Guest Blogger – Page 3

Guest Blogger: Alison From (Alipet813) It’s Novel Idea (w/Giveaway!)

Published on November 3, 2009November 22, 2009 by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments

Hey all you Book Journey Fans! This is Alipet813 (Alison) from That’s A Novel Idea.

Sheila is putting us all to shame right now by spending time in Honduras helping people, and she asked me to guest blog today. Let me just say that this is one of my absolute favorite blogs to visit and I am psyched to be here. It makes me love Sheila even more to know that she is such a giving person and spends at least once a year in Honduras doing her part to change lives. I was completely honored to be asked to guest blog today not because I love Sheila but because she actually remembered a review I did a couple of months ago – and she liked it! My review was on Jantsen’s Gift by Pam Cope. This is a book that focuses on a mother’s grief after losing her son. Not long after she feels that her life purpose is not only to adopt an orphan from Vietnam, but also to travel to less fortunate areas and set up centers to change lives. Months ago when I read this book it moved me to tears and made me want to get up off my booty and do more for others. Today, I still vividly remember Pam’s grief at losing her son. I can’t think of it without getting a little teary eyed. I also remember that Pam is a mom from a small town not all that far from where I grew up. She had no experience with missions work or setting up centers in faraway lands and she did just that. With faith and prayer I think God can do miraculous work through each and any of us. No well-known family/star status or millions of dollars are needed to get started. It basically takes some faith and getting up off our butts. I am ashamed to say I am still sitting on mine. I tell myself it is because I have a family to take care of and I have absolutely no extra money, but I think the truth is that I am afraid. What if I go for one trip and God uses me big like this? It would be a blessing, but how scary! So, read Jantsen’s Gift and if you think you should go on a mission trip when you are finished, don’t doubt yourself just start praying and make it happen. If you aren’t religious and still want to help – forget my God talk and make it happen your own way! I am quite positive there are many non-faith based programs/trips you can link to and make a difference.

Oh, by the way, Sheila has one copy of this book to giveaway and I think all of you should sign up to win it. You will not be sorry.

Giveaway is now closed

All you have to do to win is go to my blog and read the review I wrote. Make a comment on the review so I know you were there. Don’t just say “Jane was here” – this book deserves more than that. Then come back to Book Journey and leave your email address so she can contact you if she wins. We will check to see if you posted on my blog. The contest runs until November 20th and Sheila will pick the winner in her normal fashion. Entries from U.S. and Canada only.

For those of you who would love travel out of the country, but can’t or for those that would love to make a difference but refuse to leave the country there are many opportunities all around you. You can volunteer at a shelter, a soup kitchen, or a children’s hospital. You can join a mission that goes away but not far. You could go to build Habitat for Humanity Houses or clean up a disaster area. The possibilities are endless. You are only limited by yourself.

Guest Blogger: Esme from Chocolate and Croissants (w/Giveaway!)

Published on November 2, 2009November 1, 2009 by Sheila (Book Journey)12 Comments

Hi! I am Esme from Chocolate & Croissants filling in for Sheila while she is spreading her warmth and generosity in Honduras. I know that you probably usually pop over here in the morning to read about her Morning Meanderings. I hope that you have had some breakfast first before coming over as you may get a little hungry as you read on. I hope you do.

Cooking is one of my enjoyments in life. Chocolate & Croissants is where you come for some reading and cooking. For me there is always a book in my hand and something on the stove top simmering or baking in the oven. I have been fortunate to have traveled to all 5 continents and lived abroad. Some of my cooking is inspired from my visits and sampling of food from other countries and sometimes it is from a photo in a cooking book. I am a sucker for great food photography. The only rule I have is all my recipes are healthy.My reading list is probably just as whimsical. I have always said there should be a mood bookmark just like the mood rings from the 70’s. Just place the bookmark in the book and see what you are in the mood for.

I met Sheila earlier this summer when she first started blogging. She left a comment on my blog and asked if she could

link into one of my posts. Since then not a day goes by without my clicking on her blog to see what she has written about. I love seeing what she is up to and what she is reading. The fun part about visiting her blog is she is so social. Sheila has people visiting that I have never met before. I am not sure who came up with the idea of blogs and leaving comments but it is an amazing idea. Commenting is the best way to meet other bloggers and see what they are up to. Feel free to pop over and say hello at Chocolate and Croissants.

As a tribute to Sheila and the work Sheila is doing in Honduras I am including two recipes for dinner.

Chicken and fries. Mango Bay Chicken-

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken split into thighs, breasts and drumsticks and wings
4 medium sized mangoes
1 to 2 tsp. dried thyme
3 to 4 tblsp. sherry
2 cloves minced or crushed garlic
salt and pepper to season chicken
Preparation:
Season the chicken with salt and pepper, place in roasting pan. Peel
mangoes, slice off flesh and puree in blender with thyme, garlic and
sherry. Ladle over chicken and cook over at medium heat for about 20
minutes and serve.
Yam Fries
Ingredients:
2 Yams
4 TBSP Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Wash and slice yam thinly. Toss in olive oil and sea salt. If you want
to spice up your fries just add some chili flakes to the mixture.
Place the Yams on the baking sheet and bake for about 40 minutes,
turning the yams so they do not burn. Baking time will vary according
to how thin they are sliced.

As a thank you for visiting and reading, I will offer a giveaway for It Snowed in Puerto Rica. The contest will run from today (November 2 to November 20. Just link here to my blog at Chocolate and Croissants and leave a comment stating that you came from here (Sheila’s place or One Persons Journey Through A World Of Books) If you also leave a comment here – Sheila will choose one winner on the 20th using Random.Org to pick a book from her Prize Box on the 20th.

Giveaways are open to USA and Canada. Have Fun!!!

Guest Blogger: Julie from My Own Little Corner Of The World (W/ giveaway!)

Published on October 31, 2009October 30, 2009 by Sheila (Book Journey)6 Comments

Hi! I am Julie from My Own Little Corner Of The World! I am here while Sheila is away on her mission trip to Honduras. Just trying to keep the cobwebs away from all the precious books!

While I’m here, I thought I’d introduce myself as I don’t know many of you! I am a 30 something wife and

homeschooling mother of 4. I am also a registered nurse and currently, a high school health care teacher. (Insert your laughs here…yes my new friends, I’ve lost my mind!). In my spare time (HAHA) I enjoy reading, spending time with my wonderful family, blogging, singing, and did I mention reading?! I’ll read just about anything as long as it’s not full of graphic sex and language. Just not a fan of that!

The courthouse of my town that is featured in Vampire Diaries

Even though our beloved friend is not currently here to attend to her blog, she has graciously opened up the prize box for her wonderful readers. To enter, please visit my blog My Own Little Corner of the World and leave a comment under my “I’m Cleaning Sheila’s House” post telling me what book I have won from her blog recently. If you are chosen to be the winner (I will use random.org to determine) you will get to pick a prize from her PRIZE BOX and I’ll throw in a $10 Amazon gift certificate! The giveaway will end on November 7.

Also, because I love my friend Sheila so much for being Sheila and keeping us all entertained, she will have the choice of one book from her wish list to come to her in the mail.Thank you for letting me entertain you for a few minutes! I hope the cobwebs will stay away for awhile now and that Sheila has a safe return home. If you’re like me, you anxiously await to hear of her Honduras Adventures!!

Guest Blogger/Author Interview with Rachel Stolzman (+ Signed giveaway copies!)

Published on July 30, 2009April 4, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)54 Comments

In recent weeks I have had the pleasure of chatting back and forth with author Rachel Stolzman. Rachel is the author of the book, The Sign for Drowning.

When Anna is eight years old she witnesses the tragic drowning of her younger sister at the beach. While her parents frantically search the waves for their child, Anna watches alone from the shore. Desperate for hope, Anna begins silently communicating with her sister, begging her to resurface.

Anna’s family emotionally breaks down in the years following the drowning. In her grief and loneliness, Anna develops the belief she can communicate to her dead sister through sign language.

As an adult, Anna makes her living working with hearing impaired children, and she develops a close bond with a deaf foster child she works with, Adrea. As Anna makes the momentous decision to adopt Adrea, she is driven to face her conflicted desire to hear her daughter speak and she is forced to delve into the connections between Adrea and her own, lost sister.

BIO:

I was born in New York and at the age of seven moved to Los Angeles with my family. My sister and I told everyone we were moving to a swimming pool. I began writing poetry in my journal when I was about ten years-old. My first poems were about children, a phony fortune teller, the question of an afterlife, and an anti-war poem called Warheads. I attended the University of California in Santa Cruz. It was during my college years that I began working in the HIV/AIDS field, work which I continue to do to this day. At UCSC, I took numerous poetry workshops, participated in readings, and I had my first poems published. Looking back, these poems were about solitude, escapism, and drunken love. A year after college, living in San Francisco I decided to apply for MFA programs in creative writing. I was surprised to see that the applications required you to choose between poetry and fiction, and I marked ‘poetry’ on each. But while completing my applications, I thought- I don’t know how to write fiction, if I’m going to go back to school it might as well be to learn something I don’t know. I sent for new applications and applied to three programs in New York. I went to Sarah Lawrence College, and received my MFA in creative writing- Fiction. An early draft of The Sign for Drowning was my thesis. In 2008 my first novel, The Sign for Drowning was published by Trumpeter. I am still writing about children, impermanence, loss and the workings of the heart. I currently live in Brooklyn and am working on my second novel.

I want to thank Rachel for taking time to join us here at One Persons Journey Through a World of Books. I have really enjoyed talking with you these past couple of weeks and I am excited to hear more about you and your books.

S: As I read your biography on line about how you were really writing from about the age of ten, it reminded me of the books of short stories and poetry that I had written at about that age. Did you feel at such a young age that writing would be a part of your future?

Rachel: As a kid I had a closet in my bedroom with sliding doors. One side held clothes, and the other held a bookcase with all my books. I was infinitely more interested in the book side of my closet. I read my favorite books over and over. I do remember thinking that these writers were leaving something in the world that would be here forever, long after the writer was gone. It only now occurs to me that I was thinking about immortality. Luckily, I didn’t know then about going out of print!

S: Your book, The Sign For Drowning sounds wonderfully deep and dramatic. I just read the synopsis again and I am so excited to actually get a chance to read and review this book. How did the idea for this book begin to develop?

Rachel: I had written a short story based on an actual event that happened to my family. When my older sister was two she was washed out of a small boat in the waves, while playing with my father. She was only underwater for a minute, but they couldn’t see her and it was very scary. My mother was filming them playing as well. A friend in the water felt my sister, Dana, brush against her leg and she pulled Dana out. In the story I wrote, there is an older sister watching and narrating the story, and the child is not recovered, but drowns. As an MFA student I returned to this story and became curious again about the family, especially, Anna, the sister who tells the story. I wondered what happened to them afterwards, and if and how this loss would affect Anna as an adult.

S: This book centers around sign language. Is this something you knew about before you wrote the book or something you learned to write the book?

Rachel: While I was writing the book, I was taking American Sign Language classes for the fun of it. I had always been interested in sign language and I stuck with it until I was pretty fluent. I really enjoyed learning from my deaf teachers, not just the language but about deaf culture and history. I decided to make Anna, in her grief and loneliness, develop a fantasy that she could communicate to her lost sister through sign language. This childhood fantasy grew into an alternative family and home for her and a career working with deaf children. And it would ultimately lead Anna to her adopted deaf daughter, Adrea.

S: What sort of background prep work did you find yourself doing to write this book?

Rachel: I read a lot of books about Deaf culture, and about the history of ASL and deaf education. After becoming proficient in ASL, I got a job in New York City working with deaf people at Fountain House. I was around interpreters everyday, a co-worker who was the child of two deaf parents, a deaf co-worker and many deaf members. I was told amazing stories about being deaf in hearing families and vice-versa, living in deaf boarding schools, surviving during World War II- deaf and alone, and the many ways people learn to communicate and cope. Those stories helped shape the lives of my characters.

S: I just love that you are blogging your journey from your first book signing to the arrival of the paperback version. How did you decide to do a blog?

Rachel: I think I started blogging very hesitantly. My agent and publisher had recommended I launch an author website, but I had declined to do so just feeling it wasn’t necessary. Then I took a course on book promotion and it was heavily encouraged there too, especially blogging. And the final push came when I did an author interview on the radio with Reading with Robin and she actually reprimanded me on the air for not having a website for my readers to go to!

S: You are currently working on your second book. Would you share a little hint about what that is going to be about and when we may expect to see it in print?

Rachel: My current book is about a pair of twins born in NYC in the early 70’s. One twin, David, is born a reincarnated enlightened Buddhist. The Dalai Lama is a character in the novel, and he becomes David’s teacher. Jamila, the twin sister, struggles to find her soul, her purpose and her own journey as a bodhisattva’s twin sister.

I will definitely let you know when you can find it in stores, and thank you so much for having me as a guest at One Person’s Journey Through a World of Books!

Peace, Rachel

Rachel’s Official Website

Rachel’s Blog

♥Rachel has generously offered two signed copies of her book, The Sign For Drowning to the readers here at One Persons Journey Through a World of Books.

Tag: Guest Blogger