For the two or three of you who haven’t rushed out and bought the book, I’m putting out some freebies you can all fight to the death over. Yes, like a porkchop thrown into a pit of Dobermans, I’m putting in the links for Rajdeep’s give away page.
Time for inside baseball stuff. One of the greatest benefits of being an author (unpublished, but I do write) is that you get to read other people’s books before they’re published. I have had the honor of being a beta reader (looking for goof ups and plot problems) for a few people, and I’m also lucky enough to have read this book in preparation for its launch. That’s how the Amazon.com reviews get up there the day the book hits the shelf – some of us have read it in advance.
That being said, I don’t review books I didn’t like. Silence is golden and I have elected to be nice and not say anything unless I love the book. I love this book. Alot.
I met Rajdeep Paulus at my first ACFW convention in Saint Louis. She didn’t once hit me with any solid objects. Given my general level of social grace, that is a plus. We became friends and I have enjoyed seeing her at this annual event. Her first book, Swimming Through Clouds, was one of the 3 best books I read last year when it came out. Yup, that good. I could hardly wait for the sequel, praying that it wouldn’t disappoint me. My prayers were answered: it is every bit as magnificent as the debut novel.
Without further ado, my review of the book. (Followed below the fold by an interview with the author.)
Seeing Through Stones Requires A Diamond – It Is A Gem
I am not the typical reader of Young Adult (YA) fiction, but that is not to say that I don’t love the stories. I have read lots of YA in the past few years because a few of my friends write in that genre. Most of it is okay, some of it is dreadful, and a few rare gems emerge among the crushed rock left behind by my withering sarcasm.
Seeing Through Stones, by Rajdeep Paulus, is one of those gems that readers dream of in their search for diamonds and rubies on the shelves of the local book seller. Her second novel, a sequel to Swimming Through Clouds, it is a magnificent story that may be one of the best novels out there in dealing with domestic abuse.
As a former cop, I know what domestic abuse can do to the victims. I know that the scars, both emotional and physical, mar the lives of the victims in ways that most never understand. Paulus has let us into the world and provided a story that not only grips the reader, but lights a fire in your soul to fight against the villains.
Only the darkest nights, free of the city’s lights, can reveal the most distant and brilliant stars. Paulus lights the firmament with a story of hope that bleeds through in pinpricks of light from ancient stars and eventually illuminates the world with a supernova of freedom and release from bondage.
This is a tale of more than slaps and hair twisting; it is a revelation of the darkest corners of human trafficking and abuse. It is extremely well done, thoughtful, terrifying, and beautiful.
Yes, beautiful. Only by facing the darkness can we find the light. Rajdeep Paulus has balanced all of the needed elements in a work that should gather her five stars and a larger audience.
This will be a short sort of post. It’s more of a mirror than anything else, and you’ll probably see what you want to/expect to see when you read it today. But I’ve never particularly cared about controversy, and as time has gone by on this blog I’m more and more likely to stir things up. Mainly because I’ve been told to shut up way too often for my tastes.
Who would tell me to shut up? Readers. You cannot imagine the kinds of input I get from the reading audience when I write about almost anything. It ranges from “You’re so fat it will kill you” to “Gee, I didn’t know you were a member of the Klan” in it’s scope and mendacity. I do read the comments even if I don’t publish them. I control the comments because some people are so rude and mean that they wouldn’t just make me all sad and weepy (figure the odds) but they’ll hurt others.
I do value the input from rational readers. The ones that say logical things, even when I don’t agree with them. The ones who take the time to explain their argument. I like those readers. I hope to hear from a few of them after today’s post. So, let’s get on with it.
The United States is a representative form of government with a strong federalist system in place. That means that individual states can do what they want independently of the federal government. This means that if you don’t like the nonsense in Minnesota, you can move to Texas, Alabama, Wyoming, Maine, or any other state to fall under different laws. You have an out.
All the hubub in Arizona over SB 1062 is moot in any state except Arizona. It has as much impact on the people in Connecticut as does the Arizona state policy on medical marijuana. That’s how the founders of this country wanted it to work. It does work. Remarkably well, in my opinion.
I’ve read a lot of opinion pieces on this issue over the last few weeks. It seems to me to be another distraction from the larger issues in our society. Another divider that holds little real meaning for most people. The most amazing thing to me was the proclivity of people, especially on the LGBT side of the house, to brand anyone that disagreed with them a hateful (fill in the blank.) Some in the religious community screamed persecution over this issue. Yeah, tell that to the Coptic Christians – there’s some real persecution for you when they burn down your church and kill your children.
Me? I tend to agree with Matthew Moore in his article. He seemed to cover it quite well. Head on over and read what he has to say about the topic. And, lest we forget to include all the haters in the mix, yes it’s the same Matt Moore who was a closeted gay male writing for the Christian Post and still on gay dating sites. Weird, eh? Inconsistent behavior by a human being. Who woulda thunk?
Matt said it better than I ever could have. I’m sure I’ll be called some names over this. That’s the joy of being a public figure in the wild world of the internet. But I’ll stand by the words: Be kind to each other. Love one another. Follow Christ. Treat your gay and straight brothers and sisters equally. Don’t force others to kneel before you and act as supplicants. Don’t kneel before false Gods. Be kind. Be gracious. Walk away when someone doesn’t want your business because of who you are – it’s refreshing (downright fun to see the look on their faces when you smile and walk away, I’ve done it myself more than once.) Be ready to lose business based on your beliefs, or lack of them. Most of all, be true to God. That doesn’t mean you have to be rotten to anyone else, but it does mean that you worship only God. All that other stuff is of man. Keep the perspective.
It’s grouchy time at the ranch. I’ve had exactly one more day of fun than I can tolerate this winter and with the fun-meter all the way to the right and clicking on the post,I’m ready to make the move to Zimbabwe based on weather alone.
Why so crabby? It’s nine below zero, we’re expecting 50 mile an hour winds by dark tonight, and there’s a few tons of snow on my garage roof. The kind of snow that breaks roofs down and crushes cars.
So this morning I will take my roof rake (yeah, we have tools for raking snow off the roof here in Uff-Da land) and drag a few hundred pounds of snow down onto my lawn. And me. You invariably get a lot of it down your collar.
Once that fun evolution is done you get to fire up the snow blower and move all that snow somewhere else. Because if you don’t then the dog has nowhere to take a tinkle, the garage door is blocked, and your car is only accessible from the alley. Rinse and repeat on the other side of the garage. That side can only be approached by wading through chest high snow that you’ve deposited from clearing the alley so you can get your car in the garage. All of this done in a brisk wind below zero.
Today, for the first time in months, I’m rather sorry I won’t be editing something I wrote. I hate editing. But it sure beats dragging the snow off the roof.
Remind me to whine some more later. Right now I’ve got to put on my play clothes and go outside.
Sweet Meteor of Death (SMOD) come and claim us. But if you’re coming, do it before I get my boots on and head out the door.
I take a few days off here and there. Today was one of them. Then Vicki Tiede had to go and wreck it with one of the best blog posts of the year. Yeah, she’s that kind of person. Beautiful.
