For the Birds

As many of you know, I like having birds in my yard.  Lots of birds.  There's one bird however that leaves me with mixed feelings.  Every winter a sharp shinned hawk decides our back yard is her private dining room.  I'm no expert, but I think she's a female because of her size and with this breed the females are almost twice the size of their male counterparts.  Sometimes she shows up on consecutive days and sometimes she only appears a couple of times a week.  But always, when she leaves there is one less little bird at our feeders.  I love watching her; she's truly a beautiful bird, yet I feel sad each time she kills one of the little birds whose only crime was looking for a free meal.

I didn't take the picture above, but merely borrowed it from another web site.  I do take most of the photographs I use on my blog and that brings me to a point of gratitude.  I'm grateful for cameras and even more grateful for how easy it is to edit and print photoes today.  I got my first camera when I was twelve or thirteen, a gift from my older brothers.  It was just a little Brownie Kodak, but for years it was the only camera I owned and I took a lot of pictures with it.  Unfortunately getting those pictures developed and printed was expensive and somewhere around here I still have a few rolls of film I never did get developed.  My next camera was a Cannon that wasn't even really mine.  When I started out as a reporter, my editor put it in my hands and informed me I was expected to take my own photos to accompany the articles I wrote.  Next came a Fujica with all kinds of lens to choose from.  I fell in love with that camera and when I left journalism, my publisher allowed me to keep it in lieu of two weeks of vacation time.  My last few years as a reporter and editor, the paper hired a part time photographer who loved teaching me how to use that camera for best results.  In time several of my children borrowed that camera to use in college or high school photography classes.  Now I mostly use a little digital camera.  I miss those super lenses on my old camera, but it is so worth it to be able to pop that little plastic square out of my camera and into my computer and voila!  I have pictures.

But that hawk is a sneaky lady.  She eludes my camera with incredible skill leaving me with fuzzy pictures--but one of these days, I'll get a really good shot like the one above of her.

Today I'm grateful for our military Veterans

Veterans Day is one of those holidays that always seems to get overlooked. After all, how can a day to honor soldiers compete with the likes of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas? Somehow we manage to forget that without those soldiers who endured unspeakable trauma and too often death, we wouldn't be free to celebrate the flashier holidays.
Armistice Day or Veterans Day was established as a legal holiday in the United States to honor those who fought in World Wars I and II, but has since been expanded in the USA to include members of America's Armed Services no matter which war they served in or may be currently serving in. Other nations who were involved in World Wars I and II observe this day too. In Canada the day is called Remembrance Day. In fact our friends to the north still observe the day more fully than we in the USA do. Though there has been some fiddling with the date, it is still observed by most nations on November 11, commemorating the day in 1918 when World War I formally ended.
As a child, almost everyone I saw; schoolmates, family, strangers on the street, wore a crimson poppy on Armistice Day to show our support and to honor those who fought for us, especially those who were buried on foreign soil. There was a national sense of togetherness brought about by this simple symbol and the dimes collected for their sale went to support programs aimed at benefitting veterans, particularly those who had been wounded. Red poppies still appear on the lapels of newscasters and many ordinary citizens in Canada while the custom has almost disappeared here. I remember that at precisely 11:00 a.m. a minute of silence was also observed in schools, places of business, and even the radio went silent. Once almost every school child could quote the opening lines of a poem composed by John McCrae, a soldier who wished to honor a friend who died on a Belgian battlefield where he noticed the bright, sturdy flowers growing in fields that had been disturbed by war and where the flowers seemed to flourish between the crosses erected to honor the war dead.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
Perhaps it is human nature to ignore unpleasant things until they touch us personally, but most people I know are hardly aware we've been at war for nine years, ever since America was attacked by foreign terrorists in 2001. Those of us who have had loved ones deployed during that time are certainly aware we are at war, but those who haven't, have too often gone on living their lives mostly untouched by this challenge to freedom and our way of life, other than being inconvenienced at airports and uttering complaints about the monetary cost of war.
Today is a day to set aside our political differences and simply honor those who risked their lives or gave their lives for freedom. It's a day to thank a soldier. It's a day to remember all those who sacrificed time, healthy bodies, or their lives so that we can choose our own government, our way of worship, our educational goals, our careers, and even so we can sit down together with our families to enjoy a holiday dinner. When it comes to gratitude, our military and especially my son-in-law, cousins, brothers, my friend Kerry's son, and the young soldiers I met at Walter Reed Army hospital, rank among those I blessings I'm most grateful for.

Random Gratitude Thoughts

This morning as I walked across the school yard with my grandson, I was very grateful for a warm coat.  I looked around and was pleased to see every child in his class was wearing a coat.  Last year there were several without coats and I want to give thanks for the many individuals and organizations that sponsor coat drives each year or pass on their children's outgrown winter coats.

I'm thankful too this morning for central heat.  I spent a lot of mornings as a child huddling beneath the covers waiting for Daddy to get a fire started in the stove to warm our house.

I'm thankful, too, for all the fun the piles of leaves in our yard provided my grandson and me last weekend.

I'm feeling grateful today too for being able to walk without pain.  It took a very painful shot into a tendonitis clump to accomplish the deed and tons of painkillers to ward off the migraine I always get following those shots, but today I feel great and will be on my way to the temple in a few minutes.  That's something else I'm grateful for.  I love serving in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

I know all of you have many things, great and small, for which you are grateful.  Please share them.

Continuing the Gratitude Theme

Some of the things I'm grateful for may seem a little silly to some of you, but nonetheless, they're things I'm grateful for.

Except for a few short months we never had indoor plumbing until I was sixteen years old.  I am grateful to have bathtubs and toilets in my house.  Laugh if you want, but those who grew up in remote rural areas such as I did, know why this item is high on my gratitude list.

I'm grateful for my older sister and brothers who taught me to read.  I'm thankful too for the many teachers who nurtured my love for the written word.  I can't even imagine a life without reading.

I'm grateful for my little Saturn Ion.  It starts---every time.  I learned to drive a series of clunkers and spent a lot of time sitting in parking lots, at stop signs, and other inconvenient places waiting for some good Samaritan to give the clunker a charge or a push.

I'm grateful for this beautiful Fall weather.  There's something unique about an Indian Fall; the light has a special quality, the last flowers of the season are especially beautiful, and I hate wearing a coat.

I'm thankful for birds.  We keep three feeders in our backyard, and yes sometimes it gets a little expensive to keep them filled, but my husband and I get a lot of pleasure out of watching the various kinds of birds that visit our yard, and even laugh at the squabbling sparrows who arrive in droves.

Keep those gratitude comments coming.  Only those who add gratitude comments to my November blogs are eligible for the Wish List prize this time around.

Changing the rules

I'm changing the contest rules this one time.  This month the Wish List contest will last until the day after Thanksgiving.  Only those who make comments on this blog between now and Thanksgiving will be eligible to win and the prize will be two wish list books.  The theme will be gratitude and you can express your appreciation for anything you are truly grateful for in the comment trail.  Enter as many times as you like.

And speaking of gratitude I'm grateful for my family and how much fun we have together.  Usually we're a pretty low key bunch, but every Halloween my son and his wife throw a party for our family.  They always have the most innovative costumes. 

Along with way too much good food, those family members brave enough to don costumes pose for the family portrait.

TWO WINNERS

Winner of the last Wish List book failed to contact me, so I drew two winners today:  Danyelle Ferguson and Mindy Battraw.  Congratulations!  Please send me a list of five or more LDS novels you would like to own and I'll send one of them to you (if someone else hasn't already claimed it).  Send your wish list and mailing address to bhansen22 at msn dot com.  Please include Wish List in your subject line.

Get Ready, Get Set, Nominate

The year is winding down and it's time for LDS fiction readers to give some thought to nominees for the annual Whitney Academy Awards. These honors are awarded in various categories, generally referred to as genres. Genre fiction and popular fiction are terms used interchangeably in discussions of literary works. They don't mean the exact same thing, but their definitions are close enough that I'm not going to quibble. For this discussion, either term will refer to the type of fiction purchased and read most frequently by readers, though literary fiction is not excluded.

I'm often asked to define what the various genre labels mean, and I'll be honest, defining categories of fiction is not as easy as it may sound. Many authors, teachers, librarians, and critics disagree on precise definitions, and for good reasons. What the reader brings to a book is often as critical as what the author put into it. Someone I admire greatly and I have often disagreed over the genre categories various books have been placed in for judging the Whitney Awards. She may see a story of historical significance while I recognize a beautiful love story as the paramount element of the story. I might call a story Young Adult and she sees it as General Fiction.

I'm pleased to hear that this year LDS novels may be entered in more than one genre for Whitney Academy judging. There have been several occasions where a truly excellent book has been a finalist or even won when it didn't come close to fitting the parameters of the category it was placed in and equally sad were the omissions of great books because, though some readers may have thought they were a particular genre, the judges did not. In my opinion there's nothing wrong with a title being recognized in more than one category. Hopefully this decision will make recognition of the truly best books more probable.

At one time the term LDS Fiction was considered a genre class of its own. Now LDS fiction is broken into as many categories as is main stream fiction. Here's a quick, though not definitive, rundown of the various genres.

Romance: This category includes love stories which may be humorous, historical, western, suspense, or mystery as well. Some readers lump all stories considered of particular interest to women in the romance category; others prefer a separate women's issues genre which includes social issues stories dealing with parenting, abuse, divorce, and other subjects generally discussed more openly by women than men. By the way, stories where sexual attraction is the major factor, more so than the actual relationship and emotions experienced by the lovers, is another genre, not romance.

Historical: These stories are set in a previous time period and are related to known facts of that era. They may or may not include historical figures. Unless the setting is historically accurate and the events of that period can be documented, novels in this category are generally considered more speculative than historical. Stories based on a verse of scripture or a little know scriptural character, particularly those from the Book of Mormon where little is known of day to day life and precise locations, sometimes fall into a strange limbo as the background and events are more guesswork than based on fact. Educated guesswork often places these novels in the historical realm, but whether they belong there is questioned by many historical readers. Historical accuracy is of prime importance to readers of this genre.

Mystery/Suspense: Sometimes Mystery and Suspense are lumped together as one genre though they are not precisely the same. A mystery includes a puzzle to be solved while suspense implies high tension and may not even involve solving some unknown question. Both have as many sub genres as writers are able to imagine. Many include a great love story. They can be set in any time period or place, real or imaginary.

Speculative: This category is loaded with sub genres. Some of the most popular are those that make a guess about the future, whether it is the Second Coming, near annihilation of our planet, or Space exploration. Some make educated guesses concerning a previous time period such as the Ice Age or a scriptural time period. Others deal with imaginary demons, monsters, special powers, mythical characters, or life on an alternative world. Horror, especially if imaginary creatures or pseudo science are involved, may fall in this category. Science Fiction and Fantasy are both generally included in speculative fiction.

Westerns: Westerns deal with the settlement of the Western United States. They are usually lighter than historicals dealing with this same time period. Horses and/or cattle usually appear prominently and there is a strong distinction between good and bad. Native Americans often play a role in this genre as do miners, guns, and wild animals native to the West.

Youth Fiction or YA: This category is broken down into all of the same genre classifications as adult fiction though the characters are younger, the language a little simpler, and the stories are of particular interest to a younger audience. There is usually a "coming of age" factor shown as the characters progress toward maturity. Once YA was considered pretty much aimed toward the high school/college age crowd, but now often includes the first post college years when young people first step into the real adult world. On the other hand, when I worked as a librarian, I found more and more books once considered middle readers, suitable for fifth through eighth graders, reclassified as YA.

General Fiction: This is a catchall category for books that don't fall into any other category well. These books range from social issues, explorations of philosophies, to a blurring of several other categories. Sometimes they exhibit elements of literary works. Horror is generally considered a sub genre of General Fiction, especially if it contemporary and closely linked to possibility, but because of its increasing popularity it may be placed in its own genre.

I urge readers to get nominations in for the 2010 Whitney Awards. Any novel written by an LDS author and released during 2010 is eligible. For this award to be of significant worth in the field of LDS fiction, there needs to be more nominations come from non-industry-related readers. To read more about the Whitney Awards Program or to nominate a novel(s) go here. You can suggest which category or categories you think your favorite novels fit in, but you don't have to. You are also welcome to expand, agree, or disagree with my definitions of the various genres in the comment trail below. I'll even forward your comments to the chairman of the Whitney contest.

From the Pumpkin Files

 Arazona and Charlie demonstrate a truly sincere pumpkin patch.

Tigger might be too little for candy and trick or treat, but he's sure cute.

They're so grown up now, they won't appreciate this old picture.

Halloween and costumes go together, but there was a time when a few LDS fiction writers didn't need Halloween to dress up and act a bit scary.  While searching for an old picture through some past files, I ran across a few costume pictures from the past.  Remember these folks? Jeff Savage, Rob Wells and Michele Bell really got into those old mystery dramas.  Of course, I had my moments along with Kerry Blair, Betsy Green, and Michele.

Wish List 2 Photo Gallery

Mindy's Boys!

See blog below:

Time to start a Halloween contest

October is half over and we're half way to Halloween, just two more weeks. I tried to think of a Halloween theme for the October Wish List 2 contest, but since LDS fiction doesn't produce many horror novels and I have none to give away, I guess that's not too great of an idea. To be perfectly honest I don't like the creepy, bloody, scary stuff, but I enjoy the little kids' Trick or Treat costumes, the candy, pumpkins, scarecrows, and all of the light, fun side. When it comes to books, my favorite Halloween style covers and titles belong to Kerry Blair, Ghost of a Chance and Mummy's the Word. Both Gregg Luke and Stephanie Black write the kind of suspense that borders on horror, but never quite crosses that line. There are a few LDS writers who write horror, but their books are general market, not LDS. So let's keep to the fun side of Halloween for this contest. I want to hear what your favorite Halloween activities are, what costumes your kids are wearing this year, do you attend Halloween parties, and whether or not you like to read the gory, scary, nightmare kind of books. One more thing, I think it would be fun to post reader's Halloween pictures over the next two weeks. If you would like me to post a picture of your kids, your pet, or you in Halloween costume on this blog, send your photo to bhansen22 at msn dot com. Be sure to mention the name of this contest in your subject line so I won't delete it with my junk mail. The senders of any pictures used will receive a double entry in the contest.

Oh, and lest I forget, the winner of the October Wish List 1 contest is Cindy R. Williams. Cindy send me a list of five or more books on your wish list and your mailing address. Send it to bhansen22 at msn dot com. Remember all followers are included in each contest and those who make comments on any of my blogs during the contest period are entered in the drawing to win an LDS novel of his/her choice from the books sent to me for review.