Joey's Thoughts

The aspect I most enjoyed about this novel is the uniqueness of the story--I can honestly say I have never read a book like this one. I also valued the fact that the novel caused me to think of how I might handle the situation from the perspective of each of the characters. Of course from the outside, it's simple to say what I would have done, but ultimately, in real life, I would not want to face the challenges within these pages. With love and grace is most likely the best answer I can provide. As a novelist, I...

The anticipation of summer reading is quite exhilarating! The first two books on my summer reading list are: -The Light Between Oceans (M.L. Stedman) -Dear Carolina (Kristy Woodson Harvey) These two novels have come highly recommended by friends, and I have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to dig into each of these books. I encourage you to click on the titles above so that you can read the synopsis of each story to see if you might like to add one or both to your summer reading list as well. Please also feel free to share your list here for...

This is a follow-up to my previous blog "Naming Characters". Another related question readers often ask is, "Do you model your characters personalities and appearances after people you know?" As far as appearances are concerned, not particularly--those I kind of just create based on what I feel best fits the story. Personalities, on the other hand, I pick up on from people in real life all the time. I have always been a people watcher in public and private settings. It is interesting to watch the things that people do and listen to the things that they say. I do not mold a...

A question I often hear from readers of my novels is, "Do you name characters after people you know?" The short answer is, "not really". While I know people in real life that share a name with some of the characters in my novels (ie: Mitch, London, Andrew) there are some that I do not (ie: Harper, Addison). I definitely have not and most likely would not model a character after someone that I know personally, and use their actual name. I would change the name to protect the guilty! The last thing I want to do is create a...

BeeBop is one of my new favorite characters. J. Kenton Manning did an amazing job creating this adorable little alien. He's cute, he's kind, and his adventures are filled with excitement. My favorite pages in the story are found near the middle -- the ones with all the colorful words. This is a perfect gift for children or grandchildren, and when they fall in love with BeeBop, make sure you give them a BeeBop bobblehead to go along with their BeeBops New World book. Also, I discovered free material associated with this book and character on the author's website!I rated this book 5-Stars...