This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Rose House

WaterBrook Press (May 5, 2009)

by

Tina Ann Forkner

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tina Ann Forkner writes contemporary fiction that challenges and inspires. She grew up in Oklahoma and graduated with honors from CSU Sacramento before settling in Wyoming. She lives with her husband, their three bright children and their dog and stays busy serving on the Laramie County Library Foundation Board of Directors. She is the author of Ruby Among Us, her debut novel, and Rose House, which recently released from Waterbrook Press/Random House.

ABOUT THE BOOK

A vivid story of a private grief, a secret painting, and one woman’s search for hope

Still mourning the loss of her family in a tragic accident, Lillian Diamon finds herself drawn back to the Rose House, a quiet cottage where four years earlier she had poured out her anguish among its fragrant blossoms.

She returns to the rolling hills and lush vineyards of the Sonoma Valley in search of something she can’t quite name. But then Lillian stumbles onto an unexpected discovery: displayed in the La Rosaleda Gallery is a painting that captures every detail of her most private moment of misery, from the sorrow etched across her face to the sandals on her feet.

What kind of artist would dare to intrude on such a personal scene, and how did he happen to witness Lillian’s pain? As the mystery surrounding the portrait becomes entangled with the accident that claimed the lives of her husband and children, Lillian is forced to rethink her assumptions about what really happened that day.

A captivating novel rich with detail, Rose House explores how the brushstrokes of pain can illuminate the true beauty of life.

If you would like to read an excerpt from Rose House, go HERE

Sally Says: I really dislike having to give bad reviews. In fact, I’d rather not, but CFBA makes us post our take on a book whether we like it or not. (Passing the buck, I know.)

So with that introduction, I must say that I did not care for The Rose House. I wish I had; it has a beautiful cover and the back cover piqued my interest, but I felt the story didn’t quite deliver. The quality of the story wasn’t up there. The characters weren’t three dimensional, and the plot was a bit unbelievable at times with characters already being in love when they’d only known each other a few days.

Maybe I wasn’t the right reader for the story; it felt more like a genre romance than the women’s fiction it was portrayed to be. If you love genre romance, then you may enjoy the book. But if you like what I like, , then this may not be the book for you.

We had our Vacation Bible School every morning last week, and between that and trying to do everything else I normally do in half the usual time, exercise and eating healthy were pushed aside. I was sure that the weight I’d lost would be back when I got on the scale this morning.

So does that mean there’s no point in exercising?

No way. I think it means that because I’d been exercising pretty regularly before VBS hit, my body didn’t absorb everything I ate like it normally would have. It was stronger and maybe my metabolism was higher? Wouldn’t that be wonderful. And I spent 50 minutes on the elliptical yesterday morning, burning around 600 calories. I’m sure that helped, too.

How’s everyone else doing?

But I did weigh this morning. Up a couple pounds, but that’s fine. This is a process and the weight does go up and down for various reasons. I’ve already done 2 big workouts this week and will do more after the fourth. So I hope to be down a pound or two next week. We’ll see.

I hope the rest of you are doing well, too. Have a great July Fourth!

But I still weigh less than I do when this whole thing started so I’m happy. I did half an hour on the elliptical early this morning and am planning on doing that the rest of the week. That should make me get to bed on time at night!

If you haven’t heard of Tales from the Scales yet, check it out. It’s still not to late to jump in.

I guess the scale can stay another week.

For those of you who weren’t here last Tuesday, I’m part of the May Day Weigh Challenge over on Tales from the Scales. So every Tuesday I have to post how I’ve done the past week. For those of you who find that to be too much information, feel free to read other posts.

For those of you who care, I gained a pound this week. I think.

My old scale really did deserve to go into the trash. The glass cover had broken off two or three years ago, taking with it the marker that pointed to the exact pound. I’d drawn a line along the top of the scale so I could see how much I weighed, but that’s even wearing away.

So if I was going to be serious about this getting in shape thing, it really was time for a new scale.

Except that the new scale tells me I weigh 3 pounds more than the other scale.

WHAT??????

If I want to gain 3 to 5 pounds in one day, I can do that at the doctor’s office, thank you, not in my own bathroom! That’s so wrong!

But it seems I have no choice. So I’m trying to get over the evilness of the new scale, count it as my friend (yeah, right), and move forward. Just not forward to the chocolate cupboard.

And I’m actually not frustrated over the one pound weight gain (based on the first scale). I did have a birthday last week and Mother’s Day and received a dark chocolate Dove bar at church so I had a few days of some really good eats. I tried to be careful and not overdo it, did a pretty good job with that, but I’m trying to be realistic — life changes, not deprivation that leads to binges.

And I exercised 3 times last week. Yippee! I still have certain regions of my body that hurt from my Saturday night work out, but that gives me the excuse of claiming that extra pound as muscle since muscle DOES weigh more than fat.

Now I’m off to exercise with a friend. Maybe that’ll aleviate my issues with the scale from the dark side.

I recently came across the blog Tales from the Scales which is today starting the May Day Weight Challenge. For those trying to lose weight/get in shape, it’s a place to have some accountability and motivation, along with tips and the occasional healthy recipe.

So I’m in. I’ve been trying (and mostly failing) to get back into the exercise routine. A friend at church has started a two-day-a-week exercise get-together so that’s helped me. Plus we’re going to be accountable to each other. And now this challenge from TFTS. I’m determined to shed winter weight!

In the past I’ve lost weight through exercise and through dieting, but I’ve never put the two together. My goal this time is not to diet or burn calories for the duration of the challenge (goes into September) but to change lifelong habits to keep myself healthy and fit — for my husband, my kids, and myself.

In fact I don’t need to lose a lot of weight. My goal is 12 pounds. (My dream goal is 17 but I’d be thrilled with 12.) 12 pounds doesn’t sound like a lot, but it means fitting into the clothes I have or getting cut in two by them. I’ll let you guess where I’m at right now.

One thing the blog requires is that, if you have a blog, you post your progress every Tuesday. It’s weigh-in day, so to speak. You don’t have to say how much you weigh, just what you lost or gained. And if you don’t have a blog, you can still participate.

If you’re interested, jump over to Tales from the Scales and join the challenge, whether you’re reading this in May or July! I’ll be there to great you.