Book Review: Escape from the Island of Aquarius

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Escape from the Island of Aquarius
The Cooper Kids Adventure Series book #2
by Frank Peretti

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s Christian adventure

Archaeologist Dr. Cooper and his kids, Jay and Lila, travel to an island in the South Pacific to find a man thought dead, after a recent letter in the man’s handwriting was found floating in the ocean, on the dead body of a man whose cause of death was not completely clear.

I liked this book a lot more than the first one. While the first one had supernatural elements that require a lot of suspension of disbelief, the things that happened in this one were a lot more believable. The danger felt more real. And it had shades of two of my favorite Peretti books, The Oath and Hangman’s Curse.

I love the way Dr. Cooper stands up to everything with his faith and trust in God. I’ve gotten to a point while reading these books that when someone tries to warn his family away because the evil spirit or god in the area is dangerous or scary, I just smile as I wait for Dr. Cooper to tell them how much greater his God is. It’s a great lesson for the kids these books are written for. While they’re not likely to face anything close to what the Cooper family faces, their trust in God really can combat any fear.

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Book Review: Prophet

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Prophet
by Frank E. Peretti
read by Cameron Beierle

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Christian suspense

News anchor John Barrett just wants to live his life in peace, without his over-zealous Christian dad causing problems. Or his estranged son making him feel guilty for how he does his job. Or his co-workers skewing the news to promote their worldviews. But all of these things come to a head when his dad dies under mysterious circumstances. With the help of a fellow reporter, his own son, and a number of other people along the way, John is determined to get to the truth.

This is a classic Peretti book that I had never read before. I was a little hesitant going into it, because as much as I love Peretti, I know that some of his theology in the past has been a bit questionable to me as I’ve gotten older. And while I’m not sure that modern prophets exist, it was still a very interesting take on what it might be like if they did. I really liked the way that the different threads came together, in true Peretti fashion, but to be honest, in the end, I’m not sure the prophet angle was necessary. 

A lot of behind-the-scenes views were shown of the news station, as well as political ads for the state’s governor who was running for re-election. I thought I might find some of that tedious, but for me, they really added to the feel of the story. I did listen to the audiobook, though, so I don’t know what it would have been like if I’d been reading (maybe no different). I also appreciated the way that John often saw real life through the lens of making the news show, because it’s his whole life and how he relates even to his own son.

Though the book was published in 1992, it was very timely to what’s going on in our world, proving that the question of truth in politics and in the media is nothing new. Some of it was a little disturbing, to be honest, because I fully believe that this kind of thing does happen in real life. I’m really glad I took the time to read this book and didn’t just pass it off as old and outdated, like I thought about doing.

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Book Review: Dad Is Fat

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Dad Is Fat
by Jim Gaffigan

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Parenting humor

Comedian Jim Gaffigan shares what he’s learned about parenting in his time so far as a dad of 5 kids, living in NYC, in a 2-bedroom apartment. There is plenty of opportunity to see the humor in that situation.

While a lot of what he deals with doesn’t really relate to me (I have 2 kids in a 3-bedroom house in rural Indiana), it’s still a fun read. It’s basically a series of essays with a range of topics from pregnancy to playdates to the sheer noise involved with having a house full of kids.

I’ve liked Jim Gaffigan’s comedy for quite a few years, and I think that seeing a lot of his stand-up helped with the enjoyment of the book. Make sure you read the Foreward with Gaffigan’s “audience member” voice in mind, for example. I wouldn’t say you have to have seen his stand-up to appreciate the book, but if you haven’t, you should just check him out anyway.

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Outcast Released!

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My second full-length novel, book #2 in a series of futuristic speculative fiction with a Christian worldview, is now available to purchase as both an e-book and a paperback! I’m so excited to see this series continue! See synopsis below and go here to buy the book.

Outcast on Goodreads

OUTCAST

Deep in the desert of Pithea lives an order of mercenaries. Assassins, thieves—they’ll do anything for a price. They are known in whispers and rumors as the Class of Morano. To this unconventional family belongs one Natos Morano, a member since birth. When a woman he’s never met kidnaps him in order to convince him to leave the order, he will be forced to choose between the only family he’s ever known and his true family that is long gone.

Remiel Azrael thinks his choice is easy when he discovers a woman in desperate need. But sometimes the noblest intentions result in the most unfavorable repercussions. And when the woman’s situation turns out to be more dangerous than he realized, Remiel comes face to face with a demon he thought he’d buried.

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NaNoWriMo Day 30

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The Words: 1187 words total for the day.

Still feeling less than stellar today, I did a lot of reading, playing, watching, and just generally nothing productive today. But I kept in the back of my mind that I needed to write, knowing that it wouldn’t take me long to finish the draft. I finally got to it at around 9:30 pm and took about 20 minutes to write the final scene. And I broke 75k words, which amazingly enough was my estimate of word count for this draft!

The Story: The final scene jumped ahead several years from the rest of the story. Part of me wonders if the scene is worth including in this book, but I like how it provides this mystery for the reader, since it shows the villain in a completely unknown place. It’s a teaser for a future story arc, but I’ll still have to decide whether to keep it or not.

FINAL word count: 75,082

Enjoy today’s NaNoToon from this day in 2009!
The final episode of the NaNoMusical is perfect for the final day of NaNo. Be sure to watch the wrap-up!

NaNoWriMo Day 29

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The Words: 1278 words total for the day.

We kept the writing time short today, just a couple of sprints, partly because I’m close to the end of the book, and partly because our whole family just feels crummy right now. At least I was healthy most of the month, which allowed for another great NaNo!

The Story: I got a little too…technical, and also very dark, with the explanation about what the villain gets up to in this book. I really didn’t like it, and probably won’t use any of it. I’m not sure, then, if the best thing to do is to continue to be vague about what she’s doing, or if there’s a way I can just make it sound better. And less dark, because I don’t want to suddenly go down that rabbit hole when the rest of this series is, at least generally, not quite so dark.

I have one scene left, and frankly, I can’t see how it will be very long. Tomorrow will probably be a very short last day of NaNo, unless I’m feeling much better and feel like rewriting some of the scenes from the beginning (an idea I held in reserve in case the draft came up too short and I needed more to write about to finish out the month), because I realized after I wrote them that they were from the wrong character’s POV. But we’ll see what happens tomorrow.

Total word count: 73,895

Enjoy today’s NaNoToon from this day in 2010!

NaNoWriMo Day 28

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The Words: 2023 words total for the day.

I had to spend some time today doing last-minute changes and formatting work on Outcast, because it’s release date is Tuesday. So my daughter went on writing without me and reached her YWP goal of 20,000 words! But she still did a couple of sprints with me later, which gave me my words for the day.

The Story: Today was a meeting between this book’s villain and a future book’s villain, which was interesting. Though I think the conversation was a bit too calm and civil. Not that it can’t be calm, it just didn’t seem in-character for the current book’s villain, so I’ll have to work on that in editing.

I stopped writing when I moved onto a new scene, because I only have 2 scenes left in the draft. Neither of them do I anticipate to be any longer than 2500 words, so it seems that the best way to reach the end of the draft right at the end of the month is to write one of those scenes tomorrow and one on Monday.

Total word count: 72,617

Enjoy today’s NaNoToon from this day in 2010!

New Mailing List

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In advance of my new book releasing in a few days, I’m doing something I’ve been putting off for long time: starting a newsletter. Most news I do share here on this blog as well, but I know how bad I am at checking blogs that I follow regularly, so I’d imagine others are too. There will also be some extra tidbits now and then that are only in the newsletter. At most, these emails will be monthly. At the least…is there a term for every 6 months? As I think of it? Really, though, if you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any big news or announcements I have to share, enter your email address below and join my mailing list:

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NaNoWriMo Day 27

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The Words: 2433 words total for the day.

My whole family (that currently reside in the house) was ready for a day of laziness today, and I almost didn’t want to write. But that was all the more reason to insist that I get some words in. I shared with my 10-year-old daughter, who’s done much of this year’s NaNo alongside me, that days like this I like to do a stretch of writing, then take a break for something more lazy like reading or watching a show, then do another stretch of writing. So we did that, and a couple of sessions of writing produced a daily count I was happy with.

The Story: I’m quite pleased with how I powered through the section that I was concerned about slowing me down. Not that I love what I wrote, but that I got through it quickly and moved on to something a little less difficult to write. A major villain of the series is setting herself up in the position that allows her to wreak major havoc on the rest of the country. The scene coming next should be a lot easier to write, and then there are only 2 more planned scenes until the end of the draft!

Total word count: 70,594

Enjoy today’s NaNoToon from this day in 2010!

Book Review: The Cat Who Turned On and Off

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The Cat Who Turned On and Off
Book #3
by Lilian Jackson Braun

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

TCW 1-3

Former crime reporter Jim Qwilleran takes on a new challenge–writing something worthy of a cash reward about the much-disdained part of town known as Junktown. When he begins to sniff around the haven for antique dealers, a mystery is already afoot. A beloved dealer has recently fallen and died, but Qwilleran quickly begins to suspect foul play.

This is my favorite so far, finding the trio of Qwill, Koko, and Yum Yum really beginning to feel like a family. The characters are a lot more engaging, the mystery is interesting and a little easier to follow and potentially solve by the reader, and the interactions between man and cats are cute and whimsical.

I felt like Braun really hit her stride with this story (and then stopped writing for 20 years), as Qwill seemed less grumpy and more open to new things. I loved his misunderstanding about Junktown near the beginning of the book. I really appreciated what Yum Yum added to the investigation, considering that she always seems to take a backseat to Koko when it comes to laurels. And there was a character introduced in this book that I’m pretty sure is going to be around later, because her name is very familiar. Other than some of Qwill’s fellow newsmen, no characters have recurred yet, so that’ll be interesting to see in the future.

Overall, this was a nice, quick read, and the best of the first 3 in the series. I would recommend this book for fans of the classic whodunit & cozy mystery genres.

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