Category: Michael D Young

Third Platform Campaigners Crusade

August 30th, 2011

I had this marketing/networking activity recommended to me recently. There’s still one day to sign up. Find more about it and sign up at the following link:
http://rachaelharrie.blogspot.com/2011/08/and-so-campaign-begins-plus-campaigner.html

Also don’t forget, there’s still time to enter the Awesome August Blog Hop on the post below to win a copy of “The Canticle Kingdom”.

Awesome August Blog Hop

August 29th, 2011

Welcome to the Awesome August Blog Hop, where bloggers from all over the Internet have come together to throw a summertime party!

Every blog on this hop is offering a fun prize, and entering is quick and easy. Simply follow the instructions on each blog, leave a comment, and bop right along to the next blog. You can win multiple times, so be sure to check out all the participating blogs!

On my blog, you can win a signed copy of THE CANTICLE KINGDOM. Also tune in on Thursday when I announce the winner of the Angel Trivia Contest.

To enter:

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This blog hop runs through Wednesday night at midnight, so be sure to enter before then! The winner will be notified by e-mail.

Now that you’ve entered my contest, come meet all my other blog friends and see what fun things they are offering!

Awesome August Blog Hop Participants

1. Tristi Pinkston, LDS Author
2. Karen Hoover
3. Michael Young
4. Kristy Tate
5. cindy Hogan
6. Julie Bellon
7. Margot Hovley
8. Laurie Lewis
9. Mandi Slack
10. Melanie Jacobson
11. Joyce DiPastena
12. Renae Mackley

13. Debbi Weitzell
14. Donna Hatch
15. Carolyn Frank
16. Marsha Ward
17. Stacy Coles
18. Bonnie Harris
19. Danyelle Ferguson aka Queen of the Clan
20. Diony George
21. Lisa Asanuma
22. Susan Dayley
23. Christine Bryant @ Day Dreamer
24. Stephanie Humphreys

25. Ranee` Clark
26. Tamera Westhoff
27. I Am A Reader, Not A Writer
28. Heather Justesen
29. Rebecca Talley
30. Jennifer Hurst
31. Aimee Brown
32. Cheryl Christensen
33. Rachelle Christensen
34. Imaginary Reads
35. Andrea Pearson

Learn more about Awesome August Blog Hop here.
View More Awesome August Blog Hop Participants
Get The Code

Writing Update for this Week:
I’m getting my latest work “The Lost Barge” ready to go out the door and getting in some time on both a new project and the sequel to THE LAST ARCHANGEL.

New Features and Book Review: The Hidden Sun by J. Lloyd Morgan

August 25th, 2011

New Features on my Blog
Now that I have a few more followers, I wanted to add a little more structure to how my blog posts run. I’m going to try going to the twice a week posting schedule, once on Mondays and once on Thursdays. On Mondays, I will run a personal post about writing trends, the craft of writing, etc. On Mondays, I will also give an update on what I’m working on that week. On Thursday, I will run a feature, such as a book post, a website review, etc. If something really great happens in between, I’ll post about then whenever.

I’d like to start off this schedule with a book review of “The Hidden Sun” by J. Lloyd Morgan.
(Note: I’m trying out a new review format. My reviews will have two sections: What I Liked as a Reader and What I Learned as a Writer. For the first part, I’ll put on my reader’s hat (a nice casual panama hat) and give a traditional review about what I thought of the book. In the second section, I’ll put on my writer’s hat (a dapper top hat) and will talk about what I noticed either good and/or bad that we all can learn from.

What I Liked as a Reader

The first thing that impressed me about “The Hidden Sun” was that it walks a path that few books these days do: it has a medieval setting, but does not rely on fantastical elements to tell the story. “The Hidden Story” is a wonderful story of political intrigue and family legacy. I genuinely cared about the characters and the action kept me hooked on the story.

The reader might find the names a little difficult, but the author has provided a helpful pronunciation guide at the beginning to help you out. When reading, be sure to keep the characters straight as the story sometimes jumps around quickly from one character’s story to another.

One thing I noticed about the names was the theme of sunlight throughout the book, which is reflected both in the actual weather and in the names of the characters. I can’t say much about the names without giving the plot away, but I feel that this was elegantly done and added both depth and beauty to the story.

“The Hidden Sun” was just released in its second edition, with a beautiful new cover. It will be continued with “The Waxing Moon”, another exciting installment in the story.

What I Learned as a Writer

Sometimes the best way to draw the reader in is to do something a bit unexpected. When I saw the medieval setting, I thought “Where’s the wizard?” and “There are bound to be some elves showing up any time now.” Instead, it read a lot more like historical fiction, which I also really love, and instead focused on the political intrigue and family legacy. That resulted in a satisfying read.

You can order the book by following this link: (Make sure that you get the book with the new cover that matches the one at the beginning of this post. That’s the newest edition.) http://stores.handcartsinthevalleybookstore.com/-strse-1304/The-Hidden-Sun-by/Detail.bok

You can also visit Jason online at: http://jlloydmorgan.com/
Final Angel Trivia:

August 22nd, 2011

The last question was: What is the name of the “Angell” that designed the Salt Lake City Temple as well as many other buildings in Salt Lake City?

The correct answer was given by Tanya Parker Mills: Truman, from the architect’s full name of Truman O. Angell.

The final question is: In which Biblical book does it record a donkey seeing an angel and then temporarily getting the power of speech?

Hint: It is in one of the books that are considered “the books of Moses”.

Join me later this week as I review too books and talk about what I learned as a writer by reading them.
Angel Trivia 4

August 20th, 2011

The question yesterday was: Which book of the Bible mentions angels the most

The Answer: Revelation

No takers on this one. Try the next one on for size:

What is the name of the “angell” that designed the LDS Salt Lake City Temple, as well as many other buildings in Salt Lake City?

Hint: His initals are T.O.A.

Just one more question on Monday! Not to late to step in and answer.
Angel Trivia Day 3

August 17th, 2011

The question yesterday was: Name the three angels mentioned by name in the standard cannon of the Bible.

The first was Gabriel, who visited Mary to tell her of her special status as the mother of Jesus.

The second is Michael. (What a great name) He is the archangel who cast Satan and his followers out of Heaven.

For the third, I will accept either Lucifer or Appollyon.

I had a few other answers, such as Uriel and Raphael. These are traditional angels in many religions, but are not mentioned by name in the standard Old and New Testaments. They are mentioned in some apocryphal books that are included in some biblical version.

Congrats to: Alyssa Clark again, as well as T. J. Bronley.

The question for today to be answered on my Facebook page: Which book in the Bible mentions the word angel the most times?

a.     Genesis

b.    Revelation

c.     Matthew

d.    Deuteronomy
Angel Trivia Day 2

August 16th, 2011

Congrats to Alyssa Clark, who got the correct answer to yesterday’s question. The question was:

About how many times is the word angel mentioned in the Bible?

She answered: “287 times though it varies with which version you use”

You take day 1!

Here is the question for day 2:

Name the three angels mentioned by name in the standard cannon of the Bible.

And here’s a hint:

Two of three end in “el” and one does not.

Remember to answer on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authormichaelyoung
Angel Soundtrack and Other News

August 13th, 2011

Here’s the list of angel songs I found just by searching through my playlist. Maybe I could even call it my angel soundtrack.

1.       Angel by Lionel Richie

2.       Angel’s Among Us by Alabama

3.       Hear You Me by Jimmy Eat World

4.       Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls (from the movie City of Angels)

5.       Pretty Little Angel Eyes by Curtis Lee

6.       Johnny Angel by Shelly Fabares

7.       Lullaby (Goodnight my Angel) by Billy Joel

8.       Angels by David Archuleta

9.       Hark! The Herald Angel’s Sing by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

10.   Like an Angel Passing Through My Room by Sissel

I’ll be listening to these while I write the next installment. What other angel songs did you come up with?

In other news:

1.       I’ve made a new landing page for my Facebook author page. You should see it automatically if you have not “liked” the page yet. If you have, just click “welcome” from the menu on the left under the book cover picture. I used an app called Pagemodo and I highly recommend it.

2.       I was interviewed by The Deseret News yesterday about “The Last Archangel”. For those of you not in Utah, it is a major newspaper based out of Salt Lake City. The feature should appear in September and I’ll post a link to it here on the blog. I talked with interviewer a lot about the symbolism in “The Last Archangel”, so I think it should be interesting.
Angel Music and 99 Followers!

August 2nd, 2011

I’m writing today from hot and humid Illinois. I’ve been here on vacation visiting family and having a great time. I see that my blog has reached the 99 follower mark. Thanks to all followers both old and new. Let’s see if we can tip the 100 mark soon.

When writing “The Last Archangel”, I read a lot about angels and listened to many songs about them. One great thing about angels is that there are so many great songs about them. Being the music buff that I am, I happen to own many of them.So, I wanted to play a little game on my blog.

I have made a playlist in which every track has something to do with angels. Make a list of 10 songs that have “angel” as part of the lyrics or that are about angels in some way. After I have enough entries, I will post my list and you will get one point for each song you thought of that I did not. The winner will be featured here on my blog with the prestigious “golden harp award”.

After this, I wanted to feature some angel trivia that we used at the my recent launch party. My wife and I came up with these together and the guests thought it was really fun.

If you haven’t already, head over to http://yabookbabes.blogspot.com/ where you can hear a recording of a recent radio interview I did about “The Last Archangel” and some of my upcoming projects.

Enjoy, and don’t forget to submit your angel music list!
Blog Tour Giveaway Winners

July 23rd, 2011

Congratulations to Darcus, Marnie and Michelle! They each won a book of their choice and I so I’m giving away two copies of “The Last Archangel” and one copy of “The Canticle Kingdom”. Thanks for all those who entered and who participated in the blog tour. Here’s another review that came in at the end:

http://starcrossedreviews.blogspot.com/2011/07/interview-michael-d-young.html

The blog tour may be over, but that doesn’t mean I’m done. I’m doing a number of signings in the next few months, today in Murray, UT at the Barnes and Noble from 11am – 1pm and next week in Fairview Heights, Illinois from 1pm – 3pm. I’m also going to be running some other events on this blog, including “The Last Archangel” fake casting session and a musical game you won’t want to miss.

If you’d like, you can order your copy of “The Last Archangel” here. http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thecant-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1599558947&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr