ESTHER THE QUEEN

Here's another review from my backlog of reviews. 

 

ESTHER THE QUEEN by H. B. Moore, published by Covenant Communications, 217 pages, soft cover, $15.99, also available on CD and for e-readers. 

Confession time!  I've always cringed a bit when it comes to fictionalized accounts of scriptural stories.  Most feel a little on the sacrilegious side to me and I have a strong preference for sticking to the scriptural account without the make believe drama and supposed inner thoughts and feelings of a biblical or Book of Mormon character added.  I make an exception for H.B. Moore.  Moore writes a great fictional romance, but it is her attention to historical detail and doctrinal accuracy surrounding her fictional tale that I find impressive. 

Women are definitely in the minority in the scriptures, but every little girl who ever attended Sunday School grew up admiring Esther, the Jewish girl who became a queen and saved her people from annihilation.  Moore whose previous scriptural historical novels have been centered on the Book of Mormon, chose to base her most recent book Esther the Queen, on the beautiful, young Jewess girl who became a biblical heroine.

Yes, she invented a charming love story for the Persian King Xerxes and Esther wherein they meet through a Cinderella-like story and he goes in search of the beautiful girl who caught his eye during the unexpected encounter, vowing to make her his queen.  But it is the details concerning the Jews precarious position in Persia, the year long wait in the palace harem before the wedding takes place, and the intricacies of Persian politics, religion, and law that make the story particularly fascinating.   

Esther is a story of courage.  It's the story of a young woman who chooses to leave her familiar world not because she lacks faith, but because she feels it is what God wants her to do.  Knowing her predecessor was divorced for refusing a request made by her husband, Esther knew approaching him when and where she did was a serious step that could cost her life.  She knowingly chose to try to save her people at the risk of her marriage, her comfortable life, and possibly her own life. 

Though it's a familiar story, Moore instills a new vitality to the story, making it easy for the reader to get caught up in the plot.  In her hands Esther and Xerxes both become warm and real.   

Heather B. Moore who writes historicals under H.B. Moore is the recipient of numerous awards.  She not only writes scripturally based historical fiction, but is the author of a couple of non-fiction titles, and has recently made a foray into romance and women's fiction. She manages Precision Editing and is a BYU graduate.  She, her husband, and their young family live in Utah.

 

E-Books and Editing

With the increased use of e-readers more and more of the books I review come to me electronically instead of as paper books.  I love to read and I'm not too fussy about which way I  read a book.  I've always loved the look and feel of a real book in my hands and because I've always depended on a partially photographic memory, paper books hold some definite advantages for me as a reviewer.  I can easily turn to a page or section I wish to quote or paraphrase without making copious notes.  Unfortunately my poor brain thinks all pages look the same on the e-reader.  Still I like the convenience and the portability of the e-reader.

I'm fairly tolerant of the occasional error in the books I read for possible reviews.  Usually I'm more concerned with content, story structure, character development, and overall appeal than with typos.  Even paper books from really good publishing houses often have a few errors, but in recent years I've seen an increase in the number of typos, misspelled words, and even grammar errors in books from even the top publishers, but this is a drop in the bucket compared to what I find in the novels I read on my e-reader. Sometimes I shake my head and wonder if the author even went to school.  I've grown accustomed to seeing this problem on Face Book, but it seems to me that books someone pays money to obtain on their e-readers should be proofread better.  

Too many e-books are self-edited.  Being your own editor is a lot like being your own attorney; you have a fool for a client.  That's not to say a writer shouldn't go through his/her manuscripts and at each stage of the editing process with extreme care, but going it alone isn't wise.  Another set of eyes is needed to produce a quality product. At this point many writers hire the cheapest freelance editor they can find.  Some freelance editors do a great job, but some don't.  I've read books edited by one well known freelance editor who repeats the same word usage mistakes in multiple books by different authors.  As soon as I see pour for pore, tenant for tenet, or muscle for mussel, I can guess who the author used for an independent editor.

I just finished reading a book which had a great story, sympathetic characters, and in a genre I enjoy, but on the second page was and were were interchanged.  As I got further into the story I found other grammar errors, several instances where a main character's name was changed, messy formatting, and an instance where a word was used that is similar sounding to the one meant but entirely different in meaning. 

I thoroughly recommend that writers go with a reputable publisher with real editors, but with the shortage of qualified copy editors these days smart writers need to go back to Grammar 101 and learn to proofread.  Those who decide to self publish in the e-reader market, keep in mind that you need two kinds of editors; one that analyzes content and knows how to help you produce the best story possible and one who understands the grammar, spelling, and typos maze.  Errors tend to stop the action and spoil otherwise perfectly good stories. 

Twenty years ago a writer told me her editor at a national publishing house went through her manuscripts with a purple pen, marking every misspelled word or grammar error, then a set amount was deducted from her royalties for each purple mark. I was careful to never submit anything to her publisher, but with some of the error riddled and badly formatted e-books I've read in the past two years since I got an e-reader, I've developed a great deal of sympathy for the publishing house.  Sadly I don't see the situation improving until we insist our schools do a better job of teaching grammar and spelling, until writers take the initiative to clean up their own work, and until readers refuse to pay for shoddy work.

Historical Novel Review

It's been a year since I started a painful summer followed by three major surgeries and all of the therapy and life changes that brought about.  During that time I've read a lot of books and stacked up more reviews than Meridian Magazine can handle so I've decided to post some of those reviews here on my blog beginning with this one:

 

MATTIE by Martha Ann Robinson Rohrer, published by Cedar Fort, Inc., 238 pages, paperback $10.31, kindle $6.99 .

 

Mattie by Martha Ann Robinson Rohrer is an historical novel based on the diaries of her grandmother who lived in the early 1900s in Colonia Juarez, Mexico. It begins with the death of Mattie's father when she was eleven years old. She'd been close to her father though he was an old man with three wives.  His death was the beginning of her struggle with faith. 

George Washington Sevey's first wife had stayed in Utah with her grown children when George moved to Mexico with his two younger wives to avoid being sent to prison and having his property confiscated by the federal government because of his plural marriage status. After one of the younger wives died, the two families were combined and Mattie grew up one of twelve children in the household. The first part of the book deals with her friends and activities in the small, dusty town, including her friendship with Alonzo who makes no secret of his feelings for her.

The story abruptly shifts to Arizona where Mattie goes as a young woman to live with an older sister and her family.  She works as a waitress and falls in love with a handsome, charming man who isn't the man he claims to be.  The experience leaves her shaken and she eventually travels to Monterey, California to marry Alonzo.  There she lives with another sister for a time until a violent earthquake changes her life dramatically and she returns to Mexico without marrying her childhood sweetheart. 

Life in Mexico has become turbulent and dangerous.  The Mormon settlers are often attacked and murdered.  She marries a young man she considered almost an outsider when they were children and is among the women and children who are evacuated by train to El Paso when the warring Mexican factions threaten the colony.  One of her sisters, with Mattie's assistance, gives birth to a baby on that nightmare journey.  They finally reach Elm Paso and are treated graciously by the people there, but she is anxious to return again to Mexico to be with her husband who is running a freight business and trying to stay neutral between the many warring generals battling for control of the country.  She gives birth to two daughters during that turbulent period and faces many frightening experiences. 

I had mixed feelings while reading this book. I found the historical events and background fascinating.  Much of the day to day life and the mixed loyalties of that period are presented from a fresh viewpoint.  However, I had difficulty with the abrupt and unexplained time and place transitions.  Some of the events are breathtakingly realistic and well-written.  Other parts read like a rough draft.  Even with its rough spots this is an unforgettable novel and well worth reading. 

Mattie is an interesting character.  She is stubborn, a little shy, but determined once her mind is made up, she's a bit judgmental, has a great deal of courage, but doesn't always make wise choices, and she struggles with faith in God.  With time and experience her faith grows and she learns to rely on God though she still occasionally questions. The author is at her best when she describes the everyday events of that era and she does a great job detailing Mattie's doubts and spiritual growth.  The plot works well and follows the actual events of that turbulent period in history. 

Martha Ann Robinson Rohrer was born in Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. She left there at the age of nine and lived in Peru for ten years.  She then moved with her family to Tucson, Arizona.  She and her husband now live in Pasco, Washington, and are the parents of five children and count thirteen grandchildren. 

* * * 

MATTIE by Martha Ann Robinson Rohrer, published by Cedar Fort, Inc., 238 pages, paperback $10.31, kindle $6.99 .

NOT MY BEST BLOG

This isn't a good blog writing day: I seem to be coming down with a cold.  I hope it's just a matter of being time to go back on my allergy meds, but my husband and several grandkids are just getting over nasty colds so . . .

Anyway I considered writing about the loss of life and property in Moore, Oklahoma, and how we never know when tragedy might strike.  However all I can think of is the importance of being prepared with 72 hour kits, establish a contact place outside of your area where you can meet up with loved ones or leave messages, and the importance of making sure the people you love know you care about them.  I've been impressed with the courage and bravery so many have shown, I've wiped away tears for reunions and losses, and I've wondered why zoning laws don't require safe rooms in houses and public buildings along tornado alley.  But the fact is, I don't feel like writing at all. 

I'll admit it's unusual for me to not want to write.  This feeling is different from writer's block, a malady that strikes all writers sooner or later for varying lengths of time.  With Writer's block we may want to write, might even be in the middle of a project we want very much to finish, but feel stumped, don't know where to go, sometimes feel overwhelmed, the words just won't come.  But in this case there are thoughts in my head, things I could write about the tornado, about my sadness for the death of President Monson's wife, my disgust for the political scandals that were hid from the public before the election and the extremist views and comments from both the right and left that are only making a bad situation worse, all the cute and funny moments my grandchildren have brought into my life, and the kind action of my daughters who undertook a shopping expedition for me. (I now have a pair of pants that fit and birthday presents for my littlest granddaughter's first birthday!)  I could even write about my therapy experience.  Who would have thought learning to bend and straighten a knee could be so exhausting and painful!   

What I really want to do is crawl in bed.  I had a strenuous workout today so I'll probably run the ice machine on my knee first, then swallow a few pills.  I'll try to do better next time I blog.  Good night all.

If Wishes were Horses--or something like that!

My mother used to warn me to be careful what I wished for.  When she was a little girl her best friend wished she could get the measles so she wouldn't have to go to school.  Many of the children in their community were going through unplanned vacations from school because of the red spots and she wanted an excuse to skip school too.  The child got her wish and got more than she'd bargained for, a particularly hard case of the measles.  She was painfully ill and eventually died of complications. 

Having been extremely skinny all of my life, I used to wish I could gain a little weight.  Even during the short stretch of my modeling career I got yelled at each time I lost a pound or two. Like my mother's friend, I got more than I bargained for when my metabolism somehow changed and I started piling on pounds.  I soon discovered I hated all those extra pounds and I began wishing I could lose them.  No matter how hard I exercised and dieted the pounds seemed determined to stay.  Little by little the single digit sizes disappeared from my closet to be replaced with ever greater double digits.  Then something happened-- three major surgeries in six months.  The first knee replacement surgery didn't affect my weight much, but the pancreatectomy turned off my weight gaining problem, made me a diabetic, and forced drastic changes in my eating habits. (Not a particular kindness for a chocoholic!) Quite unexpectedly I got my wish and dropped nearly forty pounds in a couple of months.

I'm neither bragging nor complaining, but under the circumstances that much weight loss has created an array of problems.  My clothes don't fit.  I look like a bag lady draped in clothing three sizes too large.  Even my shoes and my underwear are baggy! 

Well meaning friends and family assure me it will be fun to go shopping for a new wardrobe, but that's where my third surgery comes in, another knee replacement.  I can barely walk. Today is the first I ventured downstairs without crutches and nearly strangled the wooden stair rails in the process. I need help getting my shoes on.  I'm not permitted to drive. I need safety pins to keep up my shorts when I have physical therapy. I'm afraid a shopping trip is some distance in the future. 

Another complication that caught me by surprise is the cold.  I'm freezing.  Unlike my friend, Susan, in Hawaii who lost a similar amount of weight the past few months, I have to deal with Utah weather which isn't kind to someone who just lost forty pounds of insulation.  On those recent warm days when my husband turned on the air conditioning, I reached for a sweater or a blanket. 

Even with good insurance my surgeries have taken a big bite out of what I might consider wardrobe replacement funds, but the biggest expenses turned out not to be medical.  The day before my pancreatectomy we discovered a gas leak near our fireplace.  That involved turning off the gas, ripping out the fireplace, installing new lines and valves, then installing a new fireplace.  After my second knee replacement surgery, my husband returned home to discover our garage door was broken and had to be replaced.  Both required hefty financial contributions.

 

I'm through wishing.  I'll set a few goals now and then, but I'm through thinking the fulfillment of a wish will make everything wonderful.  I should have figured out a long time ago there's a reason The Monkey's Paw has stuck in my head since I first read it as a naive thirteen-year-old.

Congratulations to the Winners

I was sad to miss the Whitney Gala this year.  Thanks goes out to those who tweeted the award ceremony announcements.  Congratulations to all of the winners.  Four of the adult category winners received their awards for books I was able to review for Meridian during the past year and I have to agree they are fantastic choices.  That's The Rent Collector by Camron Wright, My Loving Vigil Keeping by Carla Kelly, Code Word by Traci Hunter Abramson, and Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson.  The other adult novel winner was Dan Wells for The Hollow City, which I haven't read. The funny thing is every category included a list of five finalists who could have easily been the winner because they were all exceptional, making picking just one a difficult task.  I'd like to extend my congratulations to them as well.  There were no losers!

I didn't get a chance to read most of the Young Adult and Middle Grade finalists, but here are the winners, The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen, Everneath by Brodi Ashton, and After Hello by Lisa Mangum.

During the convention there were awards given for first chapters too and I'd like to wish all of those winners, including my daughter Janice, speedy publications!  My daughters (there were two of them) attended the convention and sent me regular updates which I appreciated.

One more round of applause is directed toward Heather Moore and all those who assisted in making the Gala a huge success.

I'm looking forward to going to the gala next year!

 

The Greatest Adventure

Once an aspiring newspaper reporter asked me what was the most exciting thing I'd done in my life. To me the answer was a no brainer--being a mother.  I don't think she believed me, but it's the truth. Flying on a refueling mission, scaling the Snake River Canyon wall, donning fire gear and going inside a burning house, rafting on the "River of No Return", hiking in Montana's wilderness area, sinking in quicksand up to my shoulders, being part of a traveling theater group, are just a few of the exciting adventures in my life but raising five children of my own and three foster children has brought me more excitement, tears, laughter, and personal satisfaction than anything else I've done. 

A few days ago I finished reading Covenant Motherhood by Stephanie Dibb Sorensen.  More than any other book I've read about motherhood this one touched me and expressed many of my own feelings and discoveries about motherhood.  She compares the essential elements of mothering children to the key concepts Jesus taught and lived while here in mortality:  creation, teacher, succorer, provider, cleaner, defender and protector, one who loves, sacrifices, forgives, shares, and saves.  With realistic short sketches from her own life as a young mother she points out the challenges, discouraging moments, and the triumphs that face mothers and relates them to mothers' eternal relationship with God as they walk closely in the Savior's footprints.

 

When I was a young mother I really didn't like Mother's Day.  No way could I measure up to the saintly examples extolled in the talks or poems given that day.  The perfect mothers lauded that day made me feel inferior and like a failure.  Fortunately Mother's Day talks have become more realistic through the years and I've gained a better understanding of what being a mother means.  I'm not perfect and I didn't raise perfect children.  What matters is how much I love them and how grateful I am to be their mother.  I'm thankful too for the memories we share and that they've all grown up to be responsible adults.  Along with the fine people they are, they've given me five more responsible adult children to love, and a baker's dozen nearly perfect grandchildren.  

In the Art of Motherhood, which I've talked about before, I had the opportunity to tell of the miraculous arrivals of my two youngest grandchildren. (The two-year-old has been very concerned about Grandma's big owie and became nearly hysterical when she saw my leg in the CPM machine.  She's convinced it's an alligator because it opens and closes like the actions for a familiar nursery song about an alligator that snaps monkeys out of a tree.)  I often call these two little girls our miracle babies, but in truth I consider all of my children and grandchildren "miracles."  Nothing could possibly bring me more happiness than being their mother and grandmother.

Another Update

This was supposed to be my day to blog on the V-formation.  I didn't get it done.  Instead I did two rounds of rehab exercises, spent four hours on the CPM machine, had a few dozen staples removed from my knee, spent untold hours strapped to an ice machine, took a lot of  pills, fought to stay awake, and never managed to get dressed.  I read Esther by Heather Moore while on the CPM machine.  It's a great book and I look forward to reviewing it. I caught one little error (and believe me only one error is fantastically good).  You really have to look hard to find a typo or misused word in her books.  I also cast my Whitney votes--I didn't do all of the categories this year and I regret that I won't be able to attend the gala.

All in all, I'm doing well and I see a slight improvement each day.  I'm not allowed to go down the stairs from my bedroom to my office yet, so I'm stuck using my old clunker laptop instead of my desk computer. My husband rigged up a board to go across my armchair to set it on because I can't hold it on my lap and I can't twist far enough on the bed to set it beside me there. If I don't get an okay to wander down those four stairs to my office by Monday, I'll have to recruit one of my daughters to post my review for Meridian for me.  It's written, I just can't access it to send in from this computer.  With some cooperation from my editors at Meridian I was able to post today's review.  By the way thanks to all the great authors who have helped me through some long CPM sessions, especially Abramson, Sowards, and Moore!

Hopefully this will be my last surgery.  Two knees and a pancreas in six months has been rough, but I've been the recipient of a lot of love and kindness.  My husband has made so many trips up and down the stairs to take care of me, keep our home running smoothly, cook meals, etc.  I'm convinced that the most romantic gestures are not flowers and candy, but putting on Ted hose, doing the laundry, brushing hair, helping in and out of the shower, keeping track of which pills and when, and serving as an exercise coach.  My kids have all been great to help and even my two-year-old granddaughter has been helpful.  She tried to cover me with a blankie because "Grandma has big owie."

A Cool Book

Last September while I was recovering from knee surgery I was asked by my publisher to write a short story about mothers.  Since our last two granddaughters were total surprises and something of miracle babies, I wrote about them.  Covenant just released the book The Art of Motherhood which contains my short story and twenty-nine other true stories by other well-known writers.  I have to tell you, I am thoroughly impressed by this book.  I laughed at Sara Eden's story.  I wanted to hug Kerry Blair when she wrote of her soldier son. I ached for Traci Abramson and her forever daughter. I felt an urge to applaud those like Annette Lyon, Michele Bell, and Jeri Gilchrist who handled parenting's tough moments with reliance on the Spirit. And there were tears for those who remembered mothers or children who have passed away. There are also loving stories of women who were "like mothers."

The stories are great, but so is the art work.  The lovely paintings that grace this book are by notable artists such as Greg Olsen, Mary Cassatt, Robert Duncan, Liz Lemon Swindle, and many other notable artists.

The two miracle babies I wrote about aren't tiny infants any more.  Jennifer just had her second birthday and Gracie will reach her first birthday in almost two months.  As a proud grandmother I can't help showing off these beautiful special little girls.

 

A Winner, an Announcement, and a little Writerly Rambling.

Mindi Battraw is the winner of the March Wish List.  Congratulations!  Mindi send me your wish list and I'll send you one of the books from your list.

Once again I'm discontinuing the monthly Wish List contest for a month, maybe two.  I'll be having my second knee replacement surgery in two weeks, so it's time to simplify again.  Blogging may be a bit erratic for a time as well.  Everything went well with my first knee replacement, so I expect it will this time, but it involves a rather long recovery and a lot of rehab time.  I do have plans to keep up my Meridian column.

You may notice  on Thursday that I reviewed a non-fiction book this week, something I generally don't do. Usually the only time I include non-fiction in my reviews is when I do a special column such as the one I do before Christmas, in which I review a number of fiction and non-fiction books. This book, Hitchhikers by Bernard Poduska, is biographical and touched a tender spot for me because I, too, moved frequently while growing up.  But that is the only similarity to my childhood. 

Writing a review column is always interesting and a challenge.  I love the wide variety of books I get to read.  Of course I don't review every book I read; I don't even remember to post them all on Good Reads.  Like most readers, I enjoy some genres more than others, and I've learned that when books by certain authors show up in my "to read" pile I can count on an enjoyable reading experience.  I read books by two of these  authors this week, Deep Cover by Traci Hunter Abramson and Poaching Daisies by Carole Thayne Warburton.  I highly reccommend both and will post reviews on Meridian in the near future.  These books just might be these two authors' best books yet.  I'm thinking Whitney nominations.

Speaking of Whitneys.  I won't be at the gala this year.  It falls too soon after my surgery, but I'll be thinking of all the finalists and friends I'll miss seeing.  Good luck to all involved.