The Color of Grace by Linda Kage GIVEAWAY

WINNER SELECTED~~~~~DEBORAH MALONE!!!!

About the Book

When it comes to fight or flight, Grace Indigo runs every time. Intimidated, she ran off when the dazzling handsome Ryder Yates merely asked her for her name. Angry, She stormed from the room when her mother told her she had to transfer to a new school. And scared, she climbed out her bedroom window, making a mad dash for it, when her new stepfather put the moves on her. But what happens when a sixteen-year-old girl used to running from her problems finds herself trapped with her back against the wall…and nowhere to flee?

You can purchase the book here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT from The Color of Grace:

“But what’re you taking a picture of?”

“The glove.”

Swerving back around, Ryder arched a questionable eyebrow at the article of winter wear in the snow. “The glove?”

Concentrating on setting the phone’s camera mode to capture, I held the screen in position as I neared the glove for a good close up.

Ryder moved in with me. I paused to send him a scowl over my shoulder. He paused too, glancing briefly at me before returning his attention to the glove. “I don’t get it.”

Gritting my teeth, I turned back to my task and tipped the phone sideways for a vertical portrait shot before tilting it back, preferring the original landscape mode. Focusing all my attention on finding the perfect pose, I scooted a little to the right and then the left, testing the light from each angle before I made up my mind and took the shot.

As the final product froze on my screen, my face lit with pleasure. “Perfect. Isn’t it wonderful?” I spun around to show off my masterpiece before I remembered the boy behind me was the one person I didn’t want to be around just then.

Ryder looked down at the picture. “It…” He scratched his head, then raised his gaze and laughed. “Honestly, it looks like a glove. What am I supposed to see?”

My face fell. He didn’t understand. I don’t know why I was disappointed. There was no chance Ryder Yates would ever be anything to me, but the fact that he didn’t share my passion let me down. Just like everything else I’d learned about him today.

“You’re supposed to see whatever you want to see. Feel whatever you want to feel.”

He concentrated hard as he glanced back down at the camera screen before he looked up and quietly asked, “So what do you see?”

Touched beyond words he cared anything about my opinion, I bit my lip as I studied the shot. After thinking it through, I gave my answer. “Well…there’s only one glove. Right away, I wonder, where’s the other glove? How did it become separated from its mate? Does it feel lost and confused without its other half? It looks lonely. Cold. Like an outsider that has no one to turn to, nowhere to go. And the stark contrast of the white snow against the bright colors of the glove makes the lines crisp and clear. It makes that feeling of alienated loneliness crisp and clear. The purity of the snow gives the purity of the glove’s solitude a stronger effect.”

When I finished talking, I held my breath, realizing how far off the deep end and into my musings I’d gone. Slowly, I lifted my face, desperate to know his response. Did he think I was crazy? Totally out there? Or wise and philosophical?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the Author

Linda grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest as the youngest of eight children. Now she lives in Kansas with her husband, toddler daughter, and their nine cuckoo clocks. She works a day job in the acquisitions department of a university library and feels her life has been blessed with lots of people to learn from and love. Writing’s always been a major part of her world, and she’s thrilled to finally share some of her stories with other romance lovers.

You can find Linda on the web at:

Website – http://www.lindakage.com/

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/linda.kage

FB Fan Page – http://www.facebook.com/authorlindakage

Twitter – http://twitter.com/#!/lindakage

Blog – http://lindakage.blogspot.com/

Google + – https://plus.google.com/117163270588306204279/posts

MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/lindakage

LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/pub/linda-kage/32/150/866

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003ILJHKM

GoodReads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3213942.Linda_Kage

Pinterest – http://pinterest.com/lindakage/

YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/user/LindaKage

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WRITING SYMBOLISM by Linda Kage

Here’s an interesting piece of information I learned during my pastor’s sermon this last Easter Sunday…and mind you, I actually heard and remembered all this while trying to keep my two-year-old quiet and entertained (I know, impressive, huh?!)

Anyway, this is what I learned:

Back in Jesus’ day, when the master of the house was finished eating, he would toss his napkin to the side of his plate all dirty and wadded up to let the servants know he was done and they could finally clean the table.  If the master folded his napkin instead of leaving it wadded, it was a sign he planned to return to his meal, which told the servants not to take his plate away yet.

Well…on the day of Jesus’ resurrection, when Simon Peter went into the empty tomb, he saw “the strips of linen lying there as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head.  The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.” (John 20:7)

…Which means the master (Jesus, of course) not only planned to return but he HAD returned. Isn’t that just the most awesome piece of symbolism ever?

This was the first time I’d heard this explanation of this passage and it totally blew me away.  Got my little author brain spinning all awhirl.  Not only does the Bible spread the holy message, tell us how to save our souls from eternal doom, and provide examples of how to live a good, honest life, but it ALSO shows us how to write an awesome story. It shows us how folding one simple piece of cloth can symbolize the entire purpose of the Book. No wonder why it’s the greatest story ever written.

So yeah, I tried to emulate a little symbolism in my newest story, The Color of Grace. Actually, I tried to crop of a couple symbols, like the snowy setting, for one, because the tale takes place in the coldest time in Grace (the main character’s) life. But another symbol I made was a single glove Grace finds in the snow. As the story progresses, she symbolizes that lost, lonely glove. To me, those little symbols like this really help enrich a story.

Now your turn!  What are some things you’ve seen stories that have made some great symbolism and made the book feel richer and deeper?

The Giveaways!

The Color of Grace make-up containing “Eyelighting Shadow Duo, 0.12 Ounce” and “Heavenly Light Pink Illuminator, 1 Ounce”. When I saw that this stuff was actually called “The Color of Grace,” I decided I HAD to get it for a prize too! A winner can color themselves with a heavenly light pink skin formula and eye shadow. Its philosophy is “Heaven is a face on earth.”

Linda will be giving away the above make-up to one commenter from my site, That’s What I’m Here For…, and also a $30 Amazon.com GC for one randomly drawn commenter from the entire blog tour. So, you DEFINITELY want to leave Linda a comment below! Give her a big congrats and let her know what you think of symbolism in writing, or what’s your favorite symbolism that you like to see or use.