Burnt Offering Given 5 Stars by Readers' Favorite

  Burnt Offering 

reviewed by Trudi LoPreto for Readers' Favorite

     Hadara is the daughter of a rich Egyptian and married to Tzabar, a cruel and conniving man. King Ahaz of Judah believed in idols and not the one true God. He and Tzabar, together in their evil ways, killed children by placing them in bronze idols and burning them alive. This caused many to flee and hide to protect their children and their religious beliefs. Hadara left the home of Tzabar in the middle of the night, taking her son and others of the household and she did her best to protect all of them. 

     Burnt Offering has much romance as each person finds love and marries but there is much danger as well. There are those worshipers of the idols and those who believe there is only one God and are ready to fight to prove that their beliefs are the right ones. When Hezekiah, who has been in hiding for many years, becomes the new king, many changes take place, but the fighting and killing still continue.
     Burnt Offering by Vivian Zabel takes place in the eighth century,
beginning in 720 BC. The story brings the Old Testament alive and depicts a way of life so very different than anything we can imagine. There are many characters in this book and each plays an important role in telling the story. Burnt Offering has enough suspense and romance to keep you reading long into the night.
     Vivian Zabel is a master of words and turns them into vivid pictures as she takes us very far back in time. Burnt Offering fits into so many genres that I can only say I do not think there is anyone who will not enjoy reading this book. It is a page-turner.

      After receiving the review shared above, I wanted to tell everyone. The novel is also entered in Readers' Favorite book competition, but I won't know the results until September 2020 -- Wow! What a long time to wait.

Vacation Inspiration

For some of us, writing is as much a visual experience as it is a physical task of putting pen to paper or typing on a keyboard. Thankfully, modern technology has enabled us to capture moments that can inspire our writing.

Here are a few photos from our recent vacation and ideas they inspired.

1. A whirlwind romance culminates with a proposal near this elegant fountain.

2. A summer romance comes to a surprising end when one half of a couple invites the other on a walk through this beautiful garden only to find out that he is breaking it off to return home to another person.

  

1. A young elf lives in this enchanted cottage with her family where she struggles to find her place in the world.

2. A brother and sister step inside this abandoned cottage and find themselves transported back to 18th century America. 

1. A newly hired ecologist finds herself in danger when she discovers her employer is performing illegal experiments on endangered species.

2. Three friends are separated from their families during a hiking trip. 

What are some ideas these photos inspire for you? 

Cheryl C. Malandrinos is a freelance writer and editor. She is the author of Little Shepherd, A Christmas Kindness, Macaroni and Cheese for Thanksgiving, and Amos Faces His Bully. A blogger and book reviewer, she lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two daughters. She also has a son who is married. Visit Cheryl online at http://ccmalandrinos.com and her children’s book blog at https://childrensandteensbookconnection.wordpress.com

Read as a Writer

Every writer has been told to read, read, read. Read as much as you can to improve your own writing skills.

Well, I read an interesting article at Writer Unboxed that explained why simply reading to improve your writing won’t cut it.

According to the author, Julianna Baggott Faculty Director of Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing and Publishing, “I’ve found that some of my most thoroughly read students – the ones who devour and love every book they come across – are some of my hardest to teach. I believe that how one reads is essential. And if you don’t master reading as a writer, sheer quantity will be of little use.”

Baggott broke down reading as a writer into five categories: blueprint reading, territory reading, language reading, portal reading, singular lens reading.

Breaking them down:

1. Blueprint reading.

This goes back to read, read, read. While she kind of said this doesn’t work, she does agree that reading in volume does give you an idea of how a book is written to get published. (assuming you’re reading traditionally published books.)

For my writing, I like this type of reading. Seeing how the author puts the story together, how he builds his characters, how she keeps the conflict rising, how he ties up all loose ends . . .

It is a great tool to learn ‘good’ writing.

2. Territory reading.

This is reading to take ideas away with you. It could be from the topic, a chapter, a scene. At least this is what I think the author is saying.

I’ve done this. I’ll be reading a children’s book and an idea pops up. It may just be something I’m reading that takes me in a new direction. But, it can get the creativity flowing.

3. Language reading.

Reading with language in mind is to see the words that are used.

I do this often. While Baggott uses it for ideas and transitions into topics, I use it for the actual words. I love to see what words authors use to convey an emotion, a sensation, a description, and so on.

I also keep a database of words I find that I might be able to use down the road. So, just like the author of the article, I’ll have words circled or underlined in the books I read.

4. Portal reading.

I’ll be honest, I’m not quite sure what the author is saying for this reading experience. As far as I can tell, it’s reading and through the scene be transported into your own story. The book somehow acts as a muse to give you insights into your story.

This hasn’t happened to me.

5. Singular lens reading.

This one is more about seeing everything through the story you’re writing. You look at book covers, titles, contents and how it relates to your story.

As Baggott puts it, “This reading is how you look at the world around you when you're so deeply involved in a project that everything you encounter gets filtered through that one lens.”

As a ghostwriter, I’m usually working on more than one story at a time plus my own stories. Because of this I don’t really get ‘singular lens’ anything.

But, it’s easy to see how this can happen.

Summing it up.

Being a writer, I notice how I read different than someone who doesn’t write. I see grammar. I see sentence structure, chapter structure, story structure, character building and sometimes all this is at the sake of the story itself. I’ll have to stop myself to actually just read the story.

But, this is what writers do consciously or subconsciously. We can’t help it.

And, now you have five reading styles to help you write your stories. Have you found yourself using any of these?

Reference:

5 Ways to Read as a Writer


This article was originally published at:
http://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com/2017/08/13/read-as-a-writer/

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, successful children’s ghostwriter, and online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing. Check out her middle-grade book, WALKING THROUGH WALLS.

You can connect with Karen at:
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