The Watchers Book 1: Knight of Light by Deirdra Eden

Do you love adventure? Fantasy? Medieval England? Fairies? Witches? Pixies? Demons? Mystical creatures with unique personalities; some fun, others dangerous? Just to name a few of the character types you will run into in "Knight of Light" by Deirdra Eden, Book One of The Watchers Series.

This is an exciting tale of an orphan girl, Auriella. "She's not a witch; she's not human either. She's something much more powerful." And Book One, "Kinght of Light," leads you on an adventurous journey of self discovery, with Auriella, to learn who she actually is; someone who has the power to change this world. Don't miss this middle grade/young adult book that encourages the reader to be have courage and be strong. It is fast-paced and a quick and entertaining read; newly released and already a bestseller.

The Watchers Book 1: Knight of Light

In England, 1270 A.D., Auriella (pronounced yurr-ee-ella) flees her village after being accused of witchcraft. Pursued by nightmarish creatures, she struggles to accept the truth about her humanity. Filled with fairies, dwarves, pixies, dragons, demons, and monsters, Knight of Light is an enthralling tale that will capture the imaginations of readers young and old.

The Watchers Series has been described as Braveheart meets Supernatural. The mythology for the series is based on many theological texts from dozens of sects with correlating themes. Ancient writings include The Dead Sea Scrolls, The Traditional Apocrypha, The Pearl of Great Price, and The Kabbalah.

“The Watchers” are supernatural beings in human form whose duty it is to protect and guard mankind from the armies of darkness. Unfortunately, as the Book of Enoch mentions, some of these Watchers go bad. Although the mythology is based on these texts, Deirdra Eden’s The Watchers Series is written in a traditional fairytale style with a young girl’s discovery of incredible, but dangerous powers within herself, a cast of humorous side-kicks, a quest for greater self-discovery and purpose, and villains of epic proportions

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About the Author

"My goal in writing is to saturate my books with intrigue, mystery, romance, and plot twists that will keep my readers in suspense. I want to see fingerprints on the front and back covers where readers have gripped the novel with white knuckles! Aside from writing, I enjoy jousting in arenas, planning invasions, horseback riding through open meadows, swimming in the ocean, hiking up mountains, camping in cool shady woods, climbing trees barefoot, and going on adventures."
-Deirdra Eden

Find Deirdra Eden and The Watchers Series online on Amazon, Deirdra's website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Wattpad, and Pinterest.

A Day in May . . . or 4 or 5 days

Ah, the best laid plans… I always MEAN to get right back to my blog, but then this thing called LIFE gets in the way. So, a little catching up to follow: for May – one of the biggest events was that I went to LDStorymakers Writers Conference for the first time ever!! (I’ve been going to writers’ workshops and conferences for over 20 years but never to this one before).

It was the first weekend in May and my dear friend, Theresa Sneed, and I drove up together (well, I drove and she rode). We left on Wed afternoon (later than we meant to) and spent the night in Henderson, NV. The next morning we got ready and drove on up to SLC where Theresa was signed up for Writers Boot Camp so I dropped her off and then I had a great lunch with my cousin, Kathy Goold Gunther, whom I haven’t seen in years!

Our hostess for our stay was Kari Pike, a fellow ANWA member who moved from AZ to UT a year or so ago (maybe more – my brain doesn’t keep track of time very well - DUH). We had lots of fun with Kari. Thanks, Kari - you're the BEST!

That night (Thurs) Theresa and I drove up to Ogden, UT so we could watch this precious men’s’ chorus during their rehearsal as I was writing an article on them. The Men of Song (More info at their blog) – AND you can read the article I wrote for Deseret News about them here: Men of Song musical repertoire resonates with audiences ~ these men were so precious with their mellow voices. The group members range in age from 43 to 86 years old. :)

But I digress. It would be impossible at this late date to try to recap the conference – suffice it to say we had the best time, met lots of fellow LDS writers, took great classes, and even topped off the week by attending the Whitney Awards Banquet. Think I better start saving now so I can go again next year, LDStorymakers was AWESOME!

So, on Sunday, Theresa needed to get back home in order to teach school on Monday and she drove home with Betsy Love and her husband. I, on the other hand, took my sweet time; first, attending Sacrament Mtg with Kari and her family – it was Mother’s Day – and then I drove down to my sister’s house in St. George. Camille was so cute – she made us a nice lunch. We had a visit that was much too short and then I was on my way to Mandy and Jason’s house in Henderson, NV. I got there in time for Mother’s Day Dinner and had a wonderful visit with the grandchildren.

My plans were to go home on Monday, but, again, the best laid plans . . . NOT! I must have eaten something over the weekend that didn’t agree with my hypersensitive tummy (which is light years beyond just needing to be gluten-free) and I was in bed, sleeping most of the day. I drove home on Tuesday and pulled in just moments before I had to leave to go tutor in Gilbert.

And so, there you have it, one MARVELOUS extended weekend in May – wish I could have told more but this is LONG enough! Cheers!

Your Pinkie is More Powerful Than Your Thumb

Do you LOVE trivia - then you'll enjoy a new book I recently reviewed at Deseret News: 

Check out my book review on a book that dispenses more than 300 facts you never thought to wonder about ~ click here: Book Review on Deseret News - Pinkie Stronger Than Your Thumb

Would LOVE it if you left a comment in the "Comment Section" ~ Thanks!

Book Review - The Waterfall Concept: A Blueprint for Addiction Recovery

The Waterfall Concept: A Blueprint for Addiction Recovery
by Roger Stark, Silver Star Publishing, 192 pages, $19.95 

This is a fabulous book!! No matter what habits or addictions steal your time and/or your happiness, you can find the tools in this book to be extremely useful. I'll post my more detailed review for my regular Book Review blog once I get permission from MormonTimes.com ~ in the meantime, you can follow the link and read it there. Then I would love it if you came back here and left a comment and then followed the last link to Deseret News where you can leave comments and leave one there as well. Thanks so much!!

Roger Stark's own journey of recovery gave him the desire to become an addiction counselor. Now he shows others the way to healing through one-on-one counseling, at recovery retreats and in his new book, "The Waterfall Concept: A Blueprint for Addiction Recovery." Read the Complete Book Review at Deseret News

BOOK REVIEW: An Angel on Main Street

If you add only one Christmas book to your collection this year, you need to add An Angel on Main Street by Kathi Oram Peterson. If you know anything about me, you know I have a bazillion books, poems, stories and movies about Christmas. I love a good Christmas story and this one really fits the bill. It is such a pleasurable and satisfying read.

I was instantly drawn into the story with Kathi's delightful first-person narrative told from the viewpoint of schoolboy, Micah Connors. He and his widowed mother and his little sister moved to Bolton, Idaho to get a fresh start. Micah promised to behave and as the “head of the house” since his father died in the Korean War, he desperately wants to help out and please his mother. However, a series of circumstantial events has him constantly in the path of the Sheriff, Garth Anderson.

Micah is suspicious of the Sheriff’s interest in his family. He is also preoccupied trying to uncover the secret of the mysterious wooden structure that suddenly appeared in the center of town. Micah thinks it looks like a stable and his little sister, Annie, who is very ill, thinks it holds the key to a miracle that could make her well again. She is sure angels are building it, but Micah gave up on angels and help from his Heavenly Father long ago. Each day Annie grows worse and each day the town awakens to a new addition; animals, shepherds and more. A few days before Christmas Micah has convinced himself if he can discover the baby Jesus before He is placed in the manger and bring Him to Annie to hold, she will not die. It’s up to him. Little does he know the many hands that are waiting to assist him in his quest. Yes, there must be an angel on Main Street.

Congratulations to Kathi Oram Peterson for crafting such a delightful story. I couldn’t put it down. You can view a trailer of her book on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTrKWOhKY9k

You can purchase this wonderful Christmas story at: Seagull Book - do a search by title


It’s time to turn on the Christmas music, break out the hot cocoa and settle down with a good book. I suggest An Angel on Main Street! Enjoy!!

BOOK REVIEW: A Mighty Heart by Mariane Pearl

I finished A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life And Death Of My Husband, Danny Pearl
by Mariane Pearl the other day. In some ways it reminds me of Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Both take place mostly in Pakistan and both are so powerful that you reflect on them for days and even weeks to come. Both have some rough language but it was nearly transparent to me as the heart-wrenching frustrations in each story resulting in such words were so overwhelming that I hardly noticed the harsh and sometimes foul words, normally foreign to me. (And in both cases, I listened to the book on CD driving to and from work over the course of a couple of weeks. I still consider them books that I "read").

I remember when this occurred as the world held it's breath for five long weeks, sending up prayers in many languages for Danny's safe return. He was a reporter and the South Asia Bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal. Danny put himself in harm's way to shed some light to the side of the news that might bring about world understanding. Instead, in this instance, it brought a type of horror that proved to be both universal and yet painfully personal for his wife, Mariane, who was pregnant with their first child, a son.

On January 23, 2002, on his way to what he thought was an interview at a village restaurant in Karachi, Pearl was kidnapped by the militant group, "The National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty." This group claimed Danny (of Jewish heritage and an American) was a CIA agent. Before he left for the interview, he told Mariane that he might be late for dinner. He never returned.

Mariane's riveting account of realizing her husband was missing and working to help the authorities piece it all together, leading up to Danny's eventual and brutal murder will leave you forever changed. Mariane is also an award-winning journalist and shares a very detailed step-by-step account of what took place. Surprisingly, interwoven throughout every page of the book, is a love story so intimate, intense and tender that you'll find often yourself smiling and feeling very privileged to "know" these remarkable people, including those surrounding Mariane during this difficult time ... each with their own "mighty heart."

The book on CD is read by Mariane. You really need to concentrate to understand her as she was born of an Afro-Chinese-Cuban mother and Dutch-Jewish father in France. She is a practicing Buddist. Mariane was raised in Paris and has a very unique accent. It's a good thing that you have to listen so carefully as you want to catch every detail and no one else would ever be able to tell the story as she does. It's a story I shall not soon forget. It makes you grateful and also sad but leaves you in awe of the courage of so many of our brothers and sisters half-way around the world, especially Mariane, whose heart is every bit as mighty as her husband's.

BOOK REVIEW: The Santa Letters

The Santa Letters by Stacy Anderson

~ NO, it’s NOT too early to review a Christmas book!!! ~
I’m a sucker for Christmas stories. I collect them, in all their varieties. I have an entire bookcase and DVD case full of Christmas stories and movies. Some are individual stories and others are compilations of Christmas stories, either store-bought or homemade with precious holiday tales that have been copied over and over again. I also collect nativities. I’m kind of a Christmas junkie, so I was pretty pleased to discover a new Christmas book this year. It’s called The Santa Letters by Stacy Gooch Anderson and it’s destined to become a Christmas classic, possibly a best-seller.

Having been raised by a remarkable woman of great service and joy who loved everything about Christmas I don’t think anything could take away the happiness of the season for me. As a child, every inch of our home was decorated, including the bathrooms. Christmas music is played at my house from November 1st until the New Year. Even though my precious mother passed away one week before Christmas ten years ago, I have not lost my love of the season when we celebrate the best gift we could ever receive, the birth of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ.

Christmas movies are playing most of the time during the holidays at the Abney home and my children love to tease me about my “B” movies because many well-intended Christmas movies are made on a shoestring budget and lack some of the glamour and finesse of Hollywood, but they still find a home in my heart, year after year. I can be very forgiving when it comes to a good Christmas story. And although I found some things that took me away from the story in this first novel of journalist Stacy Anderson, by the time I finished reading it, I could hardly remember what they were… except for the fact that I’m such a goofball note taker that I even take notes when I read. And since I have so many good things to say about this story, let’s just get this part over with: I found it to be frequently melodramatic, particularly the foreshadowing in the first chapter. Some of the dialogue seemed very contrived; as if Stacy was trying too hard. And the image of this line especially took me right out of the story: “… as tears streamed down her face, making zebra stripes out of her mascara.” (Sorry, Stacy, because I think you are charming and wonderful, but that was just plain odd for me). Some other things distracted me, but as I said, by the time I closed the book, they no longer mattered.

This book is not just for the Christian audience ~ it’s for those that believe ~ altruistic people everywhere will enjoy it. It’s a story to help everyone remember how blessed they truly are and the importance of family and being there for each other, especially when sorrow visits your doorstep.

For Emma, tragedy occurs on Christmas Eve when her husband is hit and killed by a drunken driver, leaving Emma to pick up the pieces and raise her four children alone. However, she soon realizes she isn’t really alone as grandparents and neighbors pitch in. Even the loving help of others can’t fill the hole in her heart. It’s nearly Christmas again and Emma has neither the Christmas spirit nor the funds to give her children the holiday they deserve … and then twelve days before Christmas, letters and packages begin to appear on her doorstep. Each letter is lovingly crafted by a sweet long-winded (something I know plenty about) Santa and day by day he leads Emma and her children on a journey of self-discovery that you will not soon forget.

I didn’t interview Stacy for this book tour stop but I have read many emails from her and spoken to her on the phone and she is one of the sweetest people you would ever want to talk to. She is coming to Mesa for book signings in November and we can’t wait and I will have all the details about her schedule when she is in town on this blog so be sure to check back often.

DayStar Media (they do religious programming for cable and network TV) contacted Stacy and invited her to fly to Tennessee for a talk show featuring her new book. And here’s something totally awesome ~ Stacy sent a copy to the First Lady, Laura Bush, and recently received a lovely thank you letter from the White House on official stationary with the Presidential Seal signed personally by Laura Bush thanking Stacy for her sweet words of support and for sending her a signed copy of The Santa Letters which has now become one of Mrs. Bush’s Christmas favorites! How cool is that? You go, girl!!! This is such an amazing ride for a deserving new author. I wish her the best of everything.

You can purchase The Santa Letters here:
http://deseretbook.com/store/search?search=the+santa+letters&x=14&y=6

Visit Stacy's blog here: http://www.stayinalivewithstacy.blogspot.com/
or her website:http://www.thesantaletters.org/


Enjoy!!!