Kate Warren

The lovely, talented, and brilliantly fun Angela Quarles has nominated me for the Booker Award.   This award targets literary and book-centered blogs.  The rules are simple: I post my top five books of all time; post the Booker Award icon; and nominate other bloggers to do the same. 

Sounds easy, right?   Well you try narrowing down decades of reading into just five books that have had the biggest impact or your life.  Or just five favorites.  Or just the first five that come to mind.  Well, maybe that last approach wouldn't take me very long.  Anyway, I suppose I'll end out with a combination of those three categories.  Here goes...

1. The Holy Bible.  This book has to be number one because it's been part of my life since before I could read.  No it doesn't have cute illustrations like my favorite children's books.  It's not what you'd call light reading.  And I'm not likely to pick it up for entertainment or a laugh, but it has undoubtedly had the biggest impact of any book on my life.  A large part of who I am is due to the influence of the Bible.  

2. The Complete Novels of Jane Austen.  Is that cheating, do you think?  It's one book but it's six novels plus Lady Susan.  Best combination of human nature observation, wit, and all around brilliance you could find.  My favorites are Pride & Prejudice and Northanger Abbey.  I've always been a fan of stories set in times past, so Jane Austen was a natural choice for my favorite author.  Oh, and I volunteer to verbally skewer anyone who calls Jane Austen the mother or Chick Lit.  Her novels were labors of love and brilliant contributions to literature, not forgettable stories about urban 20-somethings obsessed with sex and shoes--though now that I think of it, Mary Crawford would fit nicely into a Chick Lit novel.

3.  Gone With The Wind.  Yes, I've read all 1,024 pages of this American masterpiece.  A snapshot of a rotten time in the history of our nation that shows myriad things that got left out of the history books.  Margaret Mitchell's talent gave us the most complex and misunderstood main character of all time.  The tendency is to dismiss Scarlett O'Hara as simply a spoiled southern belle, when in fact she is far more layered and fascinating.  Here is a woman who is strong and intelligent in a time when those exactly qualities are frowned upon by the society in which she lives.  She takes on responsibilities that would daunt more experienced individuals, spends so much time in the moment and so little on introspection that by the time she figures out who she is and what she wants, it's too late.  Tragic and all too real.  Of course there's a plethora of other characters as well.  The novel isn't just about Scarlett.  If you haven't read it before, you might want to give it a shot.

4.  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  Douglas Adams is hilarious.  And brilliant.  There's really not much else to say.  Fantastically entertaining book.

5.  The Little House Books.  Ok, if the Jane Austen one wasn't cheating, this probably is because it's not even a compliation.  I loved these books as a child and I still love them now as I read them to my own children.  The stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder's life in pioneer-era America will never go out of style because they are real and highlight the spirit that enabled people to go into the wilderness and carve out an existence when the odds were against them, and they could have been much more comfortable back east.  We struggle against different challenges now, but we still struggle; and those of us who are lucky have our faith and the love of family to see us through, just as Laura did.


Now for the fun part.  I hereby nominate the following bloggers:

Jes Langan 
Donna Cummings
J.M. Blackman
Teresa Cypher
Kate Meader

Welcome back to Six Sentence Sunday in Kate Warren Land. Thank you for taking the time to visit, read, and comment. 

This week I am trying something new.  I'm going to scroll through my manuscript for a random time period and choose six sentences from whichever page I see in front of me when I've stopped scrolling.  Yes, I'm being bold and daring this week.  Here goes:  we have landed on page 197, which puts us in Chapter 31.

Stephanie is under the weather, and unhappy about the fact that her boyfriend Joe has been avoiding her since she said she was falling in love with him.  Her doorbell has continued to ring for several minutes and despite her determination to outwait whatever visitor she might have, Stephanie's decided to take a more pro-active approach.  She's considered breathing on the offender, but she doubts whatever bug she has is lethal.  So she chooses the next best option:


          She grabbed a frying pan, intent on making the doorbell ringer suffer through physical force if viruses wouldn’t do the trick.  She opened the door while raising the pan.  It hit the carpet with a muffled thud as Stephanie stared at a dozen seemingly disembodied long stemmed red roses.  Following the string with her eyes, she looked up to the ceiling where it was draped over a hook, then followed it back down, leaning out through the doorway to see Joe holding the other end of it.  She looked back to the hook.  “The super is gonna be pissed.” 


That's it for me.  It's been a long week and I'm looking forward to a day of visiting all of my favorite Sixers. :)

Kate

Thank you to all who read and comment on this lovely day.  We're getting a hint of fall lately and I'm loving the cooler temps combined with sunshine.

This week we're in chapter nine of Bridging The Gaps.  Ellen has finally gone to see the attorney her friend Georgia suggested weeks before.  Stanley O' Connell is a unique individual: a lawyer with a conscience ;).  He speaks first, followed by Ellen:


          “Let me see if I’ve got this.  Twenty five years of marriage.  Four children; two still minors.  And he callously abandons his family for some girlfriend he’s had on the side for…who knows how long.  Is that right?”
          “When you put it that way it doesn’t sound very good.”


That's my six for the week.  As Ellen took Georgia's advice, you should take mine: go and visit with my favorite authors on this fine Six Sentence Sunday.

Kate

It's that time of week again.  The time when authors around the world share Six Sentences of their brilliance.  Thank you for coming here to read mine.  By the way, if anyone wants to fill up some space on their blog, I'm open to interviews.

Last week I gave you Melanie's point of view regarding her parents' divorce, this week a little something from Matt.  He and Melanie have just gotten home from a weekend at Dad's--with the other woman.  Melanie got into a fight with her father.  Ellen wondered aloud if she should ask what the fight was about and Matt told her to take a guess.  All of this is in front of Ellen's friends. 

Ellen speaks first, then Matt responds:



          Ellen sighed.  “That’s what I thought.”
          “I couldn’t even block it out completely.  They take lovey-dovey to a sickening new level.” He made a face to demonstrate his disgust.  “If you’ll excuse me I need to go wash my ears out with acid.”




I love Matt's sense of humor, and his way with words.  He's taking it better than Melanie is, but the situation still bothers him.  That's all for me this week.  Go forth and visit the talented Sixers who populate the blogosphere with awesomeness each weekend!

The lovely Jess Schira has tagged me to participate in The Next Big Thing blog challenge.  Here's how it works:

First: Answer the 10 questions below.
Then:  Spread the fun and tag 5 more awesome people to participate.
It's also nice to link back to the person



1.  What is the title of your  book / WIP?
 
"Bridging The Gaps"

  
2.  Where did the idea of this book come  from?

It came from a few ideas that got melded together one November.  I've read romance novels and noticed that the main characters are usually rather on the young and gorgeous side.  Haven't seen many romantic stories where the hero and heroine are over forty and look like regular people.  I wanted to write a romantic story for real people, and I wanted to write a story about a woman moving on with her life after being left by her rat of a husband.  Plus I had this idea about a dentist who buys Halloween candy.  I started my first NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) by sitting down on November 1, 2009 and writing what came to me.  It turned out to be all of those stories mixed together.


3. What genre would your book fall under?
 
Contemporary Fiction and/or Women's Fiction.  While it has romantic elements, and a love story is part of the plot, it does not qualify as a traditional Romance novel.


 4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
 
 Careful!  I'm like a kid in a candy store when I start talking about casting.  For Ellen I'm thinking maybe Marcia Gay Hardin there's another actress I saw in a film recently who I thought would be great in the role, but I can't remember her name right now.  For Henry I'm fairly flexible.  I've thought of everyone from John C. Reilly to George Clooney for him.  I want Ellen Burstyn for Jessie.  I'd love to see Emma Stone in the mix.  She'd make a perfect Stephanie, but she's really a better age for Chloe.  I could see Chloe Moretz as Melanie.  Kiefer Sutherland or Mark Valley maybe for Doug.  I want Stanley Tucci for Charlie Webber.  Rita is tricky.  She has to be cast just right, and that partly depends on who plays Henry.  I'm always open to suggestions if anyone has them!


 5. What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
 
 Hang on...I have it somewhere around here.  Ah yes: 

Ellen Pritchard tries to protect her family in the midst of divorce, alcholism, and teenaged dating, as she searches for the courage to give love another chance.


 6. Is your book published or represented?

Yes.  Collier Bluff Books is my publisher.  "Bridging The Gaps"  is out as an eBook now and the print version will be out in October.
 

7. How long did it take you to write  it?
 
Two Novembers.  Because of the family I've got (I love them dearly, but they are a challenge), I don't get much writing done during the year.  NaNoWriMo during November gives me a chance to focus and be really motivated, so that's when I get most of my writing done.  "Bridging The Gaps" was written during NaNo 2009 and NaNo 2010.  


8. What other books in your genre would you compare it to?
 
 I don't know about specific books in the genre that I would compare it to.  We writers all like to think we've written something unique.  I would say that one author whose work I've admired in the genre is Jeanne Ray.  A few years ago I read her "Step, Ball, Change" and loved it.


 9. Which authors inspired you to write this book?
 
 No specific authors but there are several I admire.  As I mentioned above Jeanne Ray.  Also Nora Roberts, Jane Austen, Dave Barry, Mark Twain, C.S. Lewis, Sharon Penman.  I could go on for days.


 10. Tell us anything else that might pique our interest in your book.

In addition to the drama involved there is a lot of humor.  If you've ever lived in a small town, or wanted to, you'll feel right at home in Troy Falls.  And for art lovers, Claude Monet comes into the equation.  Not personally as he's been dead for quite some time and that would be icky.  But his work is important.
 

 
The Five Awesome Fiction Authors I'm Tagging Include:

Angela Quarles
Caitlin McColl
Jes Langan 
J. M. Blackman
Patricia Ann Preston

It's August all of a sudden, but best of all it's Sunday, which means it's time to visit our favorite authors and read Six Sentences of their brilliance.

This week in Kate Warren Land, Ellen is breaking some sad news to her youngest.  Fifteen year old Melanie has been scheming to get her parents back together, and has just found out that her mother filed for divorce.  Ellen has just said that she knows how Melanie feels.  Melanie of course disagrees with that idea.

          "You don’t know what it’s like to have your father walk out on you and your mother not care!”
          “I do care—”
          “You don’t know how it feels to go from one house to another every other weekend.  To have your friends pitying you and say “Poor Lanie” all the time.  Always having people trying to make you feel better when nothing will ever be right again.  You don’t know!” 

Poor girl.  I feel bad for her. 

Thank you for visiting, and a double thank you to those who comment (except the spammers, they do not get any thanks, though it's nice to know they care).

Kate