tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47315304475436726642024-03-13T06:31:47.057-06:00Karin Kaufman's BlogKarin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-60373484731000910182014-11-29T19:33:00.001-07:002014-11-29T19:33:53.244-07:00Under ConstructionMy website, karinkaufman.com, is under construction while I try to make my way through the morass that is Headway. See you in December 2014!Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-19436023117825417692013-08-22T13:55:00.000-06:002013-08-22T13:55:21.896-06:00My blog is moving to my websiteI've finally completed the process of moving this blog to my website! Please join me for my latest posts and news at <a href="http://karinkaufman.com./">KarinKaufman.com.</a> See you there!<br />
Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-56424420315050874472013-06-22T13:46:00.000-06:002013-06-22T13:46:09.551-06:00All Souls: Free Ebook<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iiAICMhwkJA/UcH5xw4OCyI/AAAAAAAAAuw/phBgXXfDD0E/s1600/All+Souls_Ebook+-+Med3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iiAICMhwkJA/UcH5xw4OCyI/AAAAAAAAAuw/phBgXXfDD0E/s200/All+Souls_Ebook+-+Med3.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My thriller, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/All-Souls-Gatehouse-Thriller-ebook/dp/B00DH5FCPI/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1371667025&sr=1-2&keywords=All+Souls" target="_blank">All Souls</a>, is now available on Amazon.com, under the pen name K.T. Kaufman. This is the first novel in my Gathehouse Thriller series. Currently, the book is free for Amazon Prime members and $3.99 for everyone else, but I will send a free ebook to the first ten readers who agree to post a short review on Amazon.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">To claim your free ebook, just email me by clicking on the "Email Karin" button to the right, contact me via Facebook message (the Facebook link is on the right), or add your name and email address to the comments section below this post.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The first ten people to respond will receive a free gift copy. You must have a Kindle or a Kindle app on your computer or other device to read this ebook.</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-22702361086245263342013-04-29T10:27:00.001-06:002013-04-29T10:27:40.969-06:00Palming the Magazine<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9aNEKYtTurk/UX6bZuW0awI/AAAAAAAAAtY/ZOCP95dyRPw/s1600/600px-Getaway-1911dddd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9aNEKYtTurk/UX6bZuW0awI/AAAAAAAAAtY/ZOCP95dyRPw/s320/600px-Getaway-1911dddd.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steve McQueen showing proper trigger discipline<br />
with his Colt Government 1911 in <em>The Getaway</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">At some point or another in my life, I’ve had the opportunity to shoot rifles, pump-action shotguns, revolvers, and pistols—all of which came in handy when I wrote my soon-to-be-out thriller, <i>All Souls </i>(due June 2013).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My experiences with these weapons, and with talking to experts like my father, who knows just about everything there is to know about guns, kept me (I hope) from making embarrassing errors in my book. Not just silly errors like calling a magazine a "clip," but more obscure errors—at least obscure to us non-experts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As I wrote my book, questions I hadn’t considered while plotting it kept coming up. How many shells can a pump-action shotgun hold? What caliber cartridge (<i>never</i> say "bullet" unless you’re talking about the projectile at the tip of a cartridge) should my characters, male and female, use? Which is better for concealed carry, a shoulder holster or a belt holster? If a character uses a belt holster, does she carry inside or outside the belt?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In one scene, my protagonist, Jane Piper, needs to rapidly switch magazines in her pistol. There’s a lull in the battle, but she knows the threat can and probably will return at any second. Wisely, while firing she counted down her shots, so she’s aware that there is one cartridge left in her mag (meaning the gun’s slide has not locked open, which it does when you’re out of ammo). Time to change mags.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So what does she do next? I knew she would drop the magazine by depressing the release, but how would she slip in a new mag? With her fingers? And where would the second mag come from, her pocket?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It turns out that the fastest and most accurate way to insert a new magazine is to extend your arm so your gun is in front of you at chest level. Then, as you release the mag, you (1) cant the gun so you can see or feel for the mag well, (2) take hold of the new mag, (3) palm it in (push it in with the palm of your hand), and (4) rack the gun’s slide.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">You keep the magazine in a pouch on your belt, not in your pocket. The extra mags should be aligned properly so you don’t have to realign them before palming them in, and you always take hold of a mag in the correct way, with your index finger pressed along its front. My heroine has practiced this move so many times that she does it by feel—not by looking at the well—which allows her to keep her eyes on the threat.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Obviously I don’t describe every step of this process—that would stop the action and bore the reader—but I need to know what the process is so I don’t make an error. For instance, sometimes my heroine carries a Seecamp, a tiny pistol with a European-style magazine release (at the bottom rear of the grip, so you can’t depress it with your trigger finger or thumb). When she does, the process of changing magazines is slower, and she’d probably have to take her eyes off what’s going on for a second or two.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If you don’t have access to guns and firing ranges, or experts who can answer your questions, there are many helpful resources on the Internet. Youtube, a goldmine, has some great videos, covering everything from the basics to more advanced information. For instance, maybe you want your hero to turn his pistol sideways as he’s shooting, like they do on TV. First, I beg you, don’t. Second, </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJrA7wMXuuQ" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">watch this video on proper gun grips</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. There’s more to gripping a pistol than you think.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If you need to refresh your memory on a particular gun you’ve tested, or if you don’t have access to a gun but still want to use it in your book, do a Youtube search for it. Many videos feature specific guns, like the </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8ANc9VSuNQ" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Ruger Security-Six .357</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, a super-reliable revolver with a great feel, and the classic </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-ioLoNPD5I" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Remington 870</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, a pump-action shotgun used in my thriller.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Of course, nothing beats hands-on experience, so the best thing you can do as an author, if you write scenes involving guns, is visit your local shooting range (every state has them) and try out your weapon of choice.</span><br />
<br />
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</span>Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-90361525659736171452012-12-26T10:12:00.000-07:002012-12-26T10:12:34.070-07:00A Writer’s New Year’s Resolution: Write<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cfDYbh03e2M/UNsuD4fb6AI/AAAAAAAAAs0/AKGmynMyC0M/s1600/800px-PostcardHappyNewYearOldManKidScytheHourglass1910.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cfDYbh03e2M/UNsuD4fb6AI/AAAAAAAAAs0/AKGmynMyC0M/s200/800px-PostcardHappyNewYearOldManKidScytheHourglass1910.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I have plans to write two novels in 2013, the third Anna Denning mystery and a suspense novel. Even if I didn’t work full time at my "day job," that would be a tall order. Add to that all the marketing an unknown writer is supposed to do and it would be crazy-making impossible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">About six, seven months after I published <i>The Witch Tree</i>, several readers contacted me through my </span><a href="http://www.karinkaufman.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">website</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> to ask me when the second book in the series would be coming out. At the time I hadn’t even plotted the book. I didn’t have the vaguest idea what it would be about—and that bothered me. Writers write, don’t they?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But when I wasn’t working my day job, I was taking care of my house and two dogs and doing the social media thing during all the in-between times. I spent way too much time on the Internet and way, way too much time sitting in my not-too-comfy office chair. Some of the social media networking I thought was necessary, some of it I just enjoyed doing. And some of it, I have to admit, was delicious procrastination.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Some of it, too, was trying to reciprocate in a small way for the generosity of other writers I’ve "met" over the past year and a half—those who have kindly featured my books on their blogs or reviewed my books for Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes and Noble.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But there came a point when I realized that I <i>can’t</i> reciprocate. I spend eight to ten hours a day working (more some weeks), then I try to write for two hours, then I spend another hour or two on social media.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">That’s what I did early in 2012, anyway, because when it came time for me to start writing <i>Sparrow House</i> this past August, I had to cut back on social media. Something had to give. I was finding that I didn’t have the time to do simple things like vacuum my floors, get my hair cut, or drive to the cheaper grocery store a few miles away rather than the more expensive one closest to my house. Ridiculous.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And aside from the time factor, I can no longer ignore the aches and pains, and blurry eyes, that come with sitting at the computer twelve or fourteen hours a day, seven days a week. It’s not good for the body.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It’s true that if you’re an unknown like me, you’ve got to do some marketing, but if I spend time marketing at the expense of writing, what have I got to market? (And when I say "marketing," I don’t mean hard-core marketing, because I think that sort of thing works only in very tiny doses—if at all. I mean just getting onto social media and talking about things I’m interested in.) If I have two free hours in a day, do I spend it writing or marketing what I’ve already written? For me, the answer has become obvious.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I have to face the fact that I’ve still got a day job, and it’s a huge time eater. It has to be; it pays the mortgage. I know many writers out there are in the same frustrating position, longing for the day they can write full time. (Imagine adding ten productive hours to your day.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If, for you, it’s not a full-time job taking up your time, maybe it’s young children, or being a caretaker for an older family member. Or maybe you’re not a writer but you just want to garden more or finally start painting or learning a new language. It will be 2013 in a few days. How do you want to spend your precious time in the new year?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So, with all that in mind, here are my writing resolutions for 2013:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I will tweet no more than one day a week, and even then just a tweet or two. I’m sure I’ll lose Twitter "followers," but so be it. I love the people I’ve come to know through Twitter, but I’m not convinced of the site’s usefulness as a marketing tool, and Facebook is better for keeping up with friends’ and acquaintances’ goings-on.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I will cut back on Facebook and perhaps combine my personal page with my author page, which a lot of people seem to be doing these days. I don’t want to annoy Facebook friends by doing that, but something’s got to give. Maybe cutting back on both pages will solve the problem.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I will cut out Google+ altogether. I’ve never really liked the site’s format, anyway.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I will keep up with my blog, because writing a blog <i>is</i> writing and I enjoy it, but I won’t sweat it if two or even three weeks go by without a post.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I will not go back to LinkedIn or join any new social media site.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I will write, write, write every day I possibly can—not emails, not tweets, not Facebook posts, but stories.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Maybe this time next year I’ll discover I’ve made a mistake. Maybe I’ll have two new books to sell and no one who wants to buy them because no one knows who the heck I am. We’ll see.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But I think at the very least I’ll feel happier and less crazy-woman-with-dust-bunnies-everywhere next December than I do this December.</span><br />
Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-91565764175506067622012-12-15T21:54:00.000-07:002012-12-15T21:58:58.762-07:00Welcome to the Grace Filled Christmas Blog Tour<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Merry
Christmas, all!</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> I’m
excited to be a part of the <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Grace Filled Christmas Blog Tour,
which is sponsored by the Grace Awards and </span>features twenty-two
Christian authors promoting books we hope will bless you this season and beyond.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This
post is about my latest release (published less than a week ago, as a matter of
fact!), <em>Sparrow House</em>, the second
book in my Anna Denning mystery series. The first book in the series, <em>The Witch Tree</em>, was nominated for a 2011
Grace Award.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mt2KpIOzjNo/UM1P__eJWLI/AAAAAAAAAsk/DzubG48qxks/s1600/Sparrow+House_-+SMALL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mt2KpIOzjNo/UM1P__eJWLI/AAAAAAAAAsk/DzubG48qxks/s200/Sparrow+House_-+SMALL.jpg" width="127" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #990000;">When the owner of a
mansion in the Colorado mountains hires Anna Denning to research his family
tree, it’s Anna’s dream come true. A library brimming with old documents, an
undiscovered family history—what more could a genealogist want?<o:p></o:p></span></span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Excited by the possibilities
and fueled by a new love in her life, Anna, tenacious as ever, is undeterred by
rumors that a ghost haunts the mansion. Until she uncovers records that suggest
those rumors are more than idle talk.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So what
makes <em>Sparrow House</em> perfect for Christmas reading and gifting? Ghosts!
Christmas and ghosts go together like hot cocoa and marshmallows. There’s a
long tradition of Christmas ghost stories in both America and the UK, the
best-known such story being Dickens’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Christmas
Carol</i>. It’s dark out early, it’s cold and snowy, families are gathered
around the fire—what better atmosphere in which to read a gently spooky story?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; line-height: 115%;">The
Grace Filled Christmas Blog Tour runs through December 22. Don’t forget to
check out all the other authors on the tour. Click on the link below to find
out who all the authors on the tour are and what dates they will be on their
own blog sharing their novels.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0f2a4d; font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><a href="http://graceawardsdotorg.wordpress.com/grace-filled-christmas-blog-tour-2012/"><span style="color: darkblue;">http://graceawardsdotorg.wordpress.com/grace-filled-christmas-blog-tour-2012/</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="color: #0f2a4d; font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="color: darkblue;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span></span></div>
Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-75330375855322385552012-12-11T10:11:00.000-07:002012-12-11T12:07:02.641-07:00The Layman vs. the Vicar<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BD-1b6_P2ho/UMdjzN2d1aI/AAAAAAAAArw/TKZ6ntVlXB8/s1600/Rob+Bell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="130" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BD-1b6_P2ho/UMdjzN2d1aI/AAAAAAAAArw/TKZ6ntVlXB8/s200/Rob+Bell.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rob Bell</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">One of my favorite C.S. Lewis
quotes is “</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Once the layman
was anxious to hide the fact that he believed so much less than the vicar; now
he tends to hide the fact that he believes so much more.”</span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I knew Rob Bell left his church in
Grandville, Michigan, for southern California, but I didn't know his
Michigan congregation essentially fired him, so I was surprised to see <a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/rob-bell-tells-how-love-wins-led-to-mars-hill-departure-85995" target="_blank">this article in the <em><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Christian Post</span></em>.<o:p></o:p></a></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I
had assumed Bell was at Mars Hill Bible Church so long because the congregation
enjoyed having a "celebrity" pastor, in spite of Bell's sad, hip
search for relevance, but that's not the case. In fact, 3,000 members of the church left after the publication of Bell's book <em>Love Wins,</em> in which he questions the existence of hell (because it's just not nice to think about), among other things. Now Bell is in California,
looking for ways, the article notes, "to move beyond old-fashioned
worship."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">As an aside, isn't
it interesting that all you have to do is call something "old-fashioned"
and in some quarters you've won the argument? C.S. Lewis had a term for that
logical fallacy: "chronological snobbery."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">So God bless the Mars Hill congregation—the
laymen. They knew more than the pastor and told him so.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span> </div>
Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-3862777390512922512012-12-10T11:15:00.001-07:002012-12-10T23:00:50.174-07:00Sparrow House Now Out<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I'm happy to announce that the second book in my Anna Denning mystery series, <em>Sparrow House</em>, is now available for your </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sparrow-House-Denning-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00ALH5VLU/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1355161301&sr=8-6&keywords=karin+kaufman" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Kindle on Amazon</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> and for your <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sparrow-house-karin-kaufman/1113933620?ean=2940015756821" target="_blank">Nook at Barnes and Noble!</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here's the preview:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When the owner of a mansion in the Colorado mountains hires Anna
Denning to research his family tree, it’s Anna’s dream come true. A library
brimming with old documents, an undiscovered family history — what more could a
genealogist want?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
Excited by the possibilities and fueled by a new love in her life, Anna,
tenacious as ever, is undeterred by rumors that a ghost haunts the mansion.
Until she uncovers records that suggest those rumors are more than idle talk.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-41461128439151940532012-10-12T18:07:00.000-06:002012-10-12T18:07:04.739-06:00The Second Anna Denning Mystery<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f2ar5DrxE0k/UHiug2yE4SI/AAAAAAAAArc/pmNR2p_95s0/s1600/Sparrow+House_-+SMALL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f2ar5DrxE0k/UHiug2yE4SI/AAAAAAAAArc/pmNR2p_95s0/s320/Sparrow+House_-+SMALL.jpg" width="203" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I haven't posted in a while, but there's a good reason for my long absence. I've been working furiously on Sparrow House, the second book in my Anna Denning mystery series.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I just got the cover for it (left), and I think the artist nailed it. I wanted spooky but fun, creepy but cozy. The kind of mystery I love to read.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If all goes well, Sparrow House will be on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble about December 10. I'm looking forward to getting back to some semblance of a regular blog-posting life at that point. See you then!</span>Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-52843516389752116192012-08-24T10:50:00.000-06:002012-08-24T10:50:13.221-06:00A New Book!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jnv_a_NnHP0/UDevFblxeMI/AAAAAAAAArE/hRtYJ6FOmvw/s1600/Fount+Thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jnv_a_NnHP0/UDevFblxeMI/AAAAAAAAArE/hRtYJ6FOmvw/s200/Fount+Thumb.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<span class="usercontent"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I’m excited to announce that fellow authors Amy K. Maddox, Cynthia Bruner, and I just published a collection of short stories called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fount-Stories-Storms-Grace-ebook/dp/B0091531K6/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345826381&sr=1-2&keywords=fount" target="_blank">Fount: Stories of Storms and Grace.</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="usercontent"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><em></em></span></span> </div>
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<span class="usercontent"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">The book’s eight stories—inspired by the old hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”—follow </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">characters as they navigate their way through depression, injustice, drug addiction, regret, supernatural powers, and other storms of life to find their way to grace.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span> </div>
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<span class="usercontent"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">The ebook is available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fount-Stories-Storms-Grace-ebook/dp/B0091531K6/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345826381&sr=1-2&keywords=fount" target="_blank">Amazon</a> for your Kindle and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fount-amy-k-maddox/1112610269?ean=2940014838153" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a> for your Nook.</span></span></div>
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<span class="usercontent"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"></span></span> </div>
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<span class="usercontent"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><span class="usercontent"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">From the book’s introduction: “The storms of life will
come. They will shape us but they will not define us; they will test us but
they will not destroy us. For we have the promise of Living Water: life-giving,
sustaining, cleansing, refreshing. And grace—sometimes trickling like a stream,
sometimes flowing like a fountain—will come just as surely.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
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<span class="usercontent"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-30038932589219528622012-07-26T09:29:00.000-06:002012-07-26T09:29:21.192-06:00The Next Big Thing (part 4)<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It’s
time for the last two questions in The Next Big Thing (TNBT) blog hop event. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">The event consists of 10 questions about an author’s
current work in progress (WIP). Each author who is tagged answers the 10
questions </span><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">listed
below about his or her current WIP. Then that author tags five (or fewer) other
writers and links to their blogs so we can all hop over and read their answers
(see my blog entry for June 28 for more details).</span></span><br />
<br />
<strong><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Question #9: <i>Which
authors inspired you to write this book?</i></span></span></strong><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Going back to my teens, authors such as Dorothy L. Sayers and
Ngaio Marsh inspired me, before I even knew I wanted to write mysteries. I was
floored when I read Sayers’ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Nine
Tailors</i>. What a work of art. Much later, Tony Hillerman and Margaret Coel
became inspirations. I discovered Hillerman only ten years ago, long after he’d
written his first mystery, but when I found him, I devoured his books, one after
another, until I’d caught up with his writing. I wish he were alive today,
still writing about Joe Leaphorn.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Question #10: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tell us anything else that might pique our
interest in your book.</i></span></strong><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
I’m having a lot of fun writing it. I think readers can tell when a writer’s
had fun! I try to write books I would like to read. I think of myself curling
up in bed with my WIP at night—what would I want to read next? What would give
me goosebumps or make me laugh?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I’ve tagged four more awesome writers whose
work you want to watch. Check out their links and see what WIPs they’re crafting:</span></span></div>
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<br /><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://www.amykmaddox.com/"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">http://www.amykmaddox.com/</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
Amy Maddox<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://pennyzeller.wordpress.com/">http://pennyzeller.wordpress.com/</a>
Penny Zeller<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://sandirog.blogspot.com/">http://sandirog.blogspot.com/</a>
Sandi Rog<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://www.maureenamiller.com/">http://www.maureenamiller.com/</a>
Maureen A. Miller</span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">H</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ere is the full list of
TNBT questions for you to copy and paste to your blog along with your answers.
Just tag five (or fewer, if you wish) awesome writers and add their links so we
can all follow along.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1. What is the title of your
book/WIP?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. Where did the idea for the
book come from?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. What genre would your book
fall under?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4. Which actors
would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5. What is the
one-sentence synopsis of your book?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6. Is your book published or
represented?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7. How long did
it take you to write?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8. What other books within
your genre would you compare it to?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9. Which authors
inspired you to write this book?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10. Tell us anything else that
might pique our interest in your book.</span></span><br />
<br />
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</script>Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-77392700280074115962012-07-12T13:21:00.000-06:002012-07-12T13:21:33.422-06:00The Next Big Thing (part 3)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GgEmfD14YFU/T_8jUYLV19I/AAAAAAAAAqw/J6SZ_v8P0gs/s1600/Painting+and+Kindle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GgEmfD14YFU/T_8jUYLV19I/AAAAAAAAAqw/J6SZ_v8P0gs/s1600/Painting+and+Kindle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GgEmfD14YFU/T_8jUYLV19I/AAAAAAAAAqw/J6SZ_v8P0gs/s200/Painting+and+Kindle.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It’s
time for four more questions in The Next Big Thing (TNBT) blog hop event. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">The event consists of 10 questions about an author’s
current work in progress (WIP). Each author who is tagged answers the 10
questions </span><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">listed
below about his or her current WIP. Then that author tags five (or fewer) other
writers and links to their blogs so we can all hop over and read their answers
(see my blog entry for June 28 for more details). Thanks to <a href="http://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Gail M. Baugniet</a>
<http: gail-baugniet.blogspot.com=""> for tagging me and getting me started.</http:></span></span><br />
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<strong><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Question #4: <i>Which
actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?</i></span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">That’s a tough question. I really don’t know. Though I do know
that I’d want an un-Hollywood type to play my protagonist, Anna Denning. Maybe
an unknown. Someone who, like Anna, is somewhat pretty but far from gorgeous,
and someone who, although she doesn’t lack for self-confidence, is totally
lacking in finesse and glamour. Anna is the kind of person who walks out of a
public restroom with toilet paper stuck to her shoe—and has no problem peeling
it off and laughing about it.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Question #5: <i>What
is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?</i></span></strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">One sentence? I have a one-sentence tag line in mind, but not a one-sentence
synopsis. That’s why I write novels instead of flash fiction!</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Question #6: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Is your book published or represented<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">?</span></i></span></strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It will be published as an ebook before the end of 2012.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Question #7: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How long did it take you to write<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">?</span></i></span></strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I haven’t finished writing it yet. It took
months to plot, but that’s because I like mysteries with multiple story threads
and intricate plots.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I’ve tagged five more
awesome writers whose work you should watch. Check out their links and see
what WIPs they’re crafting:</span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.tegeorge.com/">http://www.tegeorge.com/</a>
T.E. George</span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://peteturner.webs.com/">http://peteturner.webs.com/</a>
Pete Turner</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://gwendolyngage.blogspot.com/">http://gwendolyngage.blogspot.com/</a>
Gwendolyn Gage</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.aearndt.com/">http://www.aearndt.com/</a>
Angela E. Arndt</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://www.tericdarken.com/">http://www.tericdarken.com</a> / Teric Darken</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here is the full list of TNBT questions for
you to copy and paste to your blog along with your answers. Just tag five
awesome writers and add their links so we can all follow along.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1. What is the title of your
book/WIP?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. Where did the idea for the
book come from?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. What genre would your book
fall under?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">4. Which actors
would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5. What is the
one-sentence synopsis of your book?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6. Is your book published or
represented?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7. How long did
it take you to write?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8. What other books within
your genre would you compare it to?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9. Which authors
inspired you to write this book?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">10. Tell us anything else that
might pique our interest in your book.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="messagebody3"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Don’t
forget my book giveaway! Five winners will receive an ebook copy of The Witch
Tree. Just "like" my Facebook author page or follow this blog (see the previous blog post for a link and details). Contest ends this
Sunday night.</span></i></span></span>Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-74885039716033895622012-07-09T10:39:00.001-06:002012-07-09T10:51:22.537-06:00Christmas in July: Book Giveaway<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-84nAVcTpLVs/T_sF_n0nqJI/AAAAAAAAAqc/bul7cktQG9Q/s1600/ChristmasInJuly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-84nAVcTpLVs/T_sF_n0nqJI/AAAAAAAAAqc/bul7cktQG9Q/s200/ChristmasInJuly.jpg" width="149" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Tired
of the heat? Me too. Officially summer is only a few weeks old, but already it's
been way too sizzling in most parts of the country. That means it’s the perfect
time to think about cold weather, snow, and . . . Christmas.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">To
celebrate my strange frame of mind, I’ve decided to give away five copies of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Tree-Denning-Mystery-ebook/dp/B005CSNGQK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341848632&sr=8-1&keywords=karin+kaufman" target="_blank">The Witch Tree</a></i>, my mystery ebook set in
the Colorado mountain town of Elk Park in the days leading up to Christmas. Snowstorms,
Christmas trees, and murder. Brrrr.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Ready?
Here are the rules:</span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“Like” my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/authorkarinkaufman" target="_blank">Facebook author page</a> or follow my blog between July 9 and July 15.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">If you liked my author page or followed my blog before July 9, leave me a note on my Facebook author page or blog if you want to be entered.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">If you follow my blog to enter, leave your email address so I can contact you if you win. If you liked my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/authorkarinkaufman" target="_blank">Facebook author page</a> to enter, I’ll contact you through Facebook.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Winners will be chosen and announced on July 16. The ebooks will be sent
as gifts from either Amazon or Barnes and Noble, so you need a Kindle or Nook
or a Kindle or Nook app on your computer or other device.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dgwSiAY7DUk/T_sHzrwm1BI/AAAAAAAAAqk/MTuojc1BA10/s1600/Witch+Tree+Sml+-+Blog2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dgwSiAY7DUk/T_sHzrwm1BI/AAAAAAAAAqk/MTuojc1BA10/s200/Witch+Tree+Sml+-+Blog2.jpg" width="130" /></a>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Here’s
a description of the book:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Four days before Christmas in Elk Park, Colorado, genealogist Anna Denning discovers a client's body. When she starts asking questions no one wants answered, she becomes the killer's next target. Still grieving the death of her husband, Anna must draw on her wounded faith to enter a world of wicca and paganism—reminders of a past she buried long ago—and discover the secret of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Tree-Denning-Mystery-ebook/dp/B005CSNGQK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341848632&sr=8-1&keywords=karin+kaufman" target="_blank">The Witch Tree</a></i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Good luck!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</script>Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-7240302891641944022012-07-05T14:09:00.000-06:002012-07-05T14:09:11.124-06:00The Next Big Thing (part 2)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uviTAfzhWe8/T_XyJEFJnRI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/TUAYYPvsHrA/s1600/PD+James.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uviTAfzhWe8/T_XyJEFJnRI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/TUAYYPvsHrA/s200/PD+James.jpg" width="169" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">P.D. James</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It’s
time for two more questions in The Next Big Thing (TNBT) blog hop event. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">The event consists of 10
questions about an author’s current work in progress (WIP). Each author who is
tagged answers the 10 questions </span><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">listed below about his or her current WIP.
Then that author tags five (or fewer) other writers and links to their blogs so
we can all hop over and read their answers. (See my blog entry for June 28 for
more details.)</span></span><br />
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<strong><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Question #2: <i>Where did the idea for your upcoming
book come from?</i></span></span></strong><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">KARIN: </span></strong><strong><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">First,</span></strong><strong><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> </span></strong><strong><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I knew I was going to continue with the Anna
Denning mystery series. I’ve come to love Elk Park and its inhabitants (my
third Anna Denning mystery is already percolating in my mind!). Second, I’ve
always enjoyed ghost stories. So I put the two together.</span></strong></span></div>
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<strong><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
this is a ghost story from a Christian perspective. We know we die only once
and then we’re judged (Heb. 9:27), so after death we’re hardly likely to wander
the earth in ghostly form. But we also know there’s a supernatural realm. Do
ghosts exist? If so, what are they really?</span></span></strong></div>
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<br /></div>
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<strong><span lang="EN" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Question #3: <i>What genre would your book fall
under?<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></strong></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">KARIN: </span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Although the
mystery revolves around an old Elk Park mansion and its ghostly reputation, it’s
not a horror story. It’s a mystery.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">I’ve tagged three
more awesome writers whose work you want to watch. Check out their links and
see what they’re up to:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://mhgerberbooks.blogspot.com/">http://mhgerberbooks.blogspot.com/</a>
M.H.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gerber (mystery)</span></span></div>
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</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://brendabwallace.blogspot.com/">http://brendabwallace.blogspot.com/</a>
Brenda B. Wallace (mystery/thriller)</span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fhopeofglory.typepad.com%2F&h=fAQH0BiO8" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://hopeofglory.typepad.com/">http://<wbr></wbr>hopeofglory.typepad.c<wbr></wbr>om</a></span><a href="http://hopeofglory.typepad.com/"></a></span><a href="http://hopeofglory.typepad.com/"></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">/
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Ni<span style="color: #2c2c2c;">cole Petrino-Salter
(contemporary Christian fiction)</span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here is the full list of TNBT questions for
you to copy and paste to your blog along with your answers. Just tag five
awesome writers and add their links so we can all follow along.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">1. What is the title of your
book/WIP?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. Where did the idea for the
book come from?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 7.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. What genre would your book
fall under?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 7.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">4. Which actors
would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5. What is the
one-sentence synopsis of your book?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 7.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6. Is your book published or
represented?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 7.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7. How long did
it take you to write?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 7.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8. What other books within
your genre would you compare it to?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 7.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9. Which authors
inspired you to write this book?</span><span style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 7.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">10. Tell us anything else that
might pique our interest in your book.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<br /></div>Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-20569908878251800902012-06-28T16:03:00.000-06:002012-07-04T17:06:12.405-06:00The Next Big Thing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vyJ5pjqWvkY/T-zS_Jv1T3I/AAAAAAAAAqE/z79rBmG6vtg/s1600/TNBT2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vyJ5pjqWvkY/T-zS_Jv1T3I/AAAAAAAAAqE/z79rBmG6vtg/s1600/TNBT2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vyJ5pjqWvkY/T-zS_Jv1T3I/AAAAAAAAAqE/z79rBmG6vtg/s200/TNBT2.jpg" width="200" /></a><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Gail M. Baugniet, author of the Pepper Bibeau mystery series, has invited me to participate in a blog event: The Next Big Thing (TNBT). The event consists of 10 questions about an author’s current WIP (work in progress.) H</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ere’s the plan:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A. Answer the ten TNBT questions listed below about your current WIP.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">B. Tag five other writers and link their blogs so we can all hop over and read their answers.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s that simple.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Gail noted: “The handbook <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Writing Mysteries,</i> edited by Sue Grafton, lists the rules of mystery writing and which ones can be bent. The only one I actually break is having more than two characters in a scene. For the rules of TNBT, I will tag five other writers and link to their blogs so you can hop over and check out their sites. I am tweeking the other rule by dividing up the questions. I will answer one question per week, tag five more writers, and include links to their sites.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m with Gail on this. One (or two) question a week, and with each question I’ll tag more writers (though not necessarily five). Here we go:</span><br />
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<strong><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: red;">Question #1 of The Next Big Thing:</span></span></strong><br />
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<i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: red;"><strong>TNBT: What is the title of your book/WIP?</strong></span></span></i><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>KARIN: </strong>My working title is <i>Sparrow House.</i>I don’t know if I’ll stick with that, but it’s what came to mind as I plotted the book, and considering that much of the book is set in an old, creepy mansion called Sparrow House, it fits. I’m so enjoying writing this one! It will be book 2 of my Anna Denning mystery series.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And now, five awesome writers whose work you want to watch:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.montanaromance.blogspot.com/">http://www.montanaromance.blogspot.com/</a> Cynthia Bruner (romance)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.onthesoulofavampire.com/">http://www.onthesoulofavampire.com/</a> Krisi Keley (mystic vampire tales)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://nikechillemi.wordpress.com/">http://nikechillemi.wordpress.com/</a> Nike Chillemi (historical mystery/crime fiction)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://barbarajrobinson.blogspot.com/">http://barbarajrobinson.blogspot.com/</a> Barbara Robinson (romantic suspense)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.booksbyamanda.com/">http://www.booksbyamanda.com/</a> Amanda Stephan (romance)</span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here is the full list of TNBT questions for you to copy and paste to your blog along with your answers. Just tag five awesome writers and add their links so we can all follow along.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. What is the title of your book/WIP?</span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. Where did the idea for the book come from?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. What genre would your book fall under?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6. Is your book published or represented?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7. How long did it take you to write?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8. What other books within your genre would you compare it to?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9. Which authors inspired you to write this book?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10. Tell us anything else that might pique our interest in your book.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span>Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-12186350723097542922012-03-19T10:49:00.003-06:002012-03-19T12:57:49.427-06:00Top Ten TV Mystery/Detective Shows of All Time<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ksEvk7_N15w/T2dkueYggaI/AAAAAAAAAm8/Hh1MV3EL_9o/s1600/Post39GeorgeGently.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ksEvk7_N15w/T2dkueYggaI/AAAAAAAAAm8/Hh1MV3EL_9o/s200/Post39GeorgeGently.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Inspector George Gently</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>One of the simplest yet most enjoyable pleasures in life is settling down to a good mystery on TV. A little popcorn, maybe a glass of wine. Rain beating on the windows, dog sleeping by the fire . . . Well, you get the idea. It’s heaven for us mystery lovers. There have been some great mystery/detective series over the years. In fact, some of the finest programs on TV have been, and continue to be, crime shows. I’ve compiled a list of what I consider the ten best of the bunch (in no particular order) and added some honorable mentions at the end.<br />
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<strong>1. Midsomer Murders <b>(1997–present)</b></strong><br />
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Based on the mystery novels by Caroline Graham, <a href="http://acornonline.com/midsomer-murders/p/midsomer-murders" target="_blank">this long-running show</a> features DCI (Detective Chief Inspector) Tom Barnaby (played by John Nettles) and DS (Detective Sergeant) Ben Jones, who keep tripping over bodies in the various villages of England’s fictional Midsomer County. If you love English cozies, this is a must-see, the ultimate in cozies.<br />
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Nettles retired from the show in 2011 and was replaced by actor Neil Dudgeon, who plays his younger cousin, DCI John Barnaby. DS Jones is the third, and I believe the best, Midsomer detective sergeant, and he continues with the show. Dudgeon is fantastic as the new DCI, but the on-screen relationship with his wife, Sarah, lacks the warmth of the relationship between Tom Barnaby and his wife, Joyce—though the addition of John Barnaby’s dog, Sykes, largely makes up for that.<br />
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<b>2. Jonathan Creek (1997–2010)</b><br />
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Jonathan Creek, who lives in a windmill in the English countryside and creates stage tricks for a professional magician, solves the most baffling crimes in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCiRrxKfElo" target="_blank">this quirky mystery</a>. The show is less about who did it and more about how it was done. In fact, the how it was done can be downright mind-bending—or at least appear that way before Creek solves the crime.<br />
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The first three seasons, which featured sidekick Maddy Magellan, an investigative journalist played by Caroline Quentin, were the best, though the last season, with sidekick Carla Borrego (Julia Sawalha), was still far better than your average mystery. The show was discontinued in 2004, but two specials, "The Grinning Man" and "The Judas Tree," aired in 2009 and 2010. As always, American viewers will have to do a little scrounging on the Internet to find the specials.<br />
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<b>3. The Closer (2005–present)</b><br />
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Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson, an Atlanta detective hired by the LAPD to head its Major Crimes Division, is a "closer" because she closes tough cases, usually in unconventional ways involving wily interrogation techniques. Because she’s a woman, and a southern woman at that—with her butter-wouldn’t-melt accent and her junk-food sweet tooth—she’s underestimated, and she uses that to great advantage. Johnson’s syrupy "Thank yew," which she says at least five times in every episode, is classic.<br />
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TNT will run the final six episodes of <a href="http://www.tnt.tv/series/closer" target="_blank"><em>The Closer</em></a><em> </em>beginning this July. The last episode will be followed by the premiere of a spinoff series, Major Crimes, featuring The Closer’s Captain Raydor.<br />
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<strong>4. Tony Hillerman mysteries on PBS (2002–2004)</strong><br />
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In 2002, PBS presented <em>Skinwalkers, </em>the first Tony Hillerman mystery novel adaptation in its <em>American Mystery! Specials</em> series. After that came <em>Coyote Waits</em> (2003) and <em>A Thief of Time</em> (2004), all three starring Wes Studi as Joe Leaphorn and Adam Beach as Jim Chee. Then, in one of those senseless TV production decisions that leaves you shaking your head in bewilderment, <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/mystery/american" target="_blank">the Hillerman mysteries</a> stopped . . . and the flood of Poirots and Sherlocks continued.<br />
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If you want to see these mysteries now, you’ll have to rent or buy them. All three are well worth their rather high purchase price as they’re so well produced and acted that you can watch them again and again (the New Mexico scenery is spectacular). Hopefully PBS, Wildwood Productions, et al. will come to their senses and produce another Hillerman mystery—or <i>any</i> American mystery. Seriously, PBS, I love Miss Marple, but come on!<br />
<br />
<b>5. Psych (2005–present)</b><br />
<br />
Quite possibly the most underrated show currently on TV, <a href="http://www.usanetwork.com/series/psych" target="_blank"><em>Psych</em></a><em> </em>features Shawn Spencer, whose hyper-observant skills allow him to out-detective any detective, and his friend Burton Guster, a rather more stable pharmaceutical salesman. Together they form a psychic detective agency and solve crimes for the Santa Barbara Police Department.<br />
<br />
This is one of those shows you have to watch because no explaining will do it justice. The dialogue is witty (and so rapid-fire that while you’re figuring out one joke, three more have zoomed by), the characters are engaging, and the returning themes and tics (Gus’s nicknames, Val Kilmer, Billy Zane, "Gus don’t be a . . . ," the hidden pineapple—you really do have to see it) are, as Shawn would say, "delicious."<br />
<br />
<b>6. Inspector Lewis (2006–present)</b><br />
<br />
DCI Robbie Lewis and his DS, the scholarly and slightly mysterious James Hathaway, fight crime in Oxford in <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/lewis/series1.html" target="_blank">this spinoff</a> of the <i>Inspector Morse</i> series.<br />
<br />
For years I thought nothing could outdo the superb <i>Inspector Morse</i>, based on Colin Dexter’s novels and also set in Oxford, but I believe <i>Inspector Lewis</i> has. Lewis was DCI Morse’s sergeant in the older series, and here he plays a widower (his beloved wife Valerie has died, and he still grieves deeply for her) who accepts the DCI position with the Thames Valley Police.<br />
<br />
With <i>Lewis</i>, you have that fantastic Oxford scenery, outstanding plots, and two fascinating lead characters. To top it off, with each season this show just gets better. It plays now on then on PBS, but you’re better off renting or streaming it from Netflix.<br />
<br />
<b>7. Jesse Stone (2005–present)</b><br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.cbs.com/specials/jesse_stone" target="_blank"><i>Jesse Stone </i>specials</a> are based on Robert B. Parker’s mystery novels about an LAPD homicide detective who resigns his post in Los Angeles (because his bosses can no longer ignore his heavy drinking, which began after his divorce) and heads for fictional Paradise, Massachusetts, where, still drinking—though only at night—he is hired as the PPD’s new chief of police.<br />
<br />
<i>Jesse Stone</i> is not a TV series proper but a series of movie specials on CBS. It’s brilliant in every way, from the scenery—it’s filmed in Nova Scotia, which is both moodier and prettier than Massachusetts—to the movies’ brooding opening sequences, which include the best theme music on television, period.<br />
<br />
But the best thing about this series is Jesse Stone, a complex character played to perfection by Tom Selleck. If you’re new to this show, you should rent or buy the earlier movies, as there have been quite a few plot and character developments since the first movie in 2005.<br />
<br />
<b>8. Rosemary & Thyme (2003–2007)</b><br />
<br />
If you like gardens, and breathtaking English gardens at that, you’ll want to see <a href="http://acornonline.com/rosemary-%26-thyme/p/rosemary-thyme" target="_blank">this series</a>. Rosemary Boxer, a recently and unfairly fired plant pathologist, and Laura Thyme, a newly divorced amateur gardener, meet by chance and decide to form a business partnership. The two 50ish/60ish women restore gardens and diagnose plant diseases, but wherever they go, bodies crop (ahem) up.<br />
<br />
The show is light fare—no blood sprays, no thriller tension—and that is its strong point. That and the fact that there are flowers in virtually every shot, and not just outside. It’s relaxing, fun, delightful.<br />
<br />
The show was originally shown in three regular seasons (2003–2006) and two final episodes (2007). The cancellation of <i>Rosemary & Thyme</i> by the British network ITV is itself a mystery, as it was popular when it met its demise. ITV claims that the cancellation was part of an effort to "reinvigorate" the channel. I suspect that means ITV wanted more gore and fewer post-50 lead characters. Shame.<br />
<br />
<b>9. Inspector George Gently (2007–present)</b><br />
<b> </b><br />
Set in the mid-1960s and based on the books by Alan Hunter, this series features Scotland Yard’s <a href="http://acornonline.com/product.aspx?p=george-gently-series-1" target="_blank">Inspector George Gently</a>, who, after the murder of his wife, travels to County Durham in search of the killer, who has committed another crime there.<br />
<br />
Gently sees his younger self in his ambitious sergeant, John Bacchus, who in his enthusiasm to combat crime has a tendency toward the corruption-through-power Gently loathes. Gently decides to stay in Durham, and he makes it his mission to make a good and decent cop, and man, out of Bacchus. As a result, the chemistry between the two is terrific.<br />
<br />
The 1960s setting means that political correctness is at a minimum, and because there are no CSI-type gadgets and tests, the cases are solved by sheer hard work and cop instinct. I normally don’t like historical mysteries, if you can call the 1960s historical, but this series is so well done you forget it’s set in the past. The producers don’t make a point of parading various 1960s products on screen as if to say, "Look, this is what radios looked like back then." The surroundings just <i>are,</i> they’re part of the story, and in that way they serve the story and become invisible.<br />
<br />
<b>10. NCIS (2003–present)</b><br />
<br />
In this <a href="http://www.cbs.com/shows/ncis" target="_blank">long-running series,</a> special agents for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service solve crimes involving the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps in the Washington, D.C., area (though episodes have been set elsewhere).<br />
<br />
If you haven’t seen this show, catch up on Netflix then start watching the current season, which is the show’s ninth. (Good news from last week: <i>NCIS</i> was picked up for a tenth season!) The writing on this show is second to none. Frankly, I don’t know how the writers keep it so fresh. So many other shows take a script nosedive after three or four years.<br />
<br />
Although the show’s plots are first rate, this is a character-driven series. The six main characters are so well defined, such individual works of art, that you feel you know them. Best of all, while these characters have stayed true to themselves throughout the series, they also have grown and changed, which makes them seem all the more real.<br />
<br />
<strong>Honorable mystery mentions</strong> go to <i>Monk</i> (2002–2009), <i>Blue Murder</i> (2003–2009), <i>Inspector Morse</i> (1987–2000), <i>Veronica Mars</i> (2004–2007), <i>Wallander</i> (2008–present), <i>The Killing</i> (2011–present), <i>Magnum, P.I.</i> (1980–1988), <i>Agatha Christie’s Poirot</i> (1989–present), and <i>Murder, She Wrote</i> (1984–1996).<br />
<br />
Have I missed any great TV mystery/detective shows?<br />
<br />
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</script>Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-23581135676506840862012-02-20T10:58:00.001-07:002012-02-20T10:59:41.029-07:00The Emergent Church: We’ve Heard It All Before (part 2)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nzhviy3vjIw/T0KFJ7BH5fI/AAAAAAAAAlw/F9ZsWFdR05k/s1600/TonyJones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="188" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nzhviy3vjIw/T0KFJ7BH5fI/AAAAAAAAAlw/F9ZsWFdR05k/s200/TonyJones.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tony Jones</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Someone once said that trying to get an emergent church (EC) leader to clearly state his beliefs is like trying to "nail Jell-O to the wall." EC leader <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCoBcYDyzoc&feature=fvst" target="_blank">Tony Jones</a>, for one, finds the Jell-O analogy amusing. It doesn’t occur to him that not being able to define your beliefs or at least answer direct questions about them is not the sign of a well-ordered mind.<br />
<br />
But in the postmodern world, muddled thought is not a vice. So when Jones says, "We must stop looking for some objective Truth that is available when we delve into the text of the Bible," I wonder if he realizes that, using his own logic, I have no way of knowing if what he states is true and, in any case, I shouldn’t bother trying to find out? What is objective? What is the text? What is truth?<br />
<br />
EC leaders paint themselves into a corner and don’t want you to notice. They want to tear down objective reason by telling you it doesn’t exist then replace that reason with their own beliefs (disparate as they are), which they then want you to accept as objective reason.<br />
<br />
All this might be as important as a pimple on an elephant except for one thing: These leaders’ feigned or (God help us) real uncertainty is especially appealing to young people, who, caught up in the postmodern flavor of the times, prefer their spiritual elders to be as confused as they are.<br />
<br />
In a play for young people, the movement’s leaders toss aside doctrine, the connection to fellow Christians through the ages, and any common sense they might have stumbled upon in their thirty-, forty-, or fifty-something years. (As an aside, there aren’t many things sadder than a forty-something man chucking much of what he knows in order to impress the young. What’s the point in being forty if you haven’t learned anything more than what the twenty year old you’re talking to knows?)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/3RJBd8zE48A?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
It’s no accident that the terms "emerging" and "emergent" are labels for the movement. Or that EC leaders write books with titles such as <i>The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier</i> (Tony Jones), <i>Church in the Inventive Age</i> (Doug Pagitt), and <i>A New Kind of Christianity</i> (Brian McLaren).<br />
<br />
"New," inventive," "frontier." Are you sensing a theme? Can’t you just hear some TV pitch guy saying, "It’s new! It’s great! It’s better than that <i>old</i> stuff!" Young people aren’t interested in anything old. New is good, old is bad.<br />
<br />
Stroking egos. It’s how advertising works, and why advertising focuses on teens and twenty-somethings, most of whom are still forming their likes and dislikes and desperately want to be different from their parents.<br />
<br />
It’s why ages ago the Who had a hit with the song "My Generation," which told a bunch of kids born in the 1940s how cool and different they were so a bunch of much older folks could make a lot of money. It’s why the emerging church woos young people with comfy couches, candles, and pastors who look and sound like them.<br />
<br />
I became a Christian as a teenager in the 1970s, during the Jesus People movement. We were new, too. And postmodern. We had couches and candles and guitars. We didn’t like what the old church looked and sounded like—and some said that was good.<br />
<br />
We were going to change Christianity for the better—or so we were told when our egos were being stroked by those who were old enough to know better. Our candles and conversations and disdain for doctrine were going to batter down the tired old walls of Christianity and make it relevant again. Thank the Lord most of us became "mere" Christians, just like our brothers and sisters in centuries past.<br />
<br />
When I’m tempted to get agitated about the EC movement, and angry with its leaders for deceiving people, I stop and consider that the emerging church is just one more passing novelty in a long history of novelties.<br />
<br />
As people have grown weary of postmodernism in literature, so they will of postmodernism in the church. The movement is not, as Tony Jones says, destined to push the church in "new directions." Because in reality it’s nothing new, and it will not prevail.<br />
<br />
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</script>Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-90719011229934190062012-02-13T14:11:00.004-07:002012-02-16T11:54:12.006-07:00The Emergent Church: We’ve Heard It All Before (part 1)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bGoutvRqyq8/Tzl3jxAec2I/AAAAAAAAAlk/iPBsI_g19nw/s1600/DougPagitt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bGoutvRqyq8/Tzl3jxAec2I/AAAAAAAAAlk/iPBsI_g19nw/s200/DougPagitt.jpg" width="172" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doug Pagitt (photo by<br />
Amy Anderson<br />
Photography)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I’m not a glutton for punishment, honestly I’m not, but I enjoy listening to and reading interviews with leaders in the emergent church movement. Yesterday it was a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVnPvXqdmNg" target="_blank">YouTube interview</a> with author, radio host, and pastor Doug Pagitt. The guy is fascinating. A walking, talking lesson in postmodern rhetoric. So are his compatriots in the emergent church movement—folks such as Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, and Tony Jones.<br />
<br />
The emergent church (EC) movement had its beginnings in the 1990s and came into some prominence in the first decade of this century. The movement, for those of you who haven’t heard of it, is a reaction against modernism (with its foolish certainty) and orthodoxy. It values relevance over doctrine, cultural adaptation over orthodoxy, subjective truth over objective truth, and questions over answers.<br />
<br />
Most leaders in the movement question at least some orthodox Christian doctrine. Nearly all of them hold doctrine in low esteem. Not surprisingly, many EC leaders were once youth pastors and the movement is most popular among young people (more on that later this week).<br />
<br />
Even if I didn’t find some of these leaders’ propositions false, I would mistrust much of what they say because I’m wary of people who play word games. Games using terms such as "old narrative," "deeply ingrained," "hegemony," and "colonial." As someone who occasionally copyedits postmodern literary studies for a living, I’ve read these words before and I know how—and why—they’re used. And I know why EC leaders ask a lot of questions they never seem to answer.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ODUvw2McL8g?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
The main goal of postmodernists, including postmodern EC leaders, is to cast doubt on objective truth (and language) in order to break down "old" beliefs and create new ones. Of course, they would never state their objective in such a bald-faced way. They want to lead you to a new pasture without ever telling you where you’re going or why. They want you to wake up in this new pasture, free of your "old narrative," and never know how you got there. And their chief weapon is language.<br />
<br />
Which takes me back to the Pagitt interview. Leaders in the emergent movement often make statements that are clearly universalist in nature without, of course, ever directly stating that they believe in universal salvation. So when the interviewer in this YouTube video asked, "I’m a good Buddhist—where do I go when I die?" the following exchange took place (note: I have no idea who the interviewer is or what he believes; I simply find this exchange instructive):<br />
<br />
<strong>Pagitt: </strong>You know, this is not an interesting conversation to me. Is this what we’re going to do? You’re going to put together false little dichotomies then ask me to answer in one sentence then interrupt my answers?<br />
<b>Interviewer: </b>Well, I don’t know what’s hard about the question. I’m a good Buddhist, where do I go when I die?<br />
<b>Pagitt: </b>Well, you probably go to the funeral home, but depending on where you’re being born—if that’s what you’re talking about.<br />
<b>Interviewer: </b>No, pastor, I’m a good Buddhist, where do I go when I die?<br />
<b>Pagitt: </b>OK, this is not—this is just not an interesting or helpful conversation for me to be part of. So if that’s what were doing, uh, in this conversation, then, uh, it’s, it—because what you’re asking in this kind of question has to do with a place. Are you suggesting to me that heaven is actually a place? When you say, "Where do I go?" you’re suggesting to me that the reign of God, that the place of God is an individual <i>place</i> that you go? Is that what you’re suggesting?<br />
<b>Interviewer: </b>Yes, sir.<br />
<strong>Pagitt: </strong>Where is that place?<br />
<b>Interviewer: </b>It’s called heaven.<br />
<b>Pagitt: </b>Where is it?<br />
<b>Interviewer: </b>We don’t know where it is exactly right now.<br />
<strong>Pagitt: </strong>Then why would you ask a question <i>where</i> do I go?<br />
<b>Interviewer: </b>Just because I don’t know where it is doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Besides—<br />
<b>Pagitt: </b>Then why did you ask <i>where?</i><br />
<i> </i> <br />
Wow. Are you thinking of Bill Clinton’s "It depends upon what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is"? Pagitt may have an interesting point to make over heaven not being a "where," but it’s a point he could make later. He understands very well what the interviewer’s question is. He just doesn’t want to answer it.<br />
<br />
I don’t think that Pagitt sees this language tap dance as a bad thing. I think he’s so immersed in postmodern thought that he thinks arguing over the word "where" is worthwhile—and that browbeating someone who doesn’t speak postmodern gobbledygook is convincing. If you listen to the interview, you can almost <i>hear</i> a lightbulb go off in Pagitt’s head in the middle of the exchange, where he says "because what you’re asking." He suddenly sees his out, and his out is language.<br />
<br />
<em>Part 2 on Monday, February 20.</em>Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-49343835073651800182012-01-16T10:57:00.000-07:002012-01-16T10:57:58.826-07:00Guest Blogger Gail M. Baugniet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pvw5orEOw1w/TxRipmQULlI/AAAAAAAAAjM/R-X8S7FLt48/s1600/GailBaugniet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pvw5orEOw1w/TxRipmQULlI/AAAAAAAAAjM/R-X8S7FLt48/s200/GailBaugniet.jpg" width="200" /></a><i>It’s my pleasure to welcome author Gail M. Baugniet as guest blogger today. Gail’s first self-published novel,</i> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/EVERY-ACTION-There-Consequences-ebook/dp/B004VT3QRU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1302387350&sr=1-3" target="_blank">FOR EVERY ACTION There Are Consequences,</a> <i>released in 2011, introduces Hawaiian-born Pepper Bibeau as an insurance investigator whose routine assignments lead her through a maze of suspense. (Note to my blog readers: If you love a good mystery, you’ll love this book.) Gail, who resides in Honolulu, Hawaii, is currently at work completing her second novel in the series for release in 2012. Today she discusses <a href="http://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">her new interview series</a> with independent authors.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In several reviews of <i>FOR EVERY ACTION There Are Consequences</i> my protagonist Pepper Bibeau has been described as a "strong female character." This portrayal refers not to her muscular prowess, but to her emotional mettle. In Roget’s 21st Century Thesaurus, the synonyms for <i>mettle</i> that best describe Pepper are: strength of character; energy; fire; heart; moxie . . . and resolve, which in turn is related to determination, earnestness, and fixed purpose.</div><br />
Words cut both ways and Pepper’s resolve, or fixed purpose, in her professional life tends to waver when applied to personal situations. Uncertainty does not weaken her character, though. By acknowledging indecision as provisional, a safe interim condition, Pepper is able to maintain a comfortable level of confidence and emotional stability.<br />
<br />
On Mondays, beginning January 9, 2012, I will present <a href="http://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">interviews with Independent Authors</a> who have written and published a mystery/suspense novel featuring a strong female protagonist. The interviews will focus on fellow indie-authors, spotlighting their first published novel and the strengths of their main character.<br />
<br />
Indie authors interested in a personalized guest interview, please contact me via email: gbaugniet (at) aol (dot) com with the word INTERVIEW in the subject line. Include a link to your novel in the body of the email. If you have an upcoming promotional event that you want to coordinate with the interview, please include that date with your request. Thank you.<br />
<br />
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</script>Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-82370864518006692392012-01-01T16:14:00.001-07:002012-02-02T15:56:36.208-07:00Hope and Another Year<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C5T9g1uLuD8/TwDnUaK2jTI/AAAAAAAAAhM/Z6PoAQuZh1k/s1600/Post35a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C5T9g1uLuD8/TwDnUaK2jTI/AAAAAAAAAhM/Z6PoAQuZh1k/s320/Post35a.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Henry Mühlpfordt</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><script src="http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/connect.php/js/FB.Share" type="text/javascript">
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<br />
<br />
<i>See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?</i><br />
—Isaiah 43:19<br />
<i></i><br />
<i>Behold, I make all things new.</i><br />
—Revelation 21:5<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I love new beginnings. Fresh starts, fresh hopes. Where would we be without the hope that things can be made new?<br />
<br />
"By this time next year . . ."<br />
"Starting today, I’m going to . . ."<br />
"In two months I’ll be . . ."<br />
<br />
Still, sometimes I shake my head when I hear words like these coming out of my mouth. If I’m in a bad mood, they seem like evidence that I’ve been duped yet again by that old hope thing. Shame on you, I tell myself. You’re old enough to know better. How many more years are you going to believe "X" can change?<br />
<br />
It’s hard to start another new year realizing that many of the hopes you had for the old one weren’t fulfilled, and it’s tempting to shield yourself from disappointment by deliberating hardening yourself into a state of indifference.<br />
<br />
When our wished-for new beginnings fail—or we fail them—most of us pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off (for a day or a month, maybe while vowing not to be fooled by hope again), then hope once more for something to be made new. And so on, and so on. After a few decades of this I-will-hope/I-won’t-hope cycle, you begin to understand why hope is a virtue. Because hope takes an act of will. And you can kill it if you wish. Killing it is easy compared to keeping it alive.<br />
<br />
All this is not to say that hopes are never fulfilled or that new beginnings never come. They do. They just don’t come as often as we’d like or in the ways we’d like. Sometimes it seems like God is more than just a little late with doing a new thing.<br />
<br />
Most of the time, it’s only by looking back over many years that we can see the new things that entered our lives. Like stepping stones in a river, leading us from one side to the other, these things were unremarkable as we set foot on them—just part of the scenery of life. But they led us from one bank of the river to the other, and crossing the Jordan in baby steps is no less of a miracle than running across the dry floor of the suddenly parted Red Sea.<br />
<br />
To those of you who made new year’s resolutions and those of you who didn’t, to those of you who think it might be time to grow a callous on your heart and those of you who have decided to give hope another year, I wish you the best in 2012.<br />
<br />
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</script>Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-10040606851726082052011-12-13T14:25:00.000-07:002011-12-13T14:25:37.978-07:00Atheists and Unicorns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yXdjuq2nYRo/TufA_VjdQzI/AAAAAAAAAgk/7EA5fubuUPE/s1600/768px-Born-again_atheist_badge%252C_c_1987b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yXdjuq2nYRo/TufA_VjdQzI/AAAAAAAAAgk/7EA5fubuUPE/s200/768px-Born-again_atheist_badge%252C_c_1987b.jpg" width="200" /></a><i>If there were no God, there would be no atheists.</i></div>—G.K. Chesterton<br />
<br />
The atheists are out in full force again this Christmas season (or as some atheists call it, "buy a billboard season"). And the same old stories are in the news: Major retail chains are telling their employees to greet customers with a colorless "happy holidays," an atheist group in Wisconsin is trying to remove a nativity scene in a small Texas town, some goofy governor wants to call a Christmas tree a "holiday tree." It’s the same old thing. Only the details change from year to year.<br />
<br />
And all the usual atheistic arguments are rearing their sad and tiny heads. It’s fascinating to watch some hapless atheist on TV try to explain his aversion to God and those who follow Him. In a sort of atheistic Tourette syndrome, words like "unicorns" and "Tooth Fairy" make frequent appearances. Not in service of a real argument, of course, but as talismans. Their mere mention is supposed to make Christians admit the error of their ways: "Unicorns? Yes, I see your point. I’ve been wrong all along."<br />
<br />
Do I sound harsh? I mean to. Atheists have become bolder and more downright fascist with each passing year, and largely because so many Christians have allowed themselves to be bullied by secularists—and a minority of secularists at that. And here’s the thing: These bullies—the rabid ones, in any case—aren’t atheists at all. They’re not a-theistic, they’re anti-theistic and, truth be told, anti-Christian.<br />
<br />
Anger is always directed toward something, and these atheists are a very angry bunch. I can’t stand basketball, and it annoys me when TV shows I like are delayed or taken off the air altogether for basketball games, but I don’t spend my time urging others not to watch basketball. I don’t even mind if some people’s entire lives revolve around basketball. So what drives an atheist to expend so much energy combating a nonexistent entity?<br />
<br />
Some atheists say they want to protect us from the evils of theism because religion has caused more deaths than anything else in the course of human history. They often add that Christianity has been the cause of more death and misery than any other religion. Really? Do they read history? Can they count? If their concern is the historic human death toll, why isn’t socialism a target? Why isn’t communism—in places where it still clings to life with its grimy little hands—a target?<br />
<br />
Why isn’t North Korea a target? For the past fourteen years reports of people resorting to cannibalism to stay alive have come out of that country. Surely cannibalism is more of a threat than a nativity display. Although the North Korean government recently warned that it would "retaliate" if South Korea displayed Christmas lights near the border. <i>Near </i>the border, not on or over it. It makes you think. Why is North Korea afraid of a harmless light display by a bunch of fools who believe in unicorns?<br />
<br />
The fact is, most atheists specifically target Christianity. They don’t mass like irritated termites during Ramadan or disrupt Buddhist festivals. A genuine atheist wouldn’t be bothered with a nativity display in a small Texas town. And if he were bothered, if he chose to make anti-theism his life’s crusade, he would rattle his saber evenhandedly. You can’t fight a multi-front battle by facing in only one direction. Unless you’re not fighting the battle you say you are.<br />
<br />
And that’s the secret. That’s what they don’t want you to know. Because if Christians understood that atheists’ target was Christianity, they might fight back.<br />
<br />
In the spirit of Christmas, atheists need to know a secret too: Most Christians have at one time or another been angry, even furious, with God. We understand anger with a Being who sometimes seems so distant and uncaring, who holds our lives and the lives of those we love in His hands. In an odd way, that anger is one proof of faith. No one wastes time being angry with unicorns.<br />
<br />
So hold onto that anger, my atheist brothers and sisters. At least for a while. It brings you closer to God than you think.<br />
<br />
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</script>Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-40754050397032349742011-11-28T09:12:00.001-07:002011-11-28T09:23:44.938-07:00Pagan Origins, My Donkey<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-luqB5xKRMOY/TtOxA-XILMI/AAAAAAAAAgY/iSGupQSHi0M/s1600/XmasTree2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-luqB5xKRMOY/TtOxA-XILMI/AAAAAAAAAgY/iSGupQSHi0M/s320/XmasTree2.jpg" width="204" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My green and silver Christmas tree</td></tr>
</tbody></table>This time of year I can’t get enough of Christmas trees. I love all Christmas decorations, really—except for big plastic snowmen—but trees are the quintessential decoration.<br />
<br />
Apparently, the first Christmas trees date to the fifteenth century in Estonia and Latvia and the sixteenth century in Germany. Some say the Christmas tree has pagan origins, but there’s no evidence for that. Except that it’s a tree, it’s green, and you bring it into your house—which is enough for some people, I guess. It just <i>seems</i> pagan.<br />
<br />
But in Europe, where most American Christmas customs originated, pagans did not cut down entire trees and bring them into their homes for the winter solstice. Goodness knows what other peoples and cultures have done with trees through the millennia. I don’t really think about it when I decorate my tree. I know what I’m celebrating, and I know the One who made the trees.<br />
<br />
Other symbols of Christmas—mistletoe, holly and ivy, evergreen garlands—are clearly connected to pagan celebrations, and it doesn’t bother me one bit. If anything, I’m pleased Christians have taken them over and made them our own. They’re part of God’s creation. They belong to Him.<br />
<br />
I don’t care what the Celts and druids did with plants when it got cold outside, or what Norse mythology says about mistletoe. Some Christians feel otherwise, but I think they’re mistaken. And I believe they’re caving to secular propaganda: "Pagan symbols are older than Christmas, so Christianity must be a myth." That’s called a non sequitur.<br />
<br />
Are we supposed to cast back though human history, vetting each Christmas decoration we wish to use, making sure it was never misused?<br />
<br />
When Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, the crowd placed palm branches at the animal’s feet. If only they’d known that the Egyptians used to bring palms into their homes at the winter solstice to celebrate the rebirth of Ra, the sun god, they might have avoided the pagan scandal of it all. And the apostle Paul might not have compared grafted olive shoots to saved souls if he’d known that in Greek mythology, the goddess Athena planted the first olive tree.<br />
<br />
Of course, the most frequently targeted Christmas symbol is the date of the holiday itself. I have to chuckle when someone on radio or TV announces, as if for the first time, that Jesus was almost certainly not born on December 25, and that it wasn’t until the fourth century that the date was set (in the West). This is always pronounced in a spiteful, gleeful kind of way—along with the suggestion that Christians chose this date because the Romans celebrated Saturnalia in late December—as though Christianity itself crumbles in the face of the Great Date Affair.<br />
<br />
Should you care what the Romans did during Saturnalia? Or what neopagans today do on the winter solstice? Maybe, but only because knowing these things will arm you the next time some anti-Christian busybody tells you that Christianity is a myth because the Norse god Baldur was killed with an arrow fashioned out of mistletoe.<br />
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Holly berries, garlands, the trees we decorate when we celebrate the birth of Christ—these are Gods gifts, His creation. They don’t belong to pagan mythology. Or to neopagans, in spite of their appropriation. If anything, neopagans have pirated God’s good gifts and denied him the thanks due for creating them.<br />
<br />
Saturnalia, the rebirth of Ra? These were shadows pointing to the real thing to come: the birth of Christ. The God who created the sun—and winter, holly, and evergreens—made use of them all, throughout history. They were whispers: <i>Look. Look what’s coming</i>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php" name="fb_share" type="button">Share</a><script src="http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/connect.php/js/FB.Share" type="text/javascript"></script>Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-76975054371155638522011-11-21T11:19:00.001-07:002011-11-21T11:36:28.844-07:00Interview: Cherie Burbach<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mOgS3nGaOVc/TsqQrhASYkI/AAAAAAAAAgI/3FljMoQ8Z10/s1600/CherieBurbach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mOgS3nGaOVc/TsqQrhASYkI/AAAAAAAAAgI/3FljMoQ8Z10/s200/CherieBurbach.jpg" width="200" /></a><em>It’s a pleasure to welcome Cherie Burbach to my blog today. Cherie writes about friendship, dating, family, and relationships at </em><a href="http://friendship.about.com/" target="_blank"><em>About.com</em></a><em> (NY Times) and </em><a href="http://family.lifegoesstrong.com/cherie-burbach" target="_blank"><em>Life Goes Strong</em></a> (<em>NBC/Universal). She has penned eleven books and ebooks, including</em> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0978974751/ref=as_li_tf_til?tag=wwwthediffere-20&camp=0&" target="_blank">Internet Dating Is Not Like Ordering a Pizza</a> <em>and</em> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005HDWSWS/ref=as_li_tf_til?tag=wwwthediffere-20&camp=0&">21 Ways to Promote Your Book on Twitter,</a><em> and has published over 500 articles on the subjects of health, sports, and lifestyle. For more info, visit her website, </em><a href="http://www.cherieburbach.com./" target="_blank"><em>http://www.cherieburbach.com.</em></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><b>Cherie, you have a lot going on in your life! You’re an author of both fiction and nonfiction, a poet, an expert on social media, and an active blogger, among other things. How on earth do you manage your time?</b><br />
<br />
Ha! I don't know if I'm an expert in social media, but I do use it quite a lot in promoting my work. I think the key to juggling everything is blocking off time for various things. For instance, the first thing I do when I get up is check email, update links to Facebook or Twitter, and then I log off. I spend the next few hours updating one of my own blogs, and then I log off of that, and spend the next several hours writing for clients. I trade off each day on the projects I work on, but that's generally how I get it done.<br />
<br />
Since freelance writing is my main job, I use weekend hours to do fiction. Poetry I tend to write daily, usually at the end of the night.<br />
<br />
Time blocks are key! It's too easy to get sucked into Facebook or Twitter during the day, so when I do have to log on I try and give myself a time limit.<br />
<br />
<b>Tell us about your current writing project.</b><br />
<b> </b> <br />
I have a couple writing gigs I just adore right now, at About.com (where I write about the topic of friendship), and Life Goes Strong (where I write about midlife dating, care giving, and spirit.) I really enjoy the topics I'm writing about, and it makes the days go really fast.<br />
<br />
On the book side of things, I'm working on several nonfiction books and a novel.<br />
<br />
<b>Where do you find ideas for your writing? What inspires you?</b><br />
<br />
Everyday life really inspires me. I'm one of those people who constantly carries a notebook around with her to jot down ideas and notes.<br />
<br />
<b>When did you know you wanted to write? Do you have one of those "When I was six, I picked up a pen . . ." stories?</b><br />
<br />
Yes, I do! I always wrote short stories, and when I was in 2nd grade my teacher told my mom that my writing had a "poetic quality" to it and that I should try writing poetry. My first thought was: "Poetry? Ick!" I didn't know anything about it (and to be honest, I still don't.) But poetry was a saving grace for me, and really helped me through a lot of childhood trauma. I still feel like poetry helps me process the outside world. I feel like I've been writing forever.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qhq664UQET8/TsqTpUP5K9I/AAAAAAAAAgQ/XDFhFcsjXJ4/s1600/internet-pizza-cover-sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qhq664UQET8/TsqTpUP5K9I/AAAAAAAAAgQ/XDFhFcsjXJ4/s200/internet-pizza-cover-sm.jpg" width="133" /></a><b>How do you divide your time between writing and blogging?</b><br />
<br />
Blogging takes up a lot of my time right now because that's where I make my money. I always feel like when I get my blogging done, my writing work (which is usually books) is my bonus time. If I had to divide it up, it would probably be blogging 75% of the time and writing the rest.<br />
<br />
<b>What do you do when you’re not working?</b><br />
<br />
I like to cook, paint, and my latest passion is putting glass sculptures together. (One example is here: <a href="http://cherieblogs.com/2011/08/17/glass-garden-sculpture" target="_blank">http://cherieblogs.com/2011/08/17/glass-garden-sculpture</a>/). I love doing crafts and mixed media pictures also.<br />
<br />
<b>Just for fun, what was your favorite childhood book?</b><br />
<br />
Any of the Madeline books. I was so influenced by them I even named my dog Genevieve.<br />
<br />
<b>Tell us what’s coming up in your writing life.</b><br />
<br />
I'm working on a new novel which is in a very different genre that I'm used to. So I'm doing research and hope to have some time to work up a draft over the holidays.<br />
<br />
<b>Any last thoughts?</b><br />
<br />
Thank you so much for the interview! I would encourage anyone reading this to help out a favorite author: write a review, write and let them know you enjoyed one of their books, pray for them, send them positive thoughts, and visit their blogs. There can be a lot of negativity in the writing world sometimes and writers appreciate any bit of positivity that comes our way.<br />
<br />
<b>How can readers connect with you?</b><br />
<br />
I've got contact info at each of my blogs (listed here: <a href="http://cherieburbach.com/blogs" target="_blank">http://cherieburbach.com/blogs</a>/). Or via Twitter: @brrbach.<br />
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</script>Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-42257884027548891592011-11-14T10:00:00.001-07:002011-11-16T09:16:36.271-07:00Interview and Book Giveaway: Author K Dawn Byrd<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GcpbAcpPkTg/TsFFs2JuYHI/AAAAAAAAAf4/_8Td7465ZPg/s1600/KDawnByrd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GcpbAcpPkTg/TsFFs2JuYHI/AAAAAAAAAf4/_8Td7465ZPg/s320/KDawnByrd.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><em>It’s my pleasure to welcome K Dawn Byrd to my blog today. K Dawn is the author of inspirational novels in several genres, including romance, romantic suspense, and young adult. She maintains an active and popular </em><a href="http://www.kdawnbyrd.blogspot.com/"><em>blog</em></a><em> and is the moderator of the </em><a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/christianfictiongathering"><em>Christian Fiction Gathering</em></a><em> group on Facebook. If all that weren’t enough, she holds a master’s degree in professional counseling from Liberty University.</em><br />
<br />
<em>To win an ebook copy of K Dawn’s latest book,</em> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/This-Time-for-Keeps-ebook/dp/B005VKMQUG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1318732622&sr=1-1">This Time for Keeps</a>, <em>just leave a comment at the end of the interview (along with your email address so K Dawn can contact you). A winner will be chosen at week’s end from among those commenting. And now, without further ado, here’s K Dawn.</em><br />
<br />
<strong>Dawn, tell us about <em>This Time for Keeps.</em></strong><br />
<br />
India McGuire's peaceful life is shattered when on the night of her engagement to David Richards, she comes face to face with Chase Porter, a long lost love. India must come to terms with her overpowering feelings for Chase and choose between David, the neighbor who says he loves her, and Chase, the man who broke her heart.<br />
<br />
Chase's plans of leaving quietly turn to disaster when he finds that it's impossible to disappear without seeing India one last time. Feelings begin to surface that he believed buried forever and he finds himself fighting to win her back even as David struggles to hold onto her.<br />
<br />
India longs to follow her heart, but she's been hurt too deeply. Who will she choose? The neighbor who can provide stability or the man she vowed to love forever who may once again heed to the call of the open road?<br />
<br />
<b>What inspired you to write this book?</b><br />
<br />
<i>This Time for Keeps</i> actually started out as a WWII romance. I'm a WWII buff and wanted to write a love story about a man who was missing in action and eventually returns from war to find his girlfriend engaged to someone else. For some reason, the WWII era just didn't seem right for my characters, so it became a contemporary romance.<br />
<br />
<strong>What draws you to inspirational romance?</strong><br />
<br />
I love reading, but so much of what's on the market is so full of smut and cursing that I don't enjoy reading it as much as I would if it were clean. I write what I love to read. I'm a Christian and it seems logical to write for the clean romance for the Christian market. All of my books so far have had a least one Christian character.<br />
<br />
<b>Many of my blog’s readers like to know about an author’s writing process. Do you outline? Do you keep a writing schedule?</b><br />
<br />
I plot a lot before I get started, so much so that I pretty much have the entire book mapped out before my fingers hit the keys. This allows me to write all my books in 30-day marathons, my own personal NaNoWriMo, if you will.<br />
<br />
<strong>What do you do when you're not writing?</strong><br />
<br />
When I'm not writing I'm reading or marketing my own work.<br />
<br />
<b>What’s coming up in your writing future?</b><br />
<br />
I have four releases for 2012. They are:<br />
<br />
January 15: <i>Zoe Mack & The Secret of the Love Letters</i> (college-age mystery/romance).<br />
April 15: <i>Shattered Identity</i> (the sequel to <i>Mistaken Identity</i>, young adult romance).<br />
June 15: <i>Zoe Mack & The Case of Fatal Attraction</i>.<br />
December 15: Zoe Mack book 3 (not yet titled).<br />
<br />
<strong>Any last thoughts?</strong><br />
<br />
Thanks so much for hosting me!<br />
<br />
<b>How can readers connect with you?</b><br />
<br />
Email: <a href="mailto:kdawnbyrd@yahoo.com">kdawnbyrd@yahoo.com</a><br />
Blog: <a href="http://www.kdawnbyrd.blogspot.com/">www.kdawnbyrd.blogspot.com</a><br />
Zoe Mack blog: <a href="http://www.zoe-mack.blogspot.com/">www.zoe-mack.blogspot.com</a><br />
Website: <a href="http://www.kdawnbyrd.com/">www.kdawnbyrd.com</a><br />
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</script>Karin Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085471267090729677noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4731530447543672664.post-36135805329544890392011-09-20T14:05:00.002-06:002011-10-28T15:32:41.585-06:00My Blog Wins the Liebster Award<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aC3c9SmRxuA/TqsLD7jNY2I/AAAAAAAAAbg/aY_zgzH2_7U/s1600/liebster_award.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aC3c9SmRxuA/TqsLD7jNY2I/AAAAAAAAAbg/aY_zgzH2_7U/s1600/liebster_award.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="68" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aC3c9SmRxuA/TqsLD7jNY2I/AAAAAAAAAbg/aY_zgzH2_7U/s200/liebster_award.jpg" width="200" /></a>I must admit I’d never heard of the Liebster Award before I received it, but now that I know what it is, I’m grateful to author <a href="http://lisatortorello.blogspot.com/">Lisa Tortorello</a> for selecting me.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Liebster</i>, it turns out, is German for "dearest" (as in "Mein liebster, you make amazing strudel"), and the Liebster Award is given by fellow bloggers to blogs with a following of 200 (some say 300) or fewer people. Here’s how it works:</div><ul><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When you receive the award, thank the blogger who gave it to you and link back to them.</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Copy and paste the award on your blog.</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Choose three to five blogs that deserve a bigger following, give them the Liebster Award, and let them know you’ve done so by leaving a comment on their blog.</div></li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are so many wonderful "small" (200 followers is small?) blogs out there that deserve bigger followings, but here are my five selections:</div><ul><li><a href="http://www.montanaromance.blogspot.com/">Montana Romance</a>: Up-and-coming Christian romance author Cynthia Bruner’s blog about inspiration, writing, and her Montana home. A fun (and sometimes serious), eclectic blog.</li>
<li><a href="http://amykate1204.blogspot.com/">Something Deep and Witty</a>: A witty (and deep) blog by Amy Maddox, a writer who will one day take the world by storm. And make cool crafts while doing it.</li>
<li><a href="http://gwendolyngage.blogspot.com/">Gwendolyn Gage ~ Serving through Words</a>: Gwen’s blog description says it all: "Thoughts on life, faith, books, novel research, and the story world inside my head."</li>
<li><a href="http://authoramanda.blogspot.com/">The Eclectic Christian Blogger</a>: Christian romance author Amanda Stephan’s blog, chock full of interviews, giveaways, and reviews.</li>
<li><a href="http://writin4him.blogspot.com/">Writin’ 4 Him Café</a>: Author Debbie Dillon blogs about her life as a follower of Christ, writer, wife, mom, church secretary, and coffee lover.</li>
</ul>Go forth and Liebster!<br />
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