and a brave few, will be memorizing the entire book of first peter over the course of this year. It'll be hard but I trust that God can help us to reach our goal. Care to join us? Just check out the blog button for the challenge in my sidebar!