Contest and Interview

Today it is my turn to do an interview with C. L. Beck and D. N. Giles about their book, Mormon Mishaps and Mischief, but first I need to tell you about their FANTASTIC GIVEAWAY going on! They're running a blog tour, with a terrific prize ... a $150 advertising package in the YourLDSNeighborhood.com Newsletter . This is a great prize because you get to advertise your product/self/blog/books/what-have-you for a FULL year for FREE if you win.

If I were you, I’d enter now. As you can see today is the last day of the blog tour, and if you’re anything like me, you might forget and miss the deadline which is May 16.
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The Mormon Mishaps and Mischief Giveaway and Blog Tour!

In celebration of Mothers, and all they do for us, Mormon Mishaps authors C.L. Beck and D.N. Giles have put together a giveaway in conjunction with a week-long blog tour. If you aren’t interested in winning a fantastic advertising package valued at $150, you can stop reading now.

Wait, you’re still reading. That must mean you want to hear about our prize package, correct? Well. Okay then.

Let me first tell you a little about our sponsors, yourLDSneighborhood.com and YourLDSradio.com.

yourLDSneighborhood.com is an online shopping mall which features innovative products and LDS-based services, and great ideas for your home, all without the worries of questionable content. Shopping categories include Clothing, Music, Preparedness, Family Entertainment, Scrapbooking, Books and Art, Health and Food, Travel and Recreation, Weddings and more! Visit yourLDSneighborhood.com today.

Your LDS Neighborhood Newsletter is a free online newsletter that comes three times a week right to your email inbox. It provides topical stories and insights that set the tone for your day. The newsletter brings you articles, products, services, resources, and interviews from around the world, all with an LDS focus. Sign up today by clicking here!

YourLDSradio.com commits to bringing you the best in LDS Music – all day, every day and it is totally FREE to listen! Make them your web-surfing companion. It's free and easy to use and makes for the perfect online companion. Listen for yourself at yourLDSradio.com!

Okay, and now for the prize!

Your LDS Neighborhood has offered a YEAR LONG advertising package which includes space on the Neighborhood website as well as tiles in the newsletter. Were you to purchase advertising with them, this package would cost $150.

Here’s the best part. You don’t have to be LDS to advertise with the Neighborhood. As long as the business, blog, or product you’re promoting is family friendly, this advertising package will benefit you. Neighborhood ads are viewed daily around the globe, and by thousands of people.

So how do you win?

Entries will be accepted between May 4th and midnight, MST, May 16th. On May 17th, (or as close there about as possible) the winners will be chosen and announced on the LDS Humor blog. Although it's not required for entry, please take a minute to read the Mormon Mishaps and Mischief review/interview I've posted. Then, you must do the following four things to enter (but don't worry, they aren't hard):

1. Follow my blog, here.
2. Leave a comment here, at this blog.
3. Follow the LDS Humor blog.
4. Follow the Your LDS Neighborhood Newsletter blog.

Extra entries:
1. Blog about this contest, then come back and leave either a url address or a link in a comment.
2. Follow me on Twitter. (Bloggers, you can hyperlink this to your twitter page if you’d like, or include your twitter username.) And then tweet the contest. (Make sure to mention this in a comment.)
3. Facebook the contest. If your Facebook page is private, and I’m not your friend, I can’t see that you’ve done this, so you’ll need to friend me.(Same goes here.) Be sure to leave the link to where you've FB'd the contest in a comment.

All of these options can be mentioned in a single comment, and you can enter at all the participating blogs, as long as you follow and leave a comment for those bloggers so they know you love them.

You may enter this contest here, as well as on any of the tour posts at the following blogs:

May 4th Rachelle Christensen
May 4th Shirley Bahlmann
May 5th Karlene Browning
May 5th Heather Gardener, Fire and Ice Book Reviews
May 6th Kellie Buckner
May 6th Rachel Rager
May 7th Shauna Chambers
May 7th Heather Justesen
May 10th LDS Humor Blog
May 10th Keith Fisher
May 11th Tristi Pinkston
May 11th Rebecca Talley
May 12th Taffy Lovell
May 12th Kimberly Job
May 13th Connie Hall
May 13th Ali Cross

To purchase Mormon Mishaps and Mischief click here.
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For those of you who haven’t heard about this book on the back jacket is says: This collection of humorous anecdotes from celebrated LDS authors shows off Church members at their finest. From Primary pranks to cheeky comments made by Zion’s youth to high priest hijinks, no age group is immune to the potential for humor. Though it might not be in the official Word of Wisdom, laughter really is the best medicine. Whether you’re a senior missionary or an eight-year-old graduating to senior Primary, you’re bound to get a kick out of these silly stories.

Some statistics about this book are listed below:
* 200 stories in the book.
* 78 are written by Cindy.
* 48 are written by Nichole.
* The book took six months to write, and another year and a half to publication with Cedar Fort Inc.

Now for the interview –
Q. What prompted you to write Mormon Mishaps and Mischief?

Cindy: The moon was full, Aquarius was on the cusp, and the chickens were molting, all of which combined to make this the right time for a book of humorous anecdotes. Well, that and the pantry was empty, so a book that might actually sell a few copies seemed like a good idea.

Nichole: What Cindy says might be true. Or it could be that one sunny spring morning, one of us woke up and said, “I think I’ll write a book of humorous anecdotes today.” Then there was email involved. Lots of email. And brainstorming and collecting and chocolate eating. And maybe some Twinkies. Thus, the proposal for a book of humorous anecdotes was born.

Q. What’s your favorite story in the book?

Cindy: There’s this fantastic story about a crotchety old man who gets visited by three ghosts at Christmas, and by the end of the story, he vows to keep Christmas … oh wait, that’s Charles Dickens’ stuff. All right then, my next favorite is “A Good Impression” contributed by Cathy Witbeck. It’s about a little girl who gets all decked out for Easter and puts something interesting into her purse to take to church. (But I’m not going to tell you what, because it would ruin the fun.) On the other hand, I do have to tell you that because they’re all so funny, my favorite story changes about every five minutes.

Nichole: I’m with Cindy. Choosing just one favorite would be like playing favorites between my children. Which I’ve never done. Ever. I’m a good mother. I promise. Oh, but speaking of motherhood, there are several stories about children doing funny things, like licking worms and bringing a head of lettuce to pray. Love all of those.

Q. Where do the stories come from?

Cindy: From the demented … er … I mean, the creative genius of our minds. And from the funny events that we, and our contributors, saw happening at church, home and everywhere in between. Rest assured, however, that all contributors to the book signed a statement that the stories were true, and so even though real names were seldom used in the anecdotes, the situations actually happened. Which means if you think you recognize your bishop in there, well … we’ll never tell.

Nichole: None of them came from my current ward. They all came from other people’s wards, which I visited while wearing my invisibility cloak. So if you happen to be in my ward and recognize a story or five or twenty, well I didn’t see those things or write them down in my handy-dandy notebook. Er. Um. I mean…I plea the fifth?

Q. Thank you for letting me interview you. Do you have anything you’d like to add?

Cindy and Nichole: It was our pleasure! Readers can visit us at our website, MormonMishaps.com, or laugh with us at our humor blog at ldshumor.blogspot.com. In addition, there are our personal blogs—follow Nichole at nicholegiles.blogspot.com or Cindy at bythebecks.blogspot.com.

We really like having followers. It makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Plus, we like to post funny stuff and make you laugh.

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Sharp Edge Of A Knife by D. N. Giles

Following is a copy of the review that I wrote on February 12th.

This suspenseful story is amazing. Make sure you have plenty of time to read because once you start you won't want to stop. I promise you that this book will keep you turning pages right until the very end.

When Mel Petersen leaves for work on the morning of February 7, he has no idea what awaits him. A few miles from his house, Mel picks up a pair of young men who appear to be college students, hoping to prevent them from having to walk in the cold. What Mel doesn't know is that the men are actually convicts on the run from the law who are desperate to get away by any means necessary. When one of his passengers holds a knife to Mel's throat, he has no choice but to submit to the demands of the criminals. Mel hopes he has what it takes to talk his captors into letting him live so he can return to his wife and children, but fears they will kill him before he has the chance. Based on a true story, The Sharp Edge of a Knife follows Mel and his captors on an unforgettable ride that will have you questioning the depth of your faith and sitting on the edge of your seat as it grabs your attention from the first sentence and keeps you riveted until the very end.

Many times, I've stopped to pick up someone because it was cold or I saw they had missed their bus and would have to wait outside in the frigid weather. This book will make me rethink my actions.

INTERVIEW with D. N. (Nichole) Giles - Author of Sharp Edge Of A Knife and co-author of the book Mormon Mishaps and Mischief

Q: How much research did you have to do to write Sharp Edge Of A Knife?

A: I started out with a handful of newspaper articles and about two pages worth of journal accounts from my grandpa, and somewhere in the mix there was a court subpoena. From there I called the police departments involved, but because the case was so old –fifty years–they referred me to the national archives in Denver. From there, I was able to get someone to help me track down the case and all the evidence and court documents. Interestingly, the knife used in the kidnapping, as well as some of the other evidence, is still there, and will remain there forever. Or at least, that’s what I’m told.

Q: What else did you do?

A: I did some more digging and tracked down one of the kidnappers. I wrote him a letter, asking him about the situation, and not really expecting a response. So, I was completely shocked when a week later this guy called me and talked to me on the phone for about an hour, telling me his side of things. He was very remorseful and teary. Very apologetic. It was probably the most profound conversation I’ve ever had.

Q: Is there anything else that no one has asked you, that you want to make sure everyone knows about your book?

A: If you look at the cover--really close--there are watermarked newspaper articles in the background. Those are the actual, real articles that I dug out of my grandma's basement in the beginning of my researching stage. Also, the full articles are printed on pages at the end of the book, including a real-life family picture.

Q: Was this an easy book to write or is it easier to just sit and let things come out of your head?

A: No, it was very difficult to write. You'd think that because I already knew what happened before I wrote it that it would be easier. But it wasn't. Because it's based on a true story, I felt so much more obligated to stick to facts and how things were, and how they happened for real--even if something seemed way off base to me. I think the hardest part was writing the beginning.

Q: Thinking about the writing that you have done, which has been the easiest? And which has been the hardest book to write?

A: There is no answer to that question, really, because there is no such thing as easy writing. And every project I've worked on has had different levels of difficulty and different challenges. My young adult fantasy is right now my biggest challenge, but only because I've rewritten it about 15 times. My other two books are already finished, so looking back, I don't always remember problems and issues that made me want to quit. But I will say that when it comes to producing the finished product, Mormon Mishaps and Mischief took the most dedication and work.

The Sharp Edge of a Knife is a completely different project from Mishaps, and from my YA book, and was so difficult when it came to research. I had to track down a kidnapper! And the court case is fifty years old. Even the national archives people were stumped for a while. So yes, there were definite challenges. But in the end, it was definitely worth it.

So there you have it. A non-answer. None was the easiest because there's no such thing. They've all been hard work and completely frustrating. And I loved working on all of them.


You can read the first chapter of this book at her website, http://sharpedgeofaknife.blogspot.com
This book is great and I would encourage everyone to attend her official book launch promotion this coming Saturday, March 27th from 1-3:00 pm at Eborn Books in the Provo Towne Center mall in Provo, Utah.