5 days until summer!
Annette Lyon is a Whitney Award winner, a two-time recipient of Utah’s Best of State medal for fiction, and a three-time publication award winner from the League of Utah Writers, most recently, the Silver Quill Award in 2013. She’s the author of more than a dozen novels, almost as many novellas, several nonfiction books, and over one hundred twenty magazine articles. Annette is a cum laude graduate from BYU with a degree in English. When she’s not writing, knitting, or eating chocolate, she can be found mothering and avoiding the spots on the kitchen floor. Find her online at blog.annettelyon.com and on Twitter: @AnnetteLyon.
Visit Annette: WEBSITE | BLOG | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOOGLE+ | PINTEREST
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LDSWBR: What book or movie reminds you of summer?
ANNETTE: Definitely Anne of Green Gables, because I was first introduced to Anne over the summer before eighth grade. I’d just spent three years abroad, where finding books in English wasn’t the easiest. That summer, I spent hours and hours reading the first three Anne books, which were collected into a single volume that my best friend loaned me. As soon as I finished the first book, I HAD to see the movie, of course. Another friend had it (on VHS) at her house, and we watched it in her family room. Even now, thoughts of Gilbert and Anne remind me of that summer, including the very bed I read on. I ended up being a huge LM Montgomery fan, although Anne isn’t my favorite Montgomery character. I have a shelf full of her books, including her autobiography, her short stories, all five massive volumes of her journals, and a DVD with a ton of history and photographs. And a quote from her journal hanging on my writing desk! It’s safe to say that the summer of 1987 had a huge impact on me as both a reader and a writer.
LDSWBR: Do you hike during the summer? If so, where is your favorite place to hike?
ANNETTE: Not as much as I once did–I have a hankering to do a full-on, several-day Uintah backpacking hike again some day. But sometimes I’ll do a day hike with my kids, most recently, up to Stewart Falls (near Sundance) and up Y Mountain in Provo.
LDSWBR: What is the best book you’ve read so far this year?
ANNETTE: I Shall Be Near to You, by Erin Lindsay McCabe. I’m a sucker for historical fiction and women’s fiction. This book combines the two into historical women’s fiction and adds a haunting story with real characters and a great voice right along with heartbreaking history. It’s about a new wife who enlists in the US Army during the Civil War so she can be close to her soldier husband.
LDSWBR: Thank you, Annette!
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DESERET BOOK | SEAGULL BOOK | AMAZON | GOODREADS
On the surface, Ilana Goldstein leads an enviable life: a thriving career and a happy marriage to a handsome doctor. All that’s missing is a baby, an emptiness that will surely be filled with time . . .
Then, in an instant, her life falls apart. Now, beneath Ilana’s once flawless exterior hides a dark secret that may destroy the woman who seemed to have it all. Following a rapid succession of crushing trials, Ilana turns to prescription medications to take the edge off her agony both the ache of her body and the anguish of her soul. But when her desperation to dull the pain leads to the downward spiral of addiction, her friends in the Newport Ladies Book Club must do whatever it takes to save one of their own. Will Ilana’s devastating losses bring about her own self-destruction, or will the loving determination of friends and family lend her the strength to overcome?
Has a book or author ever impacted your life like Anne of Green Gables and LM Montgomery have impacted Annette’s life?
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**To enter the LDSWBR Countdown to Summer 2014, leave a thoughtful comment below.**
This is raffle-style drawing where all entries throughout the contest period are entered into the same “hat” for all prizes. Because this is a raffle-style drawing, commenting on each Countdown to Summer 2014 post will give you more chances to win. Please click through to the website as only comments submitted directly on this post will be accepted.
Prizes include a $50 Amazon gift card and the author-donated books listed below. US only. 18 years and older please. See all contest rules and restrictions below.
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By leaving a comment and entering the Countdown to Summer 2014, you agree to the contest rules below:
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY; entrants must be 18 years or older; open to residents of continental US only; giveaway begins June 5, 2014 and all entries must be received by 12:00 Midnight June 30, 2014 Mountain Time; to enter, complete the required entry on each post and any additional entries of your choice if listed; LDS Women’s Book Review reserves the right to determine what is considered a thoughtful comment as per each post’s required entry; giveaway prizes include a $50 Amazon gift card and a variety of book prizes donated by featured authors; the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning; LDS Women’s Book Review is not liable for technical problems which may affect entry into the giveaway; winner identity will be verified by email address; winner will be selected July 3, 2014 by use of a sequence generator on random.org; winner will have until July 10, 2014 to claim their prize; if any prize winner forfeits or does not claim prize, prize will be re-awarded to next winner in sequence; all prizes will be awarded; limit of two prizes per entrant; this contest/giveaway is not associated with Facebook, Twitter or any other entity unless otherwise specified; by entering the giveaway you give LDS Women’s Book Review the right to publicize your name on the LDS Women’s Book Review blog; winner agrees to release LDS Women’s Book Review from any liability as a result of winning; email comments and questions to LDS Women’s Book Review – ldswbr (at) gmail (dot) com; giveaway subject to Utah regulations; VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
**Book Prizes (as of 6/16/14 – more to be added to this list!)**
- Unraveled by Julie Daines (signed paperback)
- Any book by A.L. Sowards (choice of paperback or Kindle version)
- An autographed copy of any one Sarah M. Eden book of the winner’s choice
- Chances Are by Traci Hunter Abramson (signed/personalized paperback)
- Choice of The Inventor’s Secret (hardback or paperback) or The Avatar Battle (hardback or audio CD) by Chad Morris (signed copy)
- Missing Lily by Annette K. Larsen (ebook in .mobi or epub)
- Glimmering Light by Margot Hovley (personalized paperback or Kindle)
- Before the Clock Strikes Thirty by Aubrey Mace (personalized paperback)
- Tulips and Treason by Tristi Pinkston (personalized paperback)
- Luminescence by Braden Bell
- Falling For You by Krista Lynne Jensen (signed paperback)
- Ilana’s Wish by Annette Lyon (paperback copy, personalized if desired)
