Friday, September 18, 2009

North! Or Be Eaten - Blog Tour!

Peterson's Igiby family is in full adventure in North! Or Be Eaten. After creating an intricate world and laying out the myriad of background details in On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, we pick up right where we were left off with Janner, Tink, and Leeli in their uncle's tree house.

The adventure is just beginning.

It's easy to forget the band of travelers is three young children with their mother and two older men. They are all quick on their feet and determined to re-find a normal life at the end of their journey. The moment-to-moment happenings make you wonder how you'd survive! The Fangs continue to track them as they dodge the many creatures of Skree, including the toothy cows!

Just when you think you might know a little more than they know, the story takes a distinct turn in an unexpected direction. They are pushed to their limits. It's impossible to know the friends from the foes, and the secret history or gifts of each traveler will stretch your imagination.

Though the musical storytelling of Andrew Peterson has long been a cherished favorite of mine, I was a bit skeptical of the songwriter-turned-author. He has proven his ability to write a whole world in his mind and introduce us, the unsuspecting reader, in the middle of that world mid-stream, and yet unfold his whole world a bit at a time along the journey. Well-done, my friend.

I have to confess that when I received my copy of his new book I had to quickly go and read the first book in the Wingfeather Saga, which I had loaned out and never read. Now having finished them both in short order, I can't wait for there to be more!

-Laura M. Sanders

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Book Summary:

Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby thought they were normal children with normal lives and a normal past. But now they know they’re really the Lost Jewels of Anniera, heirs to a legendary kingdom across the sea, and suddenly everyone wants to kill them.

Their escape brings readers to the very brink of Fingap Falls, over the Stony Mountains, and across the Ice Prairies, while villains galore try to stop the Igibys permanently. Fearsome toothy cows and horned hounds return, along with new dangers: a mad man running a fork factory, a den of rockroaches, and majestic talking sea dragons.

Andrew Peterson’s lovable characters create what FantasyBookCritic.com says made Book One “one of the best fantasy novels in a very long time,” and Book Two contains even more thrills, exploring “themes universal in nature, ranging from the classic good versus evil, to the importance of family, and burdens of responsibility.”

Andrew Peterson is the author of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, Book One in the Wingfeather Saga, and The Ballad of Matthew’s Begats. He’s also the critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter and recording artist of ten albums, including Resurrection Letters II. He and his wife, Jamie, live with their two sons and one daughter in a little house they call The Warren near Nashville, Tennessee. Visit his websites: www.andrew-peterson.com and www.rabbitroom.com

Monday, August 3, 2009

Purpose

Flailing. Floundering.

Sometimes life seems to have more purpose than others. I don't generally ask the big "why" questions, but I do ask God "what now?" Seriously. What now?

Which direction?

A dear friend introduced me to an author of Business Management books, Patrick Lencioni. To my surprise, one of my favorite of his books so far is The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family. I know, you're thinking, "that doesn't seem like a business management book."

Well, it takes some simplifying of business management principles and applies them organizing and structuring home and family.

And, again, I know what you're thinking "Um, don't you live by yourself?" Yeah, imagine how sad it is to be frantic managing the life of one.

We'll see if applying these principles to a life of one puts me on a manageable track for incorporating others into my life...

Thursday, June 18, 2009

How do I decide?

Those BIG life questions seem to loom overhead. I confess (probably much too often) to being a commitment-phobe.

Wouldn't it be GREAT if I was writing about some pending man-dilemna? Haha, no such luck. Still man-free here. :)

My current commitment struggle is in buying a house.
It's been a "buyers' market" so they say.
Interest rates have been low.
But there's been no appearance of the RIGHT house.

So now the buyers' market is waning.
Interest rates are rising.
And now I find myself struggling to muster the DESIRE to house-hunt.

I know it's not unusual for first-time home buying to be a scary process, but I heard a rumor that it shouldn't be debilitating.

So how do I decide? which neighborhood? which house? which mortgage broker? what interest rate should I be able to vie for? how much house can I handle? should I even BE house hunting, right now, based on my life NOT the market trends? ? ? ? ?

(Oh, and to make all this even EASIER to process, in an attempt to give me a pep talk, my Realtor likened buying a house to getting married. Um... Hello! NOT MARRIED! Why would THAT help?)

Tuesday, June 16, 2009