Indelible by Lani Woodland – Countdown to Christmas 2011

 Posted by  Countdown to Christmas, Special Features
Dec 072011
 

18 days until Christmas

 

Lani Woodland has been an avid reader since elementary school when she first discovered the Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley Twins series. In sixth grade she began writing plays and recruiting (with force when necessary) her friends to act them out. Most of these early works were inspired by She-Ra, the epitome of girl power to her young self.

She graduated from BYU with a BS in Family Science. Lani has always loved scary stories, and has a hard time enjoying any book without at least a little romance in it. She lives in Southern California with her husband, their two children and a large collection of board games. She has worked as a spot-welder, babysitter, janitor, photographer, gymnastics coach, and movie extra. She enjoys bonfires at the beach, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, speed talking, chocolate as a cure-all, and the word “precisely.”

Connect with Lani: WEBSITE | BLOG | Twitter | Facebook | BOOK WEBSITE

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LDSWBR: What Christmas-related activity would you like to do this year that you have never done before?

LANI: I can honestly say that nothing comes to mind. I have done everything I have wanted to at least once. I have gone ice-skating, sledding, built a snowman, seen the Rockettes’ Christmas show, and ridden on the polar express. I do like the idea of hiking in the woods and chopping down my own Christmas tree in theory. But in reality I know I would be too cold. ☺ I just want to be able to spend lots of time with my family.

LDSWBR: If you could find one book under the tree this year, what would it be?

LANI: I really want two books. I want Hunting Lila and Obsidian. I also want a gift card to Amazon to buy books for my Kindle.

LDSWBR: What is your favorite childhood Christmas memory?

LANI: I remember Santa coming to our house Christmas Eve. My grandpa had just gone to bed. Then there was this loud sound of jingling bells, and Santa walked into our living room. I was so excited to see him. When I noticed his watch, I told him my Grandpa had one just like it. It made everyone laugh, but I had no idea why at the time.

LDSWBR: Thank you, Lani. Merry Christmas!

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Buy Indelible by Lani Woodland

BARNES & NOBLE | AMAZON | SMASHWORDS

Read Mindy’s review of Indelible.

My dad “helped” Santa for a few years. Was there someone in your family who liked to dress as one of Santa’s “helpers” at Christmas time?

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To enter the Countdown to Christmas 2011 contest, complete the following and then tell us what you did:

  • **Required entry (+1) – Leave a thoughtful comment on this post. (More than just “Great contest!” please.) You must leave a comment on this post for your other entries to count. If you are reading this post through email or an RSS reader, please click through to leave a comment.
  • Bonus entry (+1 total) – Go follow Lani on her blog, Twitter or Facebook (see links above) then send an email  to ldswbr (at) gmail (dot) com telling us how you follow Lani.
  • Additional entries (one time +1 entry each) – 1) Subscribe to LDSWBR through email 2)Follow @LDSWBR on Twitter 3) Like LDS Women’s Book Review on Facebook (all found at the the top of the right sidebar on the LDSWBR blog). NOTE: If you already subscribe through email, follow us on Twitter, or Like us on Facebook you must tell us in a comment for the extra entries to count.
  • By leaving a comment and entering the Countdown to Christmas 2011, you agree to the contest information found here.

 

***If you haven’t read the contest rules and info, read them here.***

 

Book prizes donated by their authors:

  • Not My Type by Melanie Jacobson
  • Cinder & Ella by Melissa Lemon (ebook)
  • Pride & Popularity by Jenni James
  • The Kissing Tree by Prudence Bice
  • Rearview Mirror by Stephanie Black (paperback or Kindle)
  • The Next Door Boys by Jolene B. Perry
  • Winner’s choice of one of the books in the Sadie Hoffmiller Culinary Mystery Series by Josi S. Kilpack (including Banana Split which will be released in February 2012)
  • Seeking Persephone by Sarah M. Eden
  • Obsession by Traci Hunter Abramson
  • Circle of Secrets by Kimberley Griffiths Little
  • Indelible by Lani Woodland and a swag bag!
  • Identity by Betsy Love
  • The Hainan Incident by D.M. Coffman (autographed copy)
  • Count Down to Love by Julie N. Ford
  • Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennett
  • The Breakup Artist by Shannen Crane Camp
  • Seers by Heather Frost
Don’t forget to comment! Merry Christmas and happy reading!

Indelible by Lani Woodland

 Posted by  Book Reviews, Mindy's Reviews
Sep 282011
 

Indelible

Author: Lani Woodland

Publisher: Pendrell Publishing

Published: To Be Published October 2011, eBook available now!

Hardcover: 416 pages

ISBN13: 9780982729724

FTC FYI: I received an ARC from the publisher, which did not effect my review

Reviewed by Mindy

Yara is beginning to understand just how much her life will change now that her Waker abilities have emerged. She has come to terms with the fact that seeing ghosts is part of her life, but she isn’t ready to let being a Waker dictate her choices. All she wants is a ghost-free senior year with her boyfriend, Brent, and her best friend, Cherie. But Yara soon discovers that there are more dark secrets in her school’s history than just the curse she broke. While an angry ghost makes Yara question everything she thought she knew about spirits, she and Brent learn that there are long reaching consequences to last year’s adventures. As new enemies emerge and old ghosts resurface, Yara finds herself in the center of another deadly mystery, and this time she has to contend with the living as well as the dead. (summary from Smashwords)

Yara Silva just got back from summer break in Brazil training with her grandmother, Vovo.  Yara is a Waker (see my review of Intrinsical), she can see and communicate with ghosts.  Yara was training with Vovo to learn how to help the ghosts that she sees.  Right off the plane, she notices them, but figures there are too many of them to help.  She’s picked up by her friends Cherie, Steve, and of course her boyfriend Brett.  The couples are headed to their school, Pendrell Academy, mixer.  During their senior year, students are required to have an internship, and this was the night to impress the alumni.  Brent and Yara are talking with some friends of his parents, and she lets it slip that she is a Waker.  Feeling embarrassed she rushes away where she meets DJ, who says he believes her and needs her help with something.  DJ tells them about Christopher Pendrell and his wife Sophia, who died mysteriously.  He takes them to where their portraits are and Yara sees Sophia.  Right away Yara can tell that she is troubled.  Sophia leads them, unknowingly, to a hidden compartment that she is protecting.  Yara notices that DJ takes something.  Right away Sophia starts attacking, all the while blaming Yara for what happened.  Brent uses his powers to help her, but they can’t figure out how Sophia was able to touch her.  This attack prompts Yara, Brent, and Cherie to investigate more into the Pendrell family.  What they find is a dangerous hidden society with secrets of their own.

I enjoyed Indelible as much as Intrinsical.  What I love about Lani’s writing is her character depth.  Each character is important to the story, and are very well written.  This book has so much of action and suspense.  And don’t forget about some great smooching.  What I liked most was the growing that Yara goes through.  She may see ghosts, but still needs to learn how to care about them.

4 out of 5 stars.  Looking forward to the third and final book, Inevitable, to be released next year.  Indelible will be available in hardcover soon, but is available in eBook form on Smashwords.

Content:

  • No language
  • A bit of violence, nothing I was offended by
  • Kissing, but never sexual


Intrinsical by Lani Woodland

 Posted by  Book Reviews, Mindy's Reviews
May 112011
 

Intrinsical

Author: Lani Woodland

Publisher: Pendrell Publishing

Hardcover: 304 pages

ISBN: 9780982729700

FTC FYI: I purchased my own copy

“Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something slide past me.  Curious, I turned to find something shimmering in the air, almost like a fine mist–but it was unlike any mist I had ever seen.  Instead of a transparent white, it was a deep charcoal gray, almost black.  It brought to mind a dark rain cloud, one that promised a terrible storm… The mist wound around one student, then another, releasing each before moving on, still searching.  Then, abruptly, it paused, circling tightly around a boy with sable hair.” Intrinsical pages 1-2

Yara Silva knows that ghosts are around her.  In fact, she is a Waker.  Being a Waker she can see and communicate with ghosts.  Yara’s grandmother was also one, but she was taunted by her ability.  Yara didn’t want that for herself.  When she starts school at Pendrell Academy, Yara was hoping just to attend school, and not have her ability be “awakened”.  Little did Yara know, Pendrell Academy is surrounded by mystery.  Yara grandmother encourages her to attend, even though Pendrell has been loosing students to suicide.  So, right away, she realizes her ability has been lying dormant all this time, until she is needed in a moments notice.

I really enjoyed this book.  Something huge happens to Yara, earlier then I was excepting, and I really love what the author did with it.  There are so many cools twists and turns that Yara takes, and where she ends up at the end is impressive.  There are so many likable characters in this book too.  Besides Yara, Brent was my favorite, a guy who has many of his own complications.

I recently met Lani Woodland at a book club discussion and instantly loved her.  She is so fun and sweet.  Lani got the idea for Intrinsical by doing a fan fiction story for her favorite show The X Files–it’s a cool story.  I also got to spend time with her at last weekend’s LDStorymakers Conference.  In a podcast interview that Sheila and I had with her, I was excited to learn that book two, Indelible will be released later this year.  Find out more about Lani here.

4 stars out of 5.  Great story, I will even let my teenage daughter read this, and I haven’t been saying that very often.  I will definitely read Book 2, and will read Intrinsical again.