Remembrandt Audiobook and Paperback Giveaway

Yippee! Yep, I just wrote that. I'm old school like that. GoodReads is doing a giveaway right now for 5 copies of Remembrandt and you get to choose if you want the audiobook or a paperback. YES!!

New Audiobook Cover!

Anyone can enter to win. Even if you've read the book or listened to the audio, feel free to enter and you can give it away. All you have to do is click below :) Happy reading and let me know what you think of the audiobook!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Remembrandt

by Robin M. King

Giveaway ends March 31, 2017.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Blog Lovin': Keep track of your favorite blogs all in one spot!

I don't have a ton of time to read blogs, but there are a few I like to keep up to date on. I just discovered bloglovin', a great way to keep track of my favorite writers and sites.

You can add me to your bloglovin' feed. If you have a blog, please make a comment below with your blog web address so that I can follow all my friends too!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Robin

Robin Review's it: Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold

Book Title: Carter Beats the Devil
Author: Glen David Gold
Pages: 662
Published: 2001
Publisher: Hyperion
Recommended for: 18+

An engaging story of Carter the Great with fantastic illusions and fun historical tidbits.

4.25 Stars

My Opinion: The backdrop of this story is one of historical events mixed in with possibility. As a master of illusions, Carter grows from a child fascinated with magic to an adult who lives for it.

The details that went into the staging and magic acts were flawless. The descriptions gave me the illusion of being an audience member back when Houdini or Carter took the stage. I Iiked that the magic in the book was possible and still so amazing that you could hardly believe it.

The two love stories, though definitely not the center of the book, carried me from the middle to the end. SPOILER: My heart broke when Carter's first love met with tragic accident as part of one of Carter's magic tricks. I liked that he didn't just get over it and had to go through years of struggle before finding his final love.

I was awestruck at how the author took real events from the 1920s, like the death of President Harding, and turned it into a fantastic story that had me Googling the internet to find out what really happened to the president and what Glen David Gold made up. What was even more fun was that some of the things COULD have happened. SPOILER: How cool would if have been for the real President Harding to escape scandal and find peace with his wife on a remote island? I mean, how did he come up with this stuff?!?

Though it took me a few chapters to get into the book (some of the jumping around from character to character didn't get me emotionally engaged until later), overall the book was well-written and researched with enough surprise to keep me reading until the very end. I'm excited to pick up some more of Gold's books.


My Content Rating: PG-13 
SEXUALITY: Moderate (references to prostitution and homosexuality--the red tie)
LANGUAGE/PROFANITY: Mild
DRUG/ALCOHOL USE: Moderate
INTENSE/SCARY SCENES: Moderate (mostly just intense illusions)
VIOLENCE: Moderate (agents getting beat up, attempted murder, death)

**Robin-approved for 18+ audiences**

LTUE Exposed: Orson Scott Card's Take on Ender's Game

"When you make things happen, the people who want to be part of it come along."

I had the opportunity to attend Life, the Universe, and Everything (LTUE) at the Provo Marriot on February 13-15, 2014. The keynote address given by Orson Scott Card was on Saturday. I decided to record parts of his presentation below, where he reads from (and often stops to give side notes) a soon-to-be-published essay he wrote. Card really could be a comedian, though, ironically I'm not sure he means to be that funny. If you don't have time to listen to his speech, here are a few tidbits:

• When adapting someone's story, you should refer to the original material (I think this was a wisecrack at the recent movie of "Ender's Game," though he doesn't actually say the words).
• He admits that when writing Ender (in his book, Ender's Game), he wanted Ender to appear smarter than himself. He regrets somewhat the ending of Ender's Game. Not that he would change what happened, but he would change WHY it happened (he is referring to where Ender basically tells everyone to "do their best" and fly randomly in the final battle). Card said that is what you do "instead of an ending." It didn't ruin the story or the book because by then we were emotionally involved in Ender, but it didn't make him appear smart. 
• He realized now, years later, that he didn't make Ender smart in tactics and strategy, but smart in command. 1. Know your man intimately and unsentimentally 2. Know their strengths and weaknesses. Ender knew how to bring out the best effort in each member of his team. He even helped them to develop their skills, even ones he didn't have himself. 
• He set out only writing Ender's Game to set up Speaker of the Dead. 
• 
  
• He also realizes, though he didn't initially mean, that he wrote part of himself in Ender. Card admits that he learned early on how leadership works as a deacon in the LDS Church and later as a director of some non-approved plays at BYU. This part is hilarious -- you have to listen to it!
• "When you make things happen, the people who want to be part of it, come along." This is what he calls unofficial leadership.
• Referring to his experiences with the drama department at BYU and the professors' hostile actions towards his leadership, he said, "The opposition didn't harm me. On the contrary, I realized how little I needed their approval in order to accomplish my aims." Card learned there that he was always on his own and he couldn't count on anyone to stand up for him.
• Unconsciously, he had made Ender do at battle school what he had done at the BYU drama department.
• He wrote draft after draft of a screen play for Ender's Game and none of them seemed to fit. After he already sold the movie rights, he finally wrote a script that will never be published or sold. The take that worked on this screenplay was focusing on Ender's relationships with the kids that he led. The audience would wish they could be in his army. Then they would love Ender.
• His new ending (that has never been written) would be a scene where there is a holographic conversation with Valentine where she gives Ender a clip of a park they played at when they were younger. She focuses in on one leave that is falling (the surface of the leaf, even if there is no wind, makes it fall and dart and go in different directions, following no real pattern). Ender would then have a realization right before the last battle: we are creatures of the trees, we can be the leaf. Ender would then show the team the leaf and tell them (instead of saying "do your best" and lucky chance would win) to be like the leaf, be as unpredictable as possible, rise and fall, slow down and speed up. The leaf would make it to the surface and so would the ships. Finally, Ender was smart! It led to victory.
• Card plans in the future to rewrite a new edition of Ender's Game. The story would essentially be unchanged, but he would include parts that clear up the contradictions he made in later novels, AND he could add that part above about the leaf, making Ender smart. (You can download this new version, not a new book, but an audio play he wrote from Audible called "Ender's Game Alive". It's different because there's no narrator, but it does its job).
• From short story to novel to screenplay to audioplay, it took Orson Scott Card 38 years to get it right, but he got there and found Ender Wiggin waiting for him at the end.

I wished I could have sat down with Orson Scott Card and picked his brain or listened to him speak longer because this man has a lot of great things to say. I know that authors are people just like you and me, but sometimes I think of them as legends. Whether they mean to or not, the heros in their books do have the power to teach us and change us. I believe Card has done that.

Orson Scott Card LTUE Essay - Part 1

Orson Scott Card LTUE Essay - Part 2

Robin's Top 5 Books of 2013

I read 53 books in 2013 and that doesn't include the unpublished books I read from my writing group and other author friends. Now you might be thinking I must be sitting around on my behind all day long because that is a stinkin' lot of books. Sometimes I wish that were the case, but I do have five kids and a husband to take care of. In actuality, I only "read" about 20% of the books. The rest I listened to on audiobook while running, cleaning, doing laundry, cutting coupons etc. So here they are:

Since you probably don't have time to read more than 50 books a year, I'm going to give you my top picks for 2013. How do they make it on my list?

1.) They receive at least 4 out of 5 stars.
2.) They keep my interest from first page to last.
3.) They have good taste (not trashy).
4.) They are well-written, well-thought out, and unique in some way.
5.) I would read them again.

Hope you have fun reading them!

ROBIN'S TOP 5 BOOK PICKS FROM 2013: 

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
4.5 Stars 
Breathtaking, heartbreaking, merrymaking. 
Clockwork Princess truly transported me to a world where I felt the characters were real enough to touch. Cassandra Clare knows how to bring characters and relationships to life. 

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer4.5 Stars

Action-packed, laced with some fun romance. 
This in #2 in the Lunar Chronicles. I am really loving this series. The characters are so alive. The fairy tale elements are a delight to read. I loved discovering how Meyer was able take the story of Little Red Riding Hood and turn it upside down and inside out in a sci-fi world. Scarlet is trying to find her kidnapped grandmother and then has a run in with a man called Wolf, who she ends up liking, but who sometimes wants to eat her. I mean, how did she come up with this stuff?

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
4 Stars
Eye opening, heart wrenching, a good historical read. 
Louis Zamperini goes from boyhood delinquent to talented runner. Thinking he's on his way to his dreams of the Olympics, WWII unfolds and he is drafted into its ranks. His B-42 is downed at sea. Through wisdom, strength, and unending endurance he tries to survive against thirst, hunger, and sharks. His perseverance is tested even longer as he becomes a POW in Japanese territory.

I not a huge fan of non-fiction, but this one definitely turned my head. True stories are sometimes hard to get through because you know that there is no simple answer to complex problems in real life. Reading about Louis (and his friends) helped me understand a different side of WWII from the holocaust and Germany. The suffering of Americans in another part of the world opened my eyes to a strength I didn't think possible. The historical element of this book was brought forth using interesting facts and never-ending action. Glad I took the time to break away from fairy tales and love stories to give this one a chance.

Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson
4.25 Stars
Sweet and fun love story reminiscent of Jane Austen's Emma. 
It was refreshing to read a character who didn't want to give up her dreams of traveling to India and wasn't willing to let society change her mind. The mystery, the flashbacks, the regency time period, the clean romance, the references to music and birds--all these aspects made it worth the read.

Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter 
5 Stars
Funny, clever, quick read.
Yes, this is a young adult book. Yes, it is about a girl who leaves a boarding school (she conned her way into) to help steal back paintings to save her father. Yes, it's a little juvenile in parts. BUT, I totally loved it! I couldn't help laughing out loud in so many parts. I loved how the perspectives changed, and yet you still felt like you could be Katarina, the cool and witty con artist. Don't ask me how the author did it, but I found that I could totally relate to this teenage girl and her plight as a member of this family in the business of stealing. I realize that stealing is wrong and I'm not in support of the Heist Society's lifestyle. That being said, I seriously want to join Katarina's family. Yeah, I'm kind of a little crazy like that. This is #3 in the series, but I have loved each one!

Tiger's Destiny by Colleen Houck (yes, I realize this is #6, but I couldn't resist)
4.5 Stars
A lovely ending to a compelling, adventuresome, intellectually-stimulating, and heart-strings-pulling series. 
This is #4 in the Tiger's Curse series. I'm so pleased with how this book ended! I wasn't sure how Colleen Houck would be able to tie loose ends. Somehow she did. The final battle got my blood pumping and the last scenes with Ren and Kelsey had my heart racing. It was a truly perfect end to this epic romantic fantasy!

Honorable Mention: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo 
4 Stars
A dark and emotional fantasy. I can't wait until the 3rd book, Rise and Ruin.

New Book Spotlight: Félicité Found by Julia King

My sister-in-law, Julia King, has just released her first book to the world! I am so excited to be related to this amazing gal and show off her masterpiece. Check out her book below, enter to win a copy, and listen to her book-inspired playlist.

Seventeen-year-old Pierre Rousseaux witnesses a young girl take a near fatal plunge off Pont Neuf Bridge into the freezing water of the River Seine in Paris, France. After diving into the racing river himself, he is able to rescue her from a watery death, but only after her head is bashed into the riverwall. Upon reviving her from unconsciousness, Pierre realizes she doesn’t remember her past at all.


The girl struggles to recall anything from before she may have tried to commit suicide, not only once but possibly twice. The few glimpses into her life are discovered through dreams that can only suggest her past was horrific and jaded by intense anger.


Her memories may force her to lose everything she has grown to adore, especially the boy she loves more than anything in the world: Pierre.


The girl, Félicité Moreau, must decide if the life she desires is enough to make things from her past right. Pierre struggles to resolve if Félicité means enough to him that he will fight for her, regardless of her past and despite his own personal demons.


With a paranormal twist, Félicité Found is Julia King’s debut Young Adult novel—a horrific love story.

Here's a little snippet from the book to whet your appetite:

“A rush of sweet warmth flooded Félicité for having remembered something about her past. The heaviness in her mind and heart seeped free from her as though it pushed itself from all of her pores. She knew that eventually everything—her memories and knowledge—would come back.

She ached for Pierre and Hélène to know her name. As fast as her legs could carry her, she sped into the living room. Pierre was sound asleep, chest rising and falling in a rhythm that followed his thunderous snores. He was so loud she found it difficult to remember why she had come to see him. However, she couldn’t bear to wake him.

She observed that the light shining through the gap of the curtains came from only the moon. It must be the middle of the night. It was difficult for her to believe that she had slept all day and into the night.

Gazing at Pierre, she noted how handsome he was even in his thunderous slumber. She wanted to touch his skin and the rough stubble of hair growth on his face. His hand that fell from the couch beckoned her to him. She resisted the urge to take it into hers, feel it, relish its rough texture, and press it to her face. Again, she felt as if she had known him for a long time.

Should she wake him to hear his welcoming, deep and vibrating voice?

No, she thought as her euphoria faded. All that was left was a lump in her throat.

Her happy news would have to wait until morning. With one last look at the most kind-natured and loving person in the world, she shuffled her feet back to bed. However, before she fell asleep, she distinctly heard her father’s voice in the room telling her, “Félicité, my daughter, I love you. I love you so much.”

She bounded out of bed like an animal pouncing on its prey and flipped the light switch. Scanning the room, she saw no one in there. She was alone.”

Where to buy:

Amazon.com (e-book & paperback)

Barnesandnoble.com (e-book)

Createspace.com (paperback)

Win a copy of her book HERE:

Rafflecopter Giveaway

This playlist sets the mood for Félicité Found. It isn’t a flowers and moonbeams plot, but richer and darker. Enjoy the songs and the lyrics that Julia feels are most relevant to her book. 

Endlessly by Muse

There's a part of me you'll never know
The only thing I'll never show

Hopelessly I'll love you endlessly

Go by Hanson

I heard your moving van

But I didn't take a stand

You can't leave with them

You can't live without them

I never thought I'd want to let you go

Tonight I Wanna Cry by Keith Urban

I've never been the kind to ever let my feelings show

And I thought that bein' strong meant never losin' your self-control

But I'm just drunk enough to let go of my pain

To hell with my pride, let it fall like rain

From my eyes, tonight I wanna cry

The Reason by Hoobastank

I've found a reason for me

To change who I used to be

A reason to start over new

And the reason is you

Set the Fire to the Third Bar by Snow Patrol

I'm miles from where you are

I lay down on the cold ground

I pray that something picks me up

And sets me down in your warm arms

Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again by Andrew Lloyd Weber

Too many years fighting back tears

Why can't the past just die?

Wishing you were somehow here again

Knowing we must say, "Goodbye"

Try to forgive, teach me to live

Give me the strength to try

No more memories, no more silent tears

No more gazing across the wasted years

Help me say, "Goodbye"

Everlasting Love by U2

Like the sun it shines

Endlessly it shines

You always will be mine

It's eternal love

Whenever loves are gone

Ours will be strong

We'd have our very own

Everlasting Love

It's My Baby!

Minutes after our new addition was born

No, I haven't stopped writing. I know you've all been wondering ;). I'm going to play the "I just had a baby" card, since I have yet to use that excuse for anything. I think it's about time. And for those that missed the fun (it's a boy, no wait, it's a girl) story of getting our little Alana, here goes:

I found out I was pregnant the first week of October of 2012, just four days before the St. George Marathon. I decided to run the marathon anyway since I was only a month along and I'd trained all year. I ran the race - not my best time, but it was still a good race for me.

About six weeks later, I went in to get an ultrasound, thinking I was about 11 weeks along.  As soon as the ultrasound technician placed the probe on my abdomen, she asked if I wanted to know the sex of the baby.  My response was,"You can tell this early?" She replied that I was 15 weeks along and I was having a boy. Wait, what?!? 

I was shocked and excited by the news that I was four weeks further along than I thought.  Though I was slightly disappointed by the news I was having a boy (I already had 3 boys at home and I really wanted a sister for my daughter, Charly), it only took the 20 minute drive home to get excited about our new boy.  I secretly began calling him Oliver. 

Five weeks later, I went in for the official 20 week ultrasound.  Different ultrasound machine, different ultrasound technician. She confirmed that I was 20 weeks along and I was having a boy.  

Fast forward to about 8 months pregnant. "Oliver" felt like he had turned breech, so they did an ultrasound to verify.  Yep "he" was breech and still a boy.  Now, I didn't specifically ask if it was still a boy (why would I?), but I swear they checked the head and bum and didn't mention anything. Thankfully, at my next appointment, the baby had turned around. I was excited that I wasn't going to have to have a C-section again (I'd previously had two of them).

Meanwhile, my husband and I still hadn't officially decided on a baby name. Though I loved Oliver and we had a few other possibilities, nothing seemed quite right.  I also decided to put off redecorating the nursery since our two-year old daughter still slept there. I planned on transforming it to a boy room after the baby was born.

About a week and a half before my due date, I decided to go for a run.  I figured it could be my last run for a few weeks.  I barely made it a mile before I started feeling some pressure.  I ended up walk/running back home. The pressure went away after a few hours, so I figured I was safe.  My mom wasn't going to be able to drive the 12 hours from Washington until the next day. Of course my husband told me that since she wouldn't be there until Sunday night, I would go into labor before then because my mom has unsuccessfully tried to be at each of my baby's births.  Poor Mom!

A contraction woke me up at about 4am that next day, Sunday, Mother's Day.  I waited for two more contractions before dragging my hubby out of bed.  We arrived at the hospital around 530 or 6am. I'll admit that I was worried we wouldn't make it in time.  

A little before 8am, I was ready to push.  One push and I see a head.  My husband yells out jokingly, "This is where we find out it's really a girl!" We all laugh and I push again.  Our baby is here. **sigh of relief, tears of joy** THEN, I look at our "boy" and realize something's not quite right.  HE doesn't look like a boy.  The room is silent for several seconds and I'm getting a little worried because no one else seems to notice that there's a problem.  For a fraction of a second, I think that maybe he has some anatomy issues.  Finally, our doctor says, "You were supposed to have a boy, right?"  I shout, "YES! That's not a boy?" The doctor then verifies that our boy is actually a girl - a perfect girl. **shouts of surprise, more tears of joy**

After all the hysteria, the doctor shows us that our baby girl's umbilical cord was abnormally short (only 8-10 inches long when they are usually 20 inches or more).  He thinks that maybe the cord was running between her legs the whole time and that's why we had the mistaken gender, even with 3 ultrasounds.  No matter the explanation, our family was thrilled for the surprise. 

Here's our new angel: 

Monday Wisdom: Just open the door!

At dinner the other night, my family sat around the table telling jokes.  After several pretend laughs on my part, my nine-year-old son, Henry, decided to tell a joke to his youngest brother, Trevor, who is four.  Here is their conversation:

Henry: Knock, knock.
Trevor: Who's there?
Henry: Orange.
Trevor: Orange who?
Henry: Knock, knock.
Trevor: Who's there?
Henry: Orange.
Trevor: Orange who?
Henry: Knock, knock
Trevor: Who's there?
Henry: Orange.
Trevor: Orange who?
Henry: Knock, knock
Trevor: JUST OPEN THE DOOR!

He may be only four-years-old, but he is wiser than me!

I'm seriously still laughing . . . My clever four-year-old, though he probably didn't mean to, taught me a great lesson at the dinner table:  Sometimes in life we are waiting for the people around us to do something or for opportunities to come to us.  But just like in the joke, it may be time for us to turn the table and make things happen.  One of my favorite quotes of all time is, "If you continue to think as you've always thought, you continue to get what you've always got."  So true. 

How many times in life are we frustrated that we don't have enough money, we can't fit into our skinny jeans, our house is disorganized, we have no direction.  Nothing is going to change if we don't help it along.  Most of the time I think I am cautionary as to how I repond to people, careful to think things through so I can make sure that no one has hurt feelings.  But sometimes, I just want to shout like my son did, "Stop talking about it and make a change!"

That's not to say I don't just stand at the door and wait for someone to open it for me now and again.  I am still learning. I just hope that we can all learn some wisdom from a four-year-old and make our dreams happen by opening the door for ourselves.