First Things First

It's been awhile since my last post, and I apologize. Getting a new church started has consumed more time and energy than I had anticipated. But that's okay! Jesus said, "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33)

As the president of Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Las Cruces, NM, one of my tasks has been helping to write our Constitution and Bylaws. It's been a learning experience to say the least. Phase One has been completed, thanks to much help from my fellow members.We've also worked long and hard on completing forms requesting financial support from our synod, the WELS.

As we wait on our synod's decisions, I have a break in the action. So, I've resumed writing Book 6, "The Guardian of Eden." I'm about 1/5 of the way toward completion, but I hope to finish in the summer or fall.

My wife is proofreading Book 4, "Spectral Strands", and will proof Book 5, "The Killing Code", shortly thereafter.

I want to thank everyone for their great reviews! The feedback has been fantastic on Goodreads and elsewhere across the Internet. If you've read any of the first three books, please take a moment or two to post reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Goodreads if you haven't already done so.

And thank you so much for your patience and support! For other reviews, updates, and press releases, just google "Quests of Shadowind" (including the quotation marks).

And don't be like me... Keep in touch! L.A.

7 Benefits of Christian Young Adult Books

Christian young adult literature can have a great positive influence on teens, say experts. Christian teen fiction is coming into its own these days as sales rise for both digital and traditional books, and as publishers look for the next best-selling series, reports Publishers Weekly. 

The Christy Miller and Sierra Jensen series—now modern Christian YA classics—have sold more than two million copies between them, and the Diary of a Teenage Girl books have sold more than 600,000 copies since 2008, Slate.com reports.

Richard Paul Evans, author of novels for adults such as "The Christmas Box," has found big success in the YA market with his Michael Vey series. "Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25" reached number one on the "New York Times" best-seller list (teen fiction), Publishers Weekly states.

 

Most Christian publishers have guidelines regarding the use of language, taboo words, and certain plot situations, and some have in-house theologians that vet content to make sure it adheres to Biblical principles, Slate.com reports.

 

I think it’s great to see children enjoying literature with spiritual themes and to see publishers expanding this genre. This literature can help teens to understand religious beliefs and the world in which they live.

Young-adult oriented stories can more easily hold a teen's attention, and that's perfect if your goal is to help kids learn values and concepts that might be difficult to understand.

Christian young adult novels generally have clean language and are not preachy like many people think. Christian values are presented through themes, plots, and characters to which teens can relate. This way young readers don't feel like they're in school. Instead it gives them a wonderful opportunity to understand and get familiar with religion and religious values.

Through Christian YA novels teens can learn:

* Family values, particularly with a religious slant

* Morality as described in the Bible

* How to accept and offer forgiveness, which is crucial for maturing teens

* The importance of friendship, cooperation, and loyalty

* The merits of acceptance, kindness, and charity

* The importance of having faith and a spiritual life

* Hope, which is a necessary virtue in a world filled with seemingly insurmountable obstacles

It is important to build a spiritual foundation in teenagers and to instill and reinforce moral and social values. Through engaging, entertaining books that emphasize Christian themes, teens can more easily learn values and understand faith, which will help them to go through their lives as richer, stronger, wiser adults.

 

And I cannot stress enough the value of daily Bible reading. There we find the greatest story of all, to which all other stories pale in comparison: a miraculous birth, pity, scorn, hatred, deception, betrayal, torture, and murder, all for the sake of true love. But it doesn't end there. There's much more. If you haven't read it, here's a spoiler for you...it can have a very happy ending.

Are Young Adult Books Filled With Profanity?

Parents would be surprised to learn how much profanity is contained in today's young adult (YA) fiction, according to one study.

 

It seems that YA novels are rife with profanity, reports Sarah Coyne, a lead researcher and professor of social sciences at Brigham Young University. Moreover, she claims, characters who curse are generally portrayed in positive and favorable ways. The study was published in the "Mass Communication and Society" journal.

Ms. Coyne analyzed the use of profanity in forty teen novels on the "New York Times" best-sellers list for children's books. She discovered that on average the novels contained thirty-eight cases of what she characterizes as "bad language use" and nearly thirty-five instances of swearing.

Specifically the study revealed that the majority of profanities included words like "hell" and "damn" while another twenty percent were made up of words that are banned on US primetime television, such as "s---" and "f---." Less common were sexual words and other strong profanities.

The study also showed that characters who swear the most in young adult novels are rich, beautiful, and popular.

As with other media, including movies, music, video games, comics, and television, it is very important for parents to be aware of what their kids are drawn to. It's up to Mom and Dad to help their kids make selections. Let's not forget that kids are exposed to a lot of different things, positive and negative, and their parents must help them sort through a world of ever-changing norms and social values.

Some parents and experts want to see content warning labels on books while others believe that step is a gross overreaction.

"Books can be a safe way for young people to explore edgier, sensitive, or complicated topics, and they provide parents with opportunities to help their teens grow and understand these kinds of sensitive issues," says Beth Yoke, executive director of the Young Adult Library Services Association, an offshoot of the American Library Association. "ALA's interpretation on any rating system for books is that it's censorship."

Common Sense Media (http://www.commonsensemedia.org) is one of the organizations aimed at providing parents an age rating guide to books. There are already more than 2,300 books in their traffic-light system.

Personally, I don't believe that profanity and vulgar language are necessary, especially in Middle Grade and Young Adult books. It's bad enough to hear people speak that way. Seeing course speech in print makes it all the more powerful. There are creative ways to get around expletives, even in the dialog of villains. Yes, it requires a little more work, but that's what good writing is all about.

I'm happy when teens are reading. Happier still when they're reading wholesome material. Books can have positive effects on them as they learn about the real world using different types of media. Kids need to find moral solutions to their problems, and these novels can be a big help.

The Role of Parents in Selecting Books for Kids

Parents know that knowledge is power, and reading is the key to this power. Kyle Whitelaw in "Sky Shifter" knows this too. However, many parents struggle to find ways to make their kids be avid readers. Children are more likely to read if parents let them decide what they read, however parents can give them directions and offer support, Scholastic suggests.

“... it’s your [the parents’] job—not the schools’—to find books to get your kids reading and to make sure they read them,” CNN suggests.

I say that parents are powerful instruments when it comes to setting the tone for whether or not a child will be a reader, and certainly what their children read.

 

“Freedom of choice is key to getting them motivated and excited. Vampire sagas, comics, manga, books of sports statistics—terrific!—as long as kids are reading,” says James Patterson, a father and a “New York Times” best-selling author. “Should they read on e-tablets? Sure, why not? How about rereading a book? Definitely. And don’t tell them a book is too hard or too easy.”

Learning to read does not always come naturally. This is a skill that must be taught, and it takes some work. Parents should show their children that reading can be fun and help to incorporate reading as part of the everyday activities the whole family enjoys.

I also think that in many ways parents’ attitudes can inspire their children to love reading. It’s important to create reading environments in and outside of the home, and to stick to it. I believe parents are good reading role models. If your child sees you and other family members reading, it’s more likely that he or she will pick up a book.

The National Education Association offers some tips for choosing books for children:

* For beginning readers, select books that match their skill level.

* Find colorful books.
* Pick books based on the child’s interests (hobbies, nature, science).
* Let the child make his or her own choices.
* Support every book choice.
* Ask librarians and teachers for book suggestions.
* Encourage your child to try different kinds of books.

Reading is one of the most important skills that parents can help to develop in their children. It’s a fundamental skill that will help children to be as academically successful as possible.

QoS Theme Song Available

It took considerable time and effort, but I finished recording, mixing, and mastering "Quests of Shadowind", the theme song for my series. The music and lyrics are available as a free download from my Web site. (Thank you, Jessica)! Just follow the links on the right. When you arrive at my site, simply click on the "Free Download Original Music..." icon on the left side of the page (about halfway down). Click on "lyrics" for the Word doc.

Danielle Wiseman -- a very lovely and talented singer -- was kind enough to do the vocals for me. She deserves a huge thank you for putting up with me and my demands. Still, I hope she had fun. She has agreed to sing another song for me apart from the QoS series. I started working on a third song as well. Although I love Logan and Mindy, it's great to get away from taking dictation for them -- at least for a little while.

Hope you enjoy the free music. And please let me know what you think by posting a comment below, or by shooting me an email via the Contact page of my Web site. Danielle can also be reached there via her link below the music download icon.

The first three books are available from that site, and also at places like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and a myriad of other places.

Enjoy the summer before it's gone. And thank you all for your support! LA

Books 2 and 3 Arrive Early

They crept up on me like a Deep Shadow. Fortunately, I didn't need the Staff of the Sky Shifter to defend myself. I came back from my latest quest (a vacation in Wyoming and Colorado), and found Book 2, "The Grounding Stone", and Book 3, "Veil", waiting for me.

Like "Sky Shifter", they are available for purchase as paperbacks for $10.95 each from my Web site (please follow the link on the right side of this page), or from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. These first three books in the series are also in eBook formats, for $0.99, $2.99, and $3.99 respectively. Please check out my Web site (click on a link in the upper right) for more info. It should be updated during the first half of July.

The eBooks arrived a week ahead of schedule, and the paperbacks beat my expectations by more than a month. Arbor Books Inc. has worked very hard for me!

I'm sorry for not keeping everyone abreast of their progress. Like the Spirit Beast lurking in dark recesses, I wasn't aware of their advancements either.

Aside from working on Book 6, I've been writing a theme song for the series, and should finish the recording process in the next couple of weeks. We hope to make a music video and a book trailer in the coming months, and post them on You Tube.

Thank you so much for your support. The response to Sky Shifter has been very positive, especially from my target audience of upper Middle Grade to Young Adult readers.

You'd think that the shade from all the gathering Deep Shadows would help to keep us cool, but they're heating things up instead -- as evidenced by this summer's high temperatures. Since Logan and Mindy can't spare the staff in lieu of their further adventures, combat the specters with a fan.

Green and Black

My backyard has tufts of tall fescue growing among the low-lying Bermuda grass. I've been busily ripping out the fescue. It's green grass, but it takes away from the manicured Bermuda. That's also what I've been doing with Books 2 and 3 -- ripping out the black text of paragraphs and chapters. It should make for a more manicured story, and an even quicker pace than Sky Shifter. Book 2's editing is nearly complete, and my publisher is working on its cover art. Book 3's edits have begun, but are far from finished. The artwork should begin in the next month or so. They are entitled, "The Grounding Stone" and "Veil" respectively.

Sky shifter just received high praise from a reviewer at Reader's Favorite Reviews. It's posted on Amazon as well. Sky Shifter is also under review by Mary at Good Reads. Besides that, I'm rewriting Book 4, "Spectral Strands." I've also revamped my recording studio in order to write a theme song for Quests of Shadowind, just in case we do a book trailer and post it on YouTube.

A special thank you goes out to all my family and friends who are even more excited about this than I am! God's blessings to you all! L.A.