I received a nice box of ARCs for Dreamveil, my second Kyndred novel, and got to work on a giveaway post for them this morning. I deleted it and rewrote it, and deleted and rewrote it, and kept that up until at last a shampoo manufacturer called to see if he could hire me to ghost-write instructions for his product labels. I generally avoid painting a bullseye on myself by talking about how I feel about my work, but this book happens to be a tough one for me to fling into the world. I won't go into all the reasons why (because then I'll have to delete this version, too) but I can guess that some of the anxiety comes from working on it during what was for me personally a very grim part of 2009. Call it a Dickens of a novel; the best of writing experiences at the worst of times.
While I know what I'm supposed to do -- emotionally disconnect and let it go -- sometimes you can't do that. Some books are important to the author for reasons the reader will never know. For these books I don't think we should have to attempt to do the usual grinning authorial soft-shoe dance of pretending they're not, even for the sake of self-promotion.
I also see no reason why I should hide under the bed with these babies, so I'd like to hand them over to some of you guys. If you'd like one, in comments to this post name a book or story that helped you get through a difficult time in your life (or if you'd rather not for your own reasons, just toss your name in the hat) by midnight EST on Thursday, March 4, 2010. I will draw ten names at random from everyone who participates and send the winners a signed ARC copy of Dreamveil. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.
I'd like to read it.
ReplyDeletePC Hodgell's God Stalk - entertaining read that got me through a very long night.
ReplyDelete- Nicole
good morning. Yes, I'd like to win one of your ARC's. I haven't had time to get into the Kyndred novel that's out there, but hey. :)
ReplyDeleteI'd also like to thank you. I bought The Write-Brain Workbook after you blogged about it last year and I'm lovin' it. Exercise number 34 broke a writer's block and it's grown into my current WiP, ShakeDown. It's a paranormal thriller currently 12K long. And it's a lot of fun.
thanks again.
Gena Showalter's The Darkest Night helped me through a difficult time in my past. It introduced my to the genre of Paranormal Romance which I've fallen for since. ;)
ReplyDeleteI would love the opportunity to read your book. Thanks for the giveaway!
2009 was a grim year for me too. Like you, I won't go into the reasons why.
ReplyDeleteI found that re-reading series by authors that I loved helped deflect the present for a brief time.
I'm throwing my name in the hat :)
ReplyDeleteJulia Cameron's THE SOUND OF PAPER and THE RIGHT TO WRITE. I had this really hard summer when my relationship to my writing was wacko and I read these books over and over. I read nothing else all summer. It helped more than I can say.
ReplyDeleteThe books I had the absolute worst time writing always seem to do better than ones I wasn't traumatized during, if that helps.
ReplyDeleteI'd love an ARC! Most recently Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville series helped distract and entertain me through bronchitis.
"Yorkshire." It was the first book I wrote for publication, and the first that I got published. Not as straightforward as it sounds, since I'd been writing as a serious hobby for twenty years. Taking classes, reading voraciously, researching, all that.
ReplyDeleteBut I'd let the actual writing of something that I thought readers might like slide. Or perhaps it was fear.
Not altogether heartwarming, but the week after my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer was when I started to write. When someone you care for deeply is struggling with a long illness (it lasted nine months) you need something to do in what is sometimes laughingly called "down time." The time when you're not there, but you're worrying and devastated and your mind runs around in circles.
So I gave my mind permission to play. As the book formed it grew clear that I could consider sending this one out and really go for what had been a lifelong dream.
"Yorkshire" is now out at Samhain and I'm currently working on my 30th book. More if you count the ones I wrote and scrapped.
Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind. It was my first introduction to fantasy, too. :D
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Erin K.
Dick Francis's To The Hilt helped me get through the period my father was in hospice. It's a wonderful book, but I can't quite bring myself to re-read it because of the emotional connections. But it sure helped at the time.
ReplyDeleteWhen my second baby was less than 24 hours old, he was whisked off in an ambulance to Childrens Hospital for emergency surgery. My husband and my mom (a NICU nurse herself, who I wanted watching over my son and holding my husband's hand) also went.
ReplyDeleteI was post-c-section and wasn't released until the following day. It was a long, lonely night in the hospital for me, with nothing but a breast pump and a book to keep me company. I was reading The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory. Not necessarily the most uplifting novel ever, but it was a fascinating escape into a world where people's lives were much worse off than mine was.
My son turns 3 this month :)
Lynn,
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I can not name any one book that has helped me through a tough part in my life. Instead, any good book or series comforts me. I find great solace in reading and passing on the good book recommendations to friends. I have introduced your series to no less than 5 people who have loved them. Hopefully they pass their love of your books on to other people who find comfort in reading.
Tami
Jacksonville
THE GOOD EARTH, by Pearl S Buck. It read it in fourth grade and never forgot it.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to read your book Lynn.
Just tossing my name in the hat.
ReplyDeleteah, all of high school was miserable for me. If it hadn't been for a couple of really steady friends, my family, and David Eddings', Mercedes Lackey's & Raymond Feist's fantasy novels, I might not have made it through. Looking back, I know it wasn't all that bad, but it was plenty painful for me at the time. That was when I truly fell in love with reading.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to Dreamveil's release!
Playing for Keeps. The heroine loses a child - after I'd miscarried a few years ago, this book turned out to be kind of therapeutic while I was writing it.
ReplyDeleteAustralian writer Narrelle Harris sent me a care package to help me through an impossible fortnight (lots of medically-related waiting). I put a book from the package into my handbag "in case." It was one of Gerry Bartlett's vampire books. It cheered me up immensely and also attracted some really fine, bewildered looks from the people around me at the medical clinic and in the hospital. It was especially effective when vast quantities of blood was extracted from me for various tests: I simply leaned back and thought of vampires. Another friend is going to lend me more happy vampire books for my remaining appointments.
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Lynn.
ReplyDeleteThe book that gives me comfort? In my early teen years, it was "A Wrinkle in Time." Can't tell you how many times I read this book.
It's still a comfort book.
Any poetry by Jane Kenyon works too.
best,
lisa
When I moved continents I thought very hard about what books to bring with me, and ended up taking Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books (the first four) as they always make me laugh. Even though I have stopped reading the series now, I've kept the early ones as books that make me laugh as hard as those do are few and far between.
ReplyDeleteI won't go into specifics, but there've been several times in my life that were rough and I like to think Atlas Shrugged got me through the worst of them.
ReplyDeleteI am so looking forward to reading Dreamveil, Lynn. Win or not, I'll be picking it up ASAP. =o)
ISBN-13: 978-0930507046 stopped me in my tracks. To say reading it between the library stacks changed my life is such an understatement.
ReplyDeleteI have too many books to name. I think the reason New Moon is my favorite of the Twilight Saga is because I read it during a particularly bad breakup of my own.
ReplyDeleteReading is my great escape. So many books are friends. When I need a comfort read, I always go back to Jane Austen.
ReplyDeleteI was reading P.S. I Love You when my mother in law passed away from breast cancer. I would say that book helped me out.
ReplyDeletePlease put my name in the hat
Can't wait to sit down and read the next Kyndred novel
Lauraine
I would love to read Dreamveil. I loved Shadowlight. I am tossing my name in the hat.
ReplyDeleteI think that Karen Marie Moning's "Darkfever" series helped me learn how to turn grief into something more useful. Her other books also introduced me to the paranormal romance genre, and opened the door for many other authors I love.
ReplyDeleteAnne Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy got me through my miscarriage. I was able to escape into Jaenelle's world when I was too emotional to deal with my own. I still reread it every year at least once. It never loses its magic.
ReplyDeleteMarion Zimmer Bradley's Witchlight got me through my dad's final illness. I haven't been able to pick it up since then but it worked its magic at the time.
A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire got me through the first couple of days after my cousin died very suddenly at the age of 37.
I read a lot of Stephen King while I was waiting for my daughter to come out of the NICU. She was fine (just very small and ~ 7 weeks premature), and the doctors weren't terribly worried, but I needed a distraction, so I read 'Salem's Lot and the first couple of books from the Gunslinger series. I always associate those books with that time now, but in a good way, because everything turned out okay.
ReplyDeleteKTB
When I need to cheer up I re-read "Anguished English"
ReplyDeleteCris
2009 was a rough year. In the beginning of '09 I quit playing roller derby and found out that the people I was closest to weren't really my friends. For the previous two years I had been eating, sleeping and living roller derby and because of family situations I had to retire. It was messy and not pretty and the retirement turned into depression. I turned to the Heralds of Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey and read all of them. Yes, all of them. Those books and deciding to do NaNoWriMo I credit with kicking me out of that mess and breathing new life into me.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am a long-time lurker, occasional linker, and first-time commenter. :D
There have been many. During tough times, I lose myself in the alternate world of books, often going back to the ones on my keeper shelves for comfort. They are like old friends. Please throw my name into the hat.
ReplyDeleteEdie
Toss me in the hat.
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, your Star Doc books caught my attention my first year of grad school, oh so many years ago, and really were a great escapism for me. However, for true escapism I turn to Tanith Lee's "Red as Blood."
ReplyDeleteThe "North and South" trilogy by John Jakes got me through recuperation after surgery : )
ReplyDeleteMy theory is that the more anxious you are about your book, the better it is. So Dreamveil is going to be fantastic. :-)
ReplyDeleteThere are several books that have gotten me through tough times, and that I always keep close at hand:
Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion
Rainer Maria Rilke - Letters to a Young Poet, The Book of Images, Book of Hours
Borges: Selected Poems
That's hard for me to answer because I struggle with depression on a daily basis. It's controlled for the most part with medication, but there are times that outside difficulties make it almost impossible to get out of bed. When that happens, I have two books I turn to. One is Immortal Highlander by Moning. I know, sounds silly, but the hero makes the ultimate sacrifice and no matter how many times I've read that book, I still bawl at the end and sometimes, that's what I need. Just a really good cry and I feel better.
ReplyDeleteThe other is Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers and if you think they're complete opposites, yes, I know...but I have to concentrate so hard on the patterns of the ring that I tend for a time to forget everything else and by the time I'm done with the book, I don't forget, but whatever has me so upset is at least easier too look at and deal with.
Sometimes, life just sucks. Thank an author for the opportunity to set it aside for awhile and live someone else's...
I'd love to be entered into the drawing. Books are always great when we need a little time to escape the weary grind of life.
ReplyDeleteThrowing my name in the hat!
ReplyDeleteHi there,
ReplyDeleteI'd like to toss my name in the hat, too.
Kris_W
Hi Lynn---I loved Shadowlight and have been patiently waiting for Dreamveil. Please put my name in for the drawing.
ReplyDeleteThe Celestine Prophecies....I don't know what it was about that book when I was 17, but my teenage years were awful. I didn't get along with my parents and there was a lot of strife in school. It was a book I hid in my room with to read. (Mom didn't like that one!)
ReplyDeleteTossing my name in.
ReplyDeleteI go back and read a favorite book in times of crisis. I usually reach for Julie Garwood's Scotland historicals or Nora Roberts Born In series (they were the first series I read).
ReplyDeleteThey give me a sense of family, when I am feeling alone.
I just started reading your books over the last couple of months. I am very much looking forward to Kyndred series.
J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood helped me through a difficult time that included law school (in my 30s), a few hospitalizations, and recovery. It also introduced me to the world of paranormal romance for which I am greatful.
ReplyDeleteI would love to read this one early :)
ReplyDeleteWow, Lynn, you had to ask.
ReplyDeleteI would have never gotten through 2009 (and the job I took because family was desperate and then I lost) w/o the Darkyn. Every lunch hour, every moment spent waiting from my ride, every midnight hour that whispered of the dreaded coming day, you (they) were my escape. Thank you. :-)
Zora Neale Hurston's THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD. Love that book.
ReplyDeleteI would like to throw my name in the hat because Spring Break is next week, I teach kindergarten, and I have a cold, courtesy of the little darlings. Dreamveil would be a nice way to curl up with some tea and spend some of my precious vacation hours.
ReplyDeleteI can't even remember the name now... but I was flying to & from my Dad's furneral. Which was over Christmas. The first Christmas in the very first home my husband I bought (this was 8 years into our marriage). And my birthday which is two days after Christmas. The cherry on top, my 30th b-day too. But I love Sherrilyn Kenyon's DarkHunters and I had one of them unread and I just threw myself head long into it to get away from all the horrible. I was able to escape for a few hours on the flights at least. With bonus of not turning into a sobbing, snotty mess all over the flight attendant.
ReplyDeleteI read The Alchemist during a dark period in my life. It helped. Over ten years on and I still recommend it, and without exception everyone who's bothered to give me feedback on the book has thanked me for the rec. It's a lovely little elegant book containing a metaphor of life.
ReplyDeleteJust tossing my name in the hat.
ReplyDeleteFor me, any book that takes me out of my life for a few hours helps, whether just to regain my sanity from my day to day life or to make me laugh when all I want to do is cry.
Reading Harry Potter #7 got me through a horrible week at work when everyone was told there were cutbacks and my department was first.
ReplyDeleteHitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, all books in the series, helped me mark time during my daughter's recovery from surgery when she was an infant. I could pick it up and put it down easily without losing the thread of the story. I still have fond memories of the story.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure it was really just one book, but I got through middle school because my teachers let me do book reports(in every class) to help me out in 8th grade. My mom passed away right before school stated and reading was really the only thing I enjoyed. Think that is the first time I read To Kill a Mockingbird and Anne of Green Gables.
ReplyDeleteBarbara O'Neal's THE LOST RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS. I read it when I needed some happy. ;)
ReplyDeleteI can't give you specific titles right this minute - I'd have to look them up, because I'm terrible at remembering titles - but I saturated myself in LaVyrle Spencer books when my ex and I split up.
ReplyDeleteThey hurt to read, but they hurt in a good, healing way, I suppose one could say. A bit like a knotted muscle that clenches your teeth as it's kneaded out.
This touches on something I've been thinking about lately. Sometimes, the words I put on paper seem so shallow and pathetic, it disgusts me. I KNOW I can write better than that.
Last night I saw a couple posts from a writer about how the book she's working on now has gotten too personal, too close, and it's making her miserable again. It made me wonder if that's what she needs - to write through it, work through that knot to be able to let it go.
And your post today has me wondering much the same, but about myself. Maybe this is what is at the root of my reluctance to commit words to the page - and my dissatisfaction with the words that are there. I'm hesitant to truly open myself up and pour my heart out on the paper... and I'm beginning to think that is *exactly* what I need to do.
A book that has helped me through my own sense of loss after miscarriage - This Heart of Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. This book did what therapy and friends could not - help me hope again.
ReplyDeleteSharon Shinn's SUMMERS AT CASTLE AUBURN was a book that helped me when I needed it most. It has since become a comfort read for me.
ReplyDeleteHere's to the power of books to get us through rough times!
East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Read it to my grandfather when he was in the hospital (lung cancer) and managed to finish it before he died. It was a book he always wanted to get around too but never had the time to read, so I read it to him myself before he passed.
ReplyDeletePlease throw my name in your hat. I would love to review Dreamveil. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteTossing my name in the hat!
ReplyDeleteI would love to read it
ReplyDeleteI always go back to Jubal Sackett by Louis Lamour. It has a bit of romance, history, adventure and what if. Since high school I think I've gone through about 5 copies. It's a comfort book for me.
ReplyDeleteThe Anita Blake Series saved me from a very bad situation. I bought the first one, fell in love, and had to stop spending money on my liquid courage so I could buy the rest of the books. : ) I don't read the series anymore, but I don't drink anymore, either, so I consider it win win.
ReplyDeleteThe Bible. It always helps me. As far as secular books go, reading your Stardoc books helped me through what has been my roughest spot to date, a miscarriage in 2003. Marel, especially. So thank you. :-) Cannot wait for Dreamveil, just finished Shadowlight a few days ago.
ReplyDeleteThe Lost Recipe for Happiness and countless other books helped during 2009.
ReplyDeleteAnd are still helping. ;)
Tossing my name in the hat~
ReplyDeleteI used the Smoke Thief by Shana A as a get-away dreamland.
Ughh I think my comment was eaten by the blog monster...
ReplyDeleteI was saying that 2009 was rough for me too, and I don't know if I could have made it though sane without reading. The books that never failed to made me laugh even when I felt like crying were Molly Harper's books. I can't thank her enough for these books.
(I hope I'm not double posting, I really think the first comment got eaten)
"Dance with the Devil" by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Lover Awakened" by J.R. Ward both helped me through a stressful time when three members of my family died right after the other.
ReplyDeleteI have too many to list. I'd love to read your next book:)
ReplyDeleteLaurie
I collect all kinds of folklore, and a book that always helps me through hard times is Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty & the Beast by Robin McKinley. Of the over 12 versions of the fairy tale that I own, I think this one is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteAnn Patchett's "Truth and Beauty," when I began to despair about my own writing.
ReplyDeleteIt must be catchy. 2009 was a little rough for me too.
ReplyDeleteI don't reread many books, but one that always makes me feel better is The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.
Congratulations and many happy reviews!
Whenever I'm feeling really blue or anxious, I reach for a Malory novel by Johanna Lindsey. They're what I call my "bubble gum reading".
ReplyDeleteWriting had always been a difficult task for me even though people say I was really great at it. I just didnt see it and had a difficult time doing something when I had no faith in myself or my ability. Stephen Kings "On Writing" Completely turned my view around and made me realize beating myself up for the things I did not see was not going to make me a better writer. It was the enjoyment of writing and looking through the eyes of the character that made all the difference. It did, and now I write more then ever.
ReplyDeleteFor not-to-be-gone-into reasons, the end of 2007 was pretty awful. I needed something preety intricate and incredibly unreal to fill up my thoughts instead, and A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin did the trick, closely followed by all the other books in the series...
ReplyDelete...until I got to the point where it turned out he hadn't finished yet. Luckily, things were looking better IRL by then!
...and everyone on the planet wants one, just look at all the lovely people here!
ReplyDeletePlease count me in with A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis.
I read Bet Me by Jennifer Cruise, very funny.
ReplyDeleteMoon1006
Little Women - it has gotten me through many truly nasty depressive spots in the 33 years I have been reading it through, at least once a year (since I received it as a gift at 10) and more if needed. Just helps me to hold on when everything looks great for everyone else and crappy for me. Go Jo!
ReplyDeleteRomances have always been a comfort for me and I can't really name just one that's gotten me through difficult times - just reading and getting away from reality to a land of happily ever after is often a balm to my soul.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with this release!!
Agnes & The Hitman by Crusie and Mayer.
ReplyDeleteI neeeeeeeeded a feel good book. And I also needed it not to contain specific elements. Agnes & The Hitman was a re-read, but it made me feel about 20 times better than before I opened the covers.
My first comment didn't post for some reason -
ReplyDeleteRomances have always been my go to read when life is tough - I can't just name one but they've all been a kind of balm to my soul when things are bad -
Best of luck with this release!
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques got me through a fairly difficult period of middle school way back in the day. I found that his descriptions of his characters, the amazing fantasy settings, and the delicious food and feast descriptions were the pick-me-ups I needed in the middle of the day.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI'm throwing my name in the hat
One book who helped me is in Portuguese and I don´t if it has an English version...
Little Women was my first comfort reread, then Lord of the Rings, not sure what it is these days- but I suspect your books would be high on the list.
ReplyDeleteTossing my cat in the hat. :)
I don't remember any specific books that helped me through a tough time -- it was more books in general. Growing up my house was full of arguments and tantrums (both adults and children) and books helped me get away into much better places. Oddly, I am 33 now and still the sound of my father's upraised voice can send me scrabbling for a paperback.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to pick one I would pick The Island by Gary Paulsen. It was a quiet, gentle book and made me believe in both sanctuaries and self expression.
Whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed or stressed out I always reach for a book by Jacquelyn Frank- any of her books can cheer me up and turn my mood around.
ReplyDeleteNightmusic, like you, depression is something I struggle with as well. Meds are a good thing, but reading is better. Immortal Highlander is a very cool book, as is the whole series. The Darkyn series and the Anita Blake series have helped me escape from the realities that have been all too real the past few years.
ReplyDelete"Freedom's Landing" by Anne McCaffrey. It provided me an escape to another world with problems bigger than my own - dealing with a 4 yr old, 1 yr old, a mother-in-law from cancer, grieving husband, a well-meaning but irresponsible father-in-law, and a special needs brother-in-law all living in the same house.
ReplyDeleteOoh, that's a toughie. Karen Hawkins' How to Abduct a Highland Lord, Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series, Cindy Gerard's Body Guards and Black Ops, Inc. series, and Shannon K. Butcher's No Control. We had lost our house, forced to move into an apartment, I lost my job and was eeking by with part-time work as a bookseller (like 5-10max hours a week, part-time) and I just needed to get lost in something amazing. And funny. There's tons more, since reading in general keeps my world spinning right along, but these are the highlights for that time.
ReplyDelete~Elisa
what_ever_for @ cox.net
All the Names by Jose Saramago. Helped me through so much
ReplyDeleteI'd like to throw my name in the hat. I can't recall that a specific book have helped me through a difficult time. All reading, really, help me through my personal life by keeping my mind away from thinking of what's in my RL.
ReplyDeleteWAR OF ART by Steven Pressfield :-)
ReplyDeleteI could get away from the bad things when I was a kid by reading. (I liked Little Women because it was the biggest book in my elementary school library. It was my "go to" book.)
ReplyDeleteNow that I'm (supposedly) a grown-up, I read more for the sheer joy of it.
But....
When I'm sick, I read HEAs. When I've had a bad day, I go adventuring with Bilbo or sleuthing with Holmes. When I need a good laugh, I hang out with Stephanie Plum.
I would love to toss my name in the hat.
I would love a chance to get my hands on the ARC.
ReplyDeleteThere have been several books that have become touchstones for me that I go back to often.
Letters To A Young Poet by Rilke and my Georgette Heyer collection follow me everywhere.
Also I auto buy everything by Jenny Crusie and Marjorie Liu.
Harry Potter - the whole lot (I have to read in series) - has gotten me through hard times. Both the escapism but also because sometimes I can't concentrate on new, hard, books so I can lose myself in an easy to read simple book. They are the first set of books I take anywhere with me.
ReplyDeleteI would love to have a copy of Dreamveil. I love all the books in your series. Romance novels are my escape from reality, depression & difficult times. They give me a little happiness & hope.
ReplyDeleteI'm new to your books and I'm enjoying your blog. A book that helped me get through a rough time...Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs. I could relate to some of those "bad girls".
ReplyDeleteThanks for what you do!
Jennifer
Robin, I agree. My meds are great, but there's nothing that can replace a good book. And yes, the whole Highlander series by Moning is excellent. Just can't get into her Fever series though. And I've tried several times.
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt though, the Kyndred series will be totally satisfying though :o) LOVED the first.
Would love to read the book.
ReplyDeleteWhen the doctors found I had diabetes and that my kidneys and liver were damaged, things looked really grim. There was talk -- too much talk -- that I could possibly be dead in a year or less. I was overwhelmed. A friend of mine that I hadn't seen in years was fighting cancer and had been told she hadn't long to live. She started giving away her books and send me three of them. One of them was "The Prayer of Jabez." It's a small book, easy to read, and I didn't the concentration for anything longer or more involved. But that small book gave me much hope and comfort during the endless tests and painful medical procedures. And hey, I'm still here. And so my friend.
ReplyDeleteI would love to read dreamveil!
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Irish
Wishing you all the best with DREAMVEIL! :)
ReplyDeleteI would name Lili Saintcrow's THE DEVIL'S RIGHT HAND and SAINT CITY SINNERS as two books that got me through a very bad time in 2007.
Believe it or not, Gone With The Wind got me through divorce heck. I still read it or listen to it now and again.
ReplyDeleteI like to read something by James Patterson on Stuart Woods or even Barbara Wright-Sykes when I'm in such a mood. It makes a positive difference.
ReplyDelete....so, I'm throwing my name in the hat.
Thanks,
Barry
Middle School is difficult for anyone, but I was shy, had my best friend take my boyfriend, another close friend write me a "I-can't-be-your-friend-anymore note" because I wasn't popular, was a klutz, in braces, and frizzy hair...I read The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley and realized two things -- 1), like Aerin, I could grow out of my klutzy unloved stage and become queen (aka something great) and 2) I absolutely HAD to write books myself to help others young girls get through their tough times. I had already wanted to become an author, but McKinley sealed me for fantasy.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to put my name in the hat for the ARC copy of Dreamveil.
ReplyDeleteA recent duology by Carol Berg known as the Lighthouse Duet (Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone) provided great comfort to own my soul and spirit during a tough time. I then recommended them to a great friend who was also going through a rough emotional patch and she also found refuge in the world, characters and beautiful imagery contained in those books. Not bad for "merely" SCFI, wouldn't you say?
A fan of many years, June
I can think of so many times I've picked up a novel and thought, "please just take me somewhere else". I really cannot wait to see what's next in the Kyndred world, please put my name in the hat, thank you!
ReplyDeletetossing my name in the hat....Vicki L
ReplyDeleteA book that helped me a lot was The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, and recently As You Are by Ethan day.
ReplyDelete"Tethered" by Amy MacKinnon gave me escape and insight during a life-altering time.
ReplyDeleteI would love to win an ARC of Dreamveil. Thanks for the contest!
– Megan
Just throwing my name in the hat!
ReplyDeleteThe Bible gets me through my worst spots, which have been coming fast and furious lately. Too many reasons and too little time. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSappy, but "It's Not Easy Being Green" by Jim Henson. It's my daughter's fave.
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed all you Darkyn books and Shadowlight. I'd love to have an ARC of Dreamveil.
Susan R.
I was in my early teen years and my family had conflicts, teen-pregnancy, drugs, adultery, runaway etc. not me my siblings and parents. Things were crazy. So I stayed in my room out of the way and read romance novels to take my mind off of family drama. The book that took my back was Remembrance by Jude Deveraux. It was the first I read in that style, cursed reincarnation.
ReplyDeleteI would love to read Dreamveil!!!
ReplyDeleteAn incredibly amazing book that helped me through a very difficult time, was actually "Atlas Shrugged". I had just broken up with my boyfriend and over the course of the time of reading it, I become fiercely determined to "Never live for the sake of another man, and never allow another man to live for the sake of mine" (paraphrased.. don't want to dig up the exact quote right now :P )
ReplyDeleteIt meant a lot more than you could know.
That being said, I would love to win an ARC copy of Dreamveil :)
I would love to read DREAMVEIL. The Fever series by Karen Marie Moning helped me unwind from graduate school and working full-time. I look forward to DREAMVEIL (a great new series!)
ReplyDeleteThrowing my name in the hat. I would to read an ARC; I can't wait to find out more about Rowan.
ReplyDeleteI would actually have to say your novellas and sort stories got me through with what little sanity I had left during what became the last month of my marriage.. they allowed me to escape the chaos around me and immerse my self in new and in some cases familiar(stardoc universe) worlds I enjoyed.. without them I don't think I could have made it through that horrid time with a shred of sanity intact
ReplyDeleteI confess that I have the Novels of the Darkyn right by my bedside because whenever I'm feeling down or overly stressed, I can just grab one and be sent to a world where I can focus on troubles that are not my own.
ReplyDeleteI really look forward to Dreamveil!
I suffer from periodic bouts of depression and there are 2 books that can always make me feel better: My Family and other Animals by Gerald Durrell, and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.
ReplyDeleteOnce, when I was suffering from really, really bad period pains (the kind where it feels like you're in labour) and couldn't get any painkillers that worked, I read The Lord of the Rings from cover to cover to distract myself from the pain (it took 12 hours). The pain had just about gone away by the time I finished, and I have had a special regard for LOTR ever since.
"Love, Medicine and Miracles" by M.D. Bernie S. Siegel
ReplyDeletethis book took me through two rough times...where Breast Cancer was in my life.
it got me through chemo, radiation, surgery...
Thanks for the opportunity to write this Bernie..:)
and thanks for the opportunity to win your book...Debra
YES! I would love one. I purchased and read Shadowlight and all the Darkyn series.I can't wait for this book.
ReplyDeleteWould love to read it!
ReplyDeleteOne book that has gotten me through tough times is Summer Sunrise by Lee Damon.
Little Women & Sylvia Plath’s Collected Poems got me through several low points. Plath’s poems touched something inside of me & the courage of the March girls kept me trudging on. I still turn to them when things get bad.
ReplyDeletePassword: hioloi
Sounds like a sound you'd make running through rolling green hills (or falling down them).
Mine would be Corazón, by Edmundo de Amicis. It came at the right age, during the time where it made a difference.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, I took my youngest to the doctor yesterday morning and saw a man my dad's age reading it... it stirred lots of feelings and memories.
The Meadow, by James Galvin
ReplyDeleteJudy Blume books. I went on a rampage and read everything I could from her.
ReplyDeleteI always grab any of Nora Roberts' books on the Quinn brothers, especially Sea Swept.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to read it. Please throw my name in the hat.
ReplyDeleteThe latest book that helped me through a tough time was definitely Murakami's Norwegian Wood.
Books help me through life, though lately I've been too busy to read and when I do I overgorge myself on books and end up feeling bad.
ReplyDeletePaula Volsky's The Wolf of Winter is a book I feel is deeply connected to my life, so that when I am feeling bad or depressed or tired of life I can read it and find resolution and strength in her story.
(PS. Sorry if overposting, can't figure out if this is being published or not...)
When I found out I had to go through a major surgery with the possibility of cancer at the end of it, the Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop got me through.
ReplyDeleteI'd love a copy, throw my hat in the ring.
Back in late 2006, I got one of those bad diagnoses and found it hard to focus on much... The only time I could really relax was when reading and I turned back to several books that I've reread dozens of times -- comfort reads for me -- books I can probably repeat line by line, but those that I can lose myself in... Keeper of the Dream by Penelope Williamson, The Shattered Rose by Jo Beverly and Wolf's Embrace by Gail Link are three of them...good, old-fashioned historical romances.....
ReplyDeleteTerri B