My friend, Clark Kimble

Just wanted to let everyone know that Clark passed away this evening. Thank you for your support and friendship. Yesterday when I spent time with him he was laughing, talking, still tired, but the fight was in his eyes--today his body started shutting down. I know he isn't in pain anymore. His spirit no longer inhabits a tabernacle of infection and viruses. He was a great example to me of faith, perseverance, long-suffering, patience, and love.

The Lord who knows everything called him home where he will continue to bless the lives of those around him.

I'm not Dead, I Promise. :-)

I haven't had a lot of time lately for Twitter and blogging. Sad, huh? I'm not neglecting any of you on purpose and promise to come back soon, but my time has been stretched really thin lately.

Last year my friend, Clark Kimble, contracted a really scary virus which killed his liver. They got him a transplant, but the virus continued to attack his system--destroyed his bone marrow--which in turn destroyed his ability to make his own blood. He needs a transplant, but has been rejected by Medicaid three times, even though they're covering him. Weekly blood transfusions suffice for now, but he's really having a hard time fighting bacteria and such without his own blood. Plus, the transfusions are VERY expensive. We're in the process of getting the attention of "higher ups" to help us out.

I went up to the hospital (Huntsman) yesterday with a friend and my sister-in-law to bring up Clark's car for his mom to use, and to drop off some donated money. Clark was in and out of it the whole time--probably doesn't remember we'd even visited. His mom and sister asked me to try to wake him up. To get his attention, I practically had to yell his name, and he'd open his eyes only long enough to see us, then would be back asleep again. He's had an especially hard time the last couple of days because of infections in his lungs.

Anyway. I feel really strongly about helping him and his family. Just reading through the posts they've put on his blog (here) makes me cry. They've been through so much, and I want to do everything I can to alleviate that pain. He's had 18 major surgeries in the last year and he's only 24!

Long explanation, but there you have it. :-) I haven't forgotten any of you! And I'm not gone forever! :-) I'm spending most of my time heading up a bunch of fund raisers in the area and working on my first edit of book two in my series. Wish me luck, and see y'all soon. :-)

Author Interviews!

I'm so OCD, it kills me. I have to have a nice, organized place to put all of my author interviews (of me and mine of others). Silly me. :-)

Interviews I conducted:
Daron Fraley
Don Carey
Krista Lynne Jensen


Interviews of me:
Matthew Shields
LDS Women's Book Review
Aaron Polson
Daron Fraley
Krista Lynne Jensen
Don Carey
Literary Works in the Works
The Literary Soundtrack

Book Review: The Thorn

Author: Daron Fraley
Daron's website and blog
Read my interview of Daron
Information on the book and how to purchase it here.

From the back of the book:
Three tribes are at war on the planet Gan, unaware that the sign of Christ’s birth on an unknown world – Earth – is about to appear in the heavens.

During a bloody skirmish with Gideonite troops, Jonathan of Daniel spares Pekah, a young enemy soldier, gaining his trust forever. These two distant brothers from estranged tribes covenant with each other to end the war being waged by a self-proclaimed emperor, and soon discover the intentions of a far more dangerous foe named Rezon – a sinister general bent on ruling those he can bring into subjection and destroying all others.

Daron has talent as a writer when it comes to descriptions and emotions. They're enough that they help readers picture things, and yet did not go overboard and get boring. I felt drawn into the story through Jonathan and especially Pekah--their experiences, thoughts, and reunions with loved ones. There were many instances when I actually got chills at what was happening. I found myself yearning to understand what was going on in this world, and was happy with how things played out.

As authors we've been told to not use dreams in our stories--they tend to pull people out of the book, or don't help further things the way the writer wants them to. I found this to not apply to The Thorn. Two significant dreams occur, and the way Daron used them propelled the story forward, keeping my interest. (They were dang cool! And the ending of the book--holy cow! The battle scene was awesome, and tons of super-cool things happen! *ahem.* Sorry about that. Back to the serious review. :-))

My favorite character was Pekah--his humble, unassuming ways endeared him to me. His experiences placed him on a pedestal, and yet he didn't try to make himself important in the eyes of other people.

I loved the contrast between the characters: Rachel and Jonathan, Pekah, Jasher, Abigail and Eli. I especially felt close to Abigail--a humble, selfless, sweet and even-tempered young woman who goes through enough trials to last a lifetime.

If you are looking for a book with a calm, peaceful story which focuses a great deal on character development, the battle between right and wrong, and uniting long-estranged brothers, pick up The Thorn. You'll be happy you did.

Writing Tips: Stop Yer Procrastinating!

I absolutely love to surf the net for writing tips, tools, advice, anything aimed to make my writing better, and anything dealing with other authors and their agents/publishers. I know many of you are like this, and honestly, it isn't a bad thing. We should keep up with the publishing world, even if we're not ready to start submitting, or even if we're already represented. (A good place to start on all of this would be Nathan Bransford's blog.)

He he he. I can't help but laugh every time I see this. It's sooo sad! :-)

One of the biggest lessons I've had to learn as an author is there must be moderation in all things. Yes, this is something taught by basically every person everywhere, but in the writing world, I still forget it occasionally.

And it's no wonder we get distracted: there are many things to keep track of and to master. It's easy to get sucked into our computers and forget to watch the clock.

A post of mine from a while ago (What to Do While Writing) addressed this issue, and in it I mention something Jaime Thelar observed: we use internet resources as a crutch, or as a way to procrastinate our actual writing.

Case in point: I once spent several hours trying to find the perfect name for a character and even the best actor to play him on the big screen. It finally dawned on me I'd been avoiding my writing. But why? Why was I so focused on this character?

I took a long break--probably watched a movie with my mom--then went back to the computer to figure out what was wrong. It came easily then: I'd been trying to find a name for a someone who didn't really belong in the story. I ended up revamping his personality, basically removing who he'd been and replacing him with someone better, getting me excited about writing and ready to forge onward. Problem solved!

Many days I can't allow myself to open the internet, to talk to people, or even sometimes to eat until I've done my writing for the day, since I'll use these as excuses to leave the computer. (I've learned when my body lies to me about it being hungry. :-))

What have you found which works for you? How do you keep yourself from getting sucked into surfing and spending too much precious writing time on researching and self-education?

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