Book Review The Dark Citadel by Jane Dougherty

The Dark Citadel (The Green Woman) by Jane Dougherty

 

 

The apocalypse has happened. The Earth is a wasteland. The survivors, the known survivors, live inside a crystal dome where life is controlled.

There are other survivors, though. Demons, angels, old gods, or the radiation mutated. Their names depend on who tells the story. They all want what's inside the dome.

They want Her.

Deborah.

Problem is, no one inside the dome wants her. Father is in prison. Mother is gone. Deborah is unruly and outspoken, something that is forbidden in a society that is ruled with cruelty and an iron fist.

The most horrible thing of all is that she keeps seeing things - like green grass, singing birds, people laughing and caring for one another. Those are things forbidden as well.

There is only one solution for Deborah.

Go outside the dome.

The Dark Citadel (The Green Woman) Part One of Three is, by the age of the protagonists, a young adult novel. Teenagers and Adults are the audience. Jane Dougherty creates a multi-dimensional world layered with suspense, danger and most surprisingly, a social commentary that not only entertains but provokes thought as well.

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift was and is a social commentary that became a children's book. Perhaps, The Dark Citadel trilogy by Jane Dougherty will be this generation's young adult's book that becomes a social commentary.

It is well written and absorbing. Anyone who reads The Green Woman, which is part one, will be anxious to continue the saga with the rest of the trilogy.

 

Joined NaNoWriMo. Getting back into the Writing World.
Novel Title "The Perfect Gift."
Violet loves unusual gifts and unusual parties so when her friends, all except Maggie who has no sense of adventure, buy strange antiques from a spooky antique shop, she is thrilled. Instead of making her own birthday day wish when she blows out the candle, Violet insists that everyone make a wish for themselves based on the gift they brought.
Add spilt wine, a cut finger and lit candles and you have the perfect combination for everyone to disappear. Everyone except Maggie. She bought a bath set from a normal store. She is left alone. She finds the Antique store and the weird looking owner who gives her a compass and a leather pouch.
"Use these and you will find your friends." the owner tells her. No other instructions. No other pointers.
Maggie, who has no sense of adventure and no idea where to start, has to find her friends who are who-knows-where.

Saying Good Bye

 

I said Good Bye to a wonderful man on June 4, 2011

Kenneth Wayne Leatherman 63, passed away Saturday June 4, 2011. Ken was born Oct. 28, 1947 in Fort Worth, TX. He served in the U.S. Marines. He like reading, working on Volkswagens, photos, cameras and trying get-rich-quick ideas.
HE IS REMEMBERED FOR MUCH MORE AND MISSED GREATLY.

 

 

I am putting this here for those of you who followed my blog and wondered what happened. He fought valiantly and passed peacefully. It has taken me two years to "get over it" and start writing again. However, life goes on and I am once again at the computer.
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100 Words in 100 Days

I am a member of Coffee Time Romance site. Granted I am a very inactive member, but every now and then I get notifications of seminars and so forth.
This week I got a notification of a seminar called Nuts & Bolts of Writing Better presented by Robyn DeHart. It is presented in the form of several posts. Today I read Day 2. The title is Tough Love and Setting Goals.
The article is self-explained by the title. Determine what you're wasting your time on. Determine how much do you really want to be a published writer. Set goals. Break big goals into small bite-sized goals.
Not any new information.
Important information but not new.
One of the "this is my type of goals" Ms. DeHart mentioned was writing 100 words in 100 days.
Now that is a goal I can keep. Sometimes the idea of finishing a book is daunting. After all it can take a year to finish a 400 page book. Committing a year to a project is something that can kick your knees out from under you. I mean, I can't even commit to staying in an exercise program for a year.
But writing a simple 100 words for the short period of 100 days is do-able.
So today is Day 1 and my first 100 words.
Well, not my first 100 words on a novel but my first 100 words in this 100 day goal, challenge, pursuit. Whatever it is called.

Update on Ken - More strokes, more loss, and loss of part of his foot due to gangrene. Yucky things happening to a wonderful man.

A New Member of the Family

We have a new member of the family. Her name is Skittles.

This is Ken and Skittles.

He is not unhappy - remember I said he could no longer smile.

She has been on his lap since getting here. They both seem very happy.

Skittles is a 3 year old Chihuahua.

She is Ken's Emotional Support Animal.

I will keep you updated.

Japan - Then and Now

A friend of mine sent me this link


http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm

It is an interesting site. You can use your mouse to move a black line between photos.
The photos are of areas of Japan before the quake and tsunami and after. The devastation is incredible.
 
When the tsunami hit Indonesia, it was horrible but because it was not a developed country it seemed less horrible. I'm not saying that the destruction in Indonesia was any less horrific, but I don't think (based on the news coverage) it hit "us" Westerners as much.
 
Japan is so "civilized" with actual houses and factories etc - things we can relate to - it makes it seem even worse. I noticed most of the crop lands were gone. They subsist on rice and with rice fields gone - it will take years to rebuild them and grow rice - this disaster is going to affect people in Japan for many years to come. It's not a matter of simply rebuilding houses and factories - their whole economy is gone. It's as though a huge tornado wiped out all of our corn, and wheat fields. Also, the fishing is going to be gone for a long time - the tsunami wreaked havoc on the ocean bed as well - the Japanese have fish as their primary protein mainstay. How would we work out if all of our cattle, chickens, pigs etc were gone in a day? This trial for the Japanese has only just begun.


Now, I realize I am making these statements without concrete evidence. I don't know that it will take years to rebuild the rice fields. But I do know that rice takes longer to grow than some other grain. I don't know that the fishing is gone, but common sense says that any storm that destructive would cause problems. And with the water coming up into the land, how many tons of fish were washed up on shore? How long for the fish population to come back? No, I haven't researched this, but this is a blog and my opinion.
 
It is scary.
 
Oh, not end of days scary, although that does run through the mind some times. If it is end of days then I simply have to make sure I am ready. That is not the point, though. The point is that when we look at a disaster that has us gasping for air, the news keeps us up to date for days, weeks on end. Then  another  "show-stopping" story shows up and we no longer hear about the last disaster.
 
However, Japan has been changed forever.
 
Perhaps, after all the hulla balloo is over, we should remember to keep them, along with the people who suffered disasters that we no longer hear about, in our prayers, good thoughts, minds.
 
Tragedy may make the headlines for one day - but continues to plague the life for many.

Book Drum

I have discovered a really neat website.

It is Book Drum  

They say of themselves:

Book Drum is the perfect companion to the books we love, bringing them to life with immersive pictures, videos, maps and music.

Book Drum is the perfect companion to the books we love, bringing them to life with immersive pictures, videos, maps and music.

Whether it’s video of the Rockettes in The Catcher in the Rye, the Italian opera tracks that accompany Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, the historical context and maps of The Odyssey, stunning South American photography for In Patagonia, or video of Kabul kite fighting for The Kite Runner, we take readers beyond the page to enjoy interactive content alongside their favourite books.

It is an intriging site that takes a book and expands it with the use of pictures, reviews, a glossary, videos, maps, voice samples, music and everything else you can imagine by way of the Internet.
Imagine for a moment -
You are reading Vampire Academy.
You want to know where Portland is, or what a honda looks like or what a duster actually is.
Voila`!  You pull up Book Drum and then pull up Vampire Diaries. On the first book mark you find pictures of each item. You can find clips of Russian speakers so you can actually hear a Russian accent.

Book Drum is having a tournament.
According to their website:

Welcome to the 2011 Book Drum Tournament, in which book lovers from Australia to Zambia can delve deep into a favourite book and, by building an illustrated profile, share their enthusiasm for it with the rest of the world.


The 2010 Book Drum Tournament saw seven Contributors share £2,000 of prizes, and led to eight talented writers being commissioned to write and edit new profiles on the strength of their entries. Hundreds of people took part, creating many of the excellent Profiles now freely available for everyone to enjoy.

To enter the 2011 Tournament, choose a published book and create a Profile of it, consisting of a Summary, a Review, a Glossary, an illustrated Setting page, a biography of the Author, and a comprehensive set of illustrated Bookmarks. Book Drum's interactive system makes it easy to do, and the chance to research a book in detail is richly rewarding.

The awards this year,2011, are
 First Prize: £1,000 Second Prize: £500 Third Prize: £250 5 Runner-Up Prizes: £100

About the Tournament:

A list of Recommended Books is provided, but you can choose a different book if you prefer. It should be published by a mainstream publisher, and must be widely available. Please check your choice with us in case there’s some reason why it might not be suitable: editor@bookdrum.com.

Only one person may profile any given book. Where a profile already exists, or is under construction, the book may not be chosen. Check your choice here: Profiles under construction or already published. Please note that to ensure popular titles are not reserved and left untouched, we may reclaim titles if no significant progress has been made within three weeks.
Profiles of your own books are not eligible in the Tournament. Authors may however create and publish profiles of their own titles as normal while the Tournament is running.
The Tournament is open to anyone over 18 other than the winners of the 2010 Tournament first and second prizes. The five runners-up in the 2010 Tournament are free to enter. People under 18 can ask a parent, teacher or other trusted adult to register for them (Book Drum is not able to store minors' contact details at this stage).
Groups may enter under a single registration. Book clubs or literature classes may like to divide up the sections of a profile between their members. Teachers can set up a profile of a study text for their students. Prize money will be paid to a bank account designated by the registered email address holder; Book Drum will not be responsible for ensuring fair division of any prize won by a group.
The prizes will be awarded by three distinguished and independent authors. Results will be announced on 31 May 2011.

I am entering a profile of Gulliver's Travels.    
The profile in under construction at present. Since it is under construction, it doesn't seem that you can find it. At least I couldn't find it when I was looking as though a visitor. But hopefully, when I win, you will be able to find it and enjoy how I expanded a delightful satirical book.