I am in the dining area trying to fill the emptiness in my stomach with all the great foods placed before me. Soups and chicken in orange sauce, breads that melt in your mouth, desserts you cant say no to….
I look across the table at Peeta and then to my right where Katniss sits, both of them eating their fill. Peeta’s love for Katniss seems to reflect off of him. It is so transparent. Katniss I cant read. She is so closed off.
The ache in the pit of my stomach draws me back and I take in the entire room and feel the shiver go up my spine. I am back in The Hunger Games.
If you follow this blog you are probably aware of my recent gushing review of Jantsen’s Gift by Pam Cope. The book left me at times with laughter, other times with tears. Once I finished the book, I decided to try to email Pam Cope to see if she would be willing to answer a few questions for an interview that she could email me back the answers and I could post here. Instead, she emailed me back and asked if she could call me and we could talk about the book on the phone.
Uhhh….. YEAH!
So we set up a day and time last week when she was going to give me a call and she did. We had a fantastic conversation and chatted like old friends for about an hour! I think she interviewed me as much as I did her! She kept asking about the work we have done in Honduras… and we even discussed my book club which by the picture on my sidebar here she had determined had to be quite the group! I agreed, they are! 🙂
So with no further babbling and gushing by me…. please enjoy the following conversation I had with author, Pam Cope.
Pam, I am so excited that you have taken the time out of your busy schedule to chat here with me. As you share in the book, this is about a total change of lifestyle for you. Share with me a bit what creating the book, Jantsen’s Gift was like.
Pam: Aimee was a great help with the book, she took so much of it having written other books before. I really learned a lot from her. On some of your travels Aimee and I were not together so we just kept journals of all that we were doing and seeing. At one point I had seven journals that I turned over to Aimee… unedited logs that she was able to pick through.
Has this book been everything you had hoped it would be?
Pam: It is hard being a first time author. You really work hard to get your name out there. I am so thankful tot he bloggers who have reviewed my book and talked about it. These promotions have been so helpful! It is fun to see the reviews coming through on sites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. It takes a lot of time, but this is what I do to get the word out.
What was the last trip you were on?
Pam: All of us went to Ghana, west Africa in August. This to us is family time. We have a family camp sort of setting. We go to see an orphanage we have partnered with there. This orphanage has 21 kids that have been taken off of the lake. I will be going in back in January and March of 2010.
Pam, that is so amazing. When I think about all those kids. Well, you and I have already talked about this… I tear up. It rips me up inside to think about those kids. In your book, I keep going back to when you describe the boy you had to leave behind on the lake. That one statement haunts me. I know he is one of many. What is that like Pam, saying yes to one, but leaving another?
Pam: It is so hard. You have to remind yourself that you can only save so many. You keep moving forward. You keep being positive and doing what you can. There are 7,000 kids on the lake right now.
How are the two children you did adopt, Van and Tatum?
Pam: They are wonderful. They have adjusted well. We have had Van since he was 16 months old and Tatum since she was 2 1/2. They are both in fifth grade right now. They are so much fun to be around.
If there another book in the planning?
Pam: We have talked about it. Right now it is just a vision but I feel there is another book. I am thinking it may be a book about people who are empowered to live out their dreams – like advocates for something, people who get to do what they really love to do. I think it would be short stories about these people. Something to the effect of what is that moment when we are launched into our passion… that dream that causes you to dig deeper.
Pam that sounds amazing! Please keep me informed about that vision! Before I close here I was wondering if there is anything you want to say about the Touch A Life Foundation.
Pam: Of course! We are currently very excited about a building project. There are so many needs always. I hope everyone will take a moment to check out the Touch a Life Foundation website. Every donation, helps a child.
Johannes, who was rescued off Lake Volta by Touch A Life in August 2009.
Pam thank you so much for talking with me and sharing more about your book Jantsen’s Gift and what you do to help children in extreme impoverish conditions. Your book really spoke to me and I believe it will do the same for others as well.
I love this idea that Bibliophile By The Sea is hosting and I think it will fit nicely into the other challenges I have signed up for 2010. Yes, you can combine challenges – meaning that if you are signed up for a Suspense Mystery Challenge for 2010 and 5 of those books are off your personal book shelves, those books can be used for both challenges. I have shelves full of books i have purchased and found at Library sales. Books that are wonderful, but sit waiting patiently on me. This will intentionally give me purpose to pull some of these treasures off the shelf throughout the year.
Here is the info:
So with 2010 just around the corner, we are encouraged to lesson the weight on our bookshelves, by reading books from our shelves, and then passing the books on to someone else: a friend, relative, the library, used book store, swap them, just as long as the book leaves our homes once it has been read.
My personal goal is going to be the minimum of 20. I will try to read the book and set it free if I can…. I really hang on to a lot of my books, especially the ones I love.
Does this sound like something you’d like to do as well? If so, head over to Bibliophile By The Sea and get the instructions to sign up from there! 🙂
This is the weekly meme hosted by J Kayes Blog. I love this because it gives me a chance to walk to the shelves and choose what is up for this week. I am more successful than not when I plan my reading this way. 🙂 So here is what is on my reading plan for this week:
Yes! I am currently reading Catching Fire and will be done very soon with it. After finishing Hunger Games over the weekend there really was no choice, I had to pick this one up next.
Loss Of Carrier is on tour this week and I am almost done with this one as well.
Tirissa and The Necklace of Nulidor is on tour for tomorrow. This one I have completed.
Thanksgiving at The Inn in is my Thursday read. I figured this was the perfect week to be reading this book!
Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day is hopefully going to be on the Thanksgiving menu here at the DeChantal’s. I want to review it and bake out of it for Thursday.
Welcome! For the next couple of days I will be partaking in this wonderful ball being held by Mr. Darcey himself! Why it makes me blush just to think about it! This is an open invitation if you would care to join me. The invite did say I could bring along a few acquaintances and of course I thought of you.
I am so pleased with the gown I was able to just finish the lace on this afternoon. I certainly hope their will be lots of dancing as I have my dance card ready to go!
When Brad Sievers runs into his old friend Jessie Van Dyke at his high school reunion, little does he know how much it will change his life. When his high-powered advertising career fizzles, he falls into a most unlikely career opportunity — becoming a member of Jessie’s search-and-rescue team. Nothing in his life has prepared Brad for this, but he finds it more fulfilling than a dozen advertising campaigns.
Through dangerous rescues and personal trials, Brad and Jessie become close friends. They share in the birth of her first colt from her rescued horse; Jessie helps Brad when one of his first rescues doesn’t make it. When one of their rescue victims turns out to be a fellow soldier from Jessie’s Iraq War days, Brad almost loses her to old demons. But when Brad is severely injured in a training accident, Jessie nurses him back to health as only she can. And when she goes missing one night, Brad realizes just how important she has become to him.
Both Brad and Jessie must fight their own defenses to finally let down the walls that will allow them to rescue each other. This is a story about breath-taking action and adventurous lives, and the heart that is behind it all.
An Author Chat with Author Tracey Cramer-Kelly
Tracey, What books have been an influence in your life?
There are so many that I can’t list specific ones. I like books with complex, more adult characters (Nicolas Sparks comes to mind); I am particularly fascinated by how a male character may change/be changed by events/situations (a major theme in Last Chance Rescue as well). I like unusual settings, but not to the point of unbelievability (which is why I did ride-alongs with a medevac team before I finished writing Last Chance Rescue). My ‘pet peeve’ is a book with too much ‘headhopping’ (constantly changing points of view).
What do you do when you are not writing?
I am wife and mother to two young children (2 and 6) and I enjoy spending time with them, especially outdoors. I ride my motorcycle as often as possible! I just started taking lessons for my fixed-wing pilot license (an ‘add-on’ to my helicopter license). I play the taiko drums every Saturday morning and sing with my friend’s band when I can. When I can get away, I enjoy skiing (all kinds) and white-water rafting/kayaking.
How did you come up with this topic for your book?
My writing is heavily influenced by the time I spent in the military and by the medical training I received there. And when I became a helicopter pilot, it opened new relationships with some amazing people—and Last Chance Rescue really came together after I did some ride-alongs with medevac and search-and-rescue.
Last Chance Rescue (a finalist in the 2009 Indie Awards) is about two people who must fight their own defenses to finally let down the walls that will allow them to rescue each other. It is a story about breath-taking search-and-rescue action and adventurous lives—and the heart that is behind it all.
If you could wish for anything, what would it be?
I’m pretty satisfied with where I am in life. But in terms of my writing … what the heck, if you’re going to dream, why not dream big? I would like my next novel to be picked up by an agent and publisher and become ridiculously popular—to the point there’s a bidding war for the movie rights (to BOTH novels) and I finally get to produce a musical (in which I would do the singing). 🙂
LOL Tracey. That is an awesome response! Thanks for visiting with us today!
Tracey will be giving away an autographed copy of her book “Last Chance Rescue” to one randomly drawn commenter from the tour and an autographed copy of her book to the tour host with the most comments, excluding duplicates or Tracey’s responses.
This is my weekly meme of the great word verification we that make comments on blogs have the annoyance pleasure of typing again and again….
I know it is a necessity… I get that. You leave a comment, chances are you going to be word verified. Yet being a comment junkie… it slows me down. So to make this a bit more enjoyable… I came up with a plan.
I love word games (not as much as commenting). To entertain myself and maybe some of you… I decided to share with you a little thing I do while I type in the verification. I play Balderdash in my head. Yup. As I am typing in the word, I think if it was a real word… what would it mean. Some come easy. Others…. I really have to stretch the imagination.
The definition of Balderdash: An oft used strategy to elect your own fake definition in an attempt to give it credibility in the minds of your fellow players. …
Berbarch: The latest in Berber products! The powers that be at the world of All Things Berber Carpeting Co. LLC, are excited to open their newest division in Berber wear…. Outdoor furnishings. No longer is berber just to be enjoyed inside your home. To kick off this line they present the Berbarch… that’s right folks…. a gorgeous archway for your back yard covered entirely in berber. Wont you be the envy of your neighborhood! (Order now and you will receive a set of free Ginsu Knives to cut loose the cat when she is caught in the berber archway. 😉
ok…. ok…. if that definition is too far fetched… here is an optional one…
Berbarch: The Berbers of Africa date back 4,000 years. (Google it – this much is true!) The Berbarch is the well known expression that a Berber would give to another berber when they believed they caught the other in a lie. While the berbers are a gentle people and accusing is against their very nature… a well lifted brow, in an arch, so to speak, was enough to let the others in the Berber Tribe know that they were calling you out on your elaborate story. Sadly, the berbarch often led to the berbfist.
Ishsushi: Yup. Self explanatory. Ish. Sushi. 😉
Burgbut: What happens to one who eats way too many fast food burgers. 😉
So I invite all of you to take a closer look at those annoying… err….. wonderful word verifications. Do they sound like they could mean something? If you used them in a sentence could you fool people into thinking they are real words? If you share in this love of words and word games, please let me know here – and if you make a post feel free to grad the Balderdash meme and let me know so I can link others here to yours!
Remember – have fun!
Here are other Word Verification Balderdash Players:
Thanks to J Kaye’s Book Blog, I have a bit of organization each week when I report in to what I have read and what I plan to read. This is loads of fun and fun to see what everyone else is reading as well! Feel free to write your own post about what you are reading and be sure to link it to J Kayes Blog linky so others can peek in on your books as well! 🙂
I feel like I am on a treadmill….. going going going ….. nowhere. 🙂 I have quite a few reviews ready to go from the books I read while in Honduras but am trying to stagger them out to one or no more than two, book reviews a day on the blog so each can get wonderful coverage.
(The last three were all read in Honduras and on the plane the previous week and reviewed this week)
For this week I have three and one audio:
The Secret of Joy by Melissa Senate – I am finishing it up tonight for the tour tomorrow!
Behold The Dawn by K.M. Weiland – yes! Our very own blogger and twitter friend K.M…. I want tot start this one in the next couple of days!
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – uh huh… I am that girl… so late on reading this book and purchased it this past weekend. I plan to be into this one over the weekend
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold is in my cd player and what I am listening to when I relax in the evenings and blog surf.
So… I am reading. No doubt about that. I am organizing my book shelves currently as in today and have many reviews to still write so never a dull moment around here.
Laurel from Snowy Obsessions passed this my way and here is what I am suppose to do:
The rules of this one is to list ten honest things about me and then pass the award on to ten other book bloggers.
1. I have been a reader since I was 4. There were seasons of my life where I read less, but I always came back to books.
2. I have a soft spot in my heart for suffering animals and hurting children….
3. I have wanted to be a writer since as long as I can remember. This wish is still unfullfilled.
4. I love smartly done commercials. I watch the super bowl…. to see the commercials. 😉
5. Some day I would like to do a long term mission in Honduras – like 5 months over the Minnesota winter.
6. When I first started blogging on my original blog, Straight On Through in July 2007, it took me several months before I would allow it to be a public blog as I was afraid to have my words out there in the world for all to read.
7. My book club the Bookies will have its 100th meeting in December of this year. I cant believe we have been going strong since August of 2001.
8. I am not a patient person.
9. I love being with people but I overdose on them and have to be alone to recharge.
10. I own all 7 seasons of the Gilmore Girls and have watched them in their entirety at least 4 times.
HI everyone! With my recent trip and life stuff I am a bit behind on this post. I want to thank everyone who participated in last months Word Shaker book discussion of The Help by Katherine Stockett. I had a lot of fun with that book and it was great to discuss it with all of you!
Martha Carrier was one of the first women to be accused, tried and hanged as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts. Like her mother, young Sarah Carrier is bright and willful, openly challenging the small, brutal world in which they live. Often at odds with one another, mother and daughter are forced to stand together against the escalating hysteria of the trials and the superstitious tyranny that led to the torture and imprisonment of more than 200 people accused of witchcraft. This is the story of Martha’s courageous defiance and ultimate death, as told by the daughter who survived.
Kathleen Kent is a tenth generation descendent of Martha Carrier. She paints a haunting portrait, not just of Puritan New England, but also of one family’s deep and abiding love in the face of fear and persecution.
If you have reviewed (or read) this book and want to join in the discussion please leave a comment below so I know to include you. If you would like to pick up the book and share in this discussion, please also let me know by leaving a comment below.
This On Line Book Club is open to bloggers and non bloggers alike – by leaving a comment here I will be able to email you a list of questions that as you finish up the book, answer and email back to me. Our discussion will go live the last Monday of December. That gives you a good 5+ weeks to read the book. Please invite others to join in by blogging of twittering about this!
*All active participants in the discussion will go into a drawing for a copy of our January read.
This meme is hosted by An Adventure In Reading
