This weekend I drove 400 miles (one way) to New Hope Foursquare Church in beautiful Manteca, CA. In attendance were several homeschooling families who got to hear my testimony and how I got the idea for The Victor. Pictures are below.
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
For those of you who homeschool middle to high school students (or know those who do) a gorgeous, high-gloss booklet is now available here on Amazon. Contents include:
- Acceleratesd Reader Multiple Choice Quiz
- Twenty (20) challenging and unique vocabulary words per chapter
- Chapter summaries
- Quotes, passages and chapter questions
- Study sections for suit of armor and chivalry
- Suggestions for social studies research
- Examples of literary devices used
- Character trait chart
- Allegory chart
The Unit Lesson Plan contains the questions and all the answers. It is available for $8.99. The free downloadable Student Workbook (available from this website) has only the questions as well as an outline for creating a book report.
“…In the rich tradition of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, The Victor is an action packed adventure novel of love, friendship, betrayal and sacrifice set in medieval times. Your girls will love the romance of rescued love while boys will devour the scenes of jousting, knights and battles. Using ancient literature as the template, The Victor teaches lessons of enduring love, loyalty and reward in an exciting drama laced with unforgettable characters” – Lillian Jones, Library Media Specialist III, Laguna Beach High School, California
ISBN: 978-1-60799-184-7
ATOS Confirmation No. 36862
ATOS book level: 7.7
AR Points: 15
Lexile Score (MetaMetrics): 1060
Total Word Count: 83,459
A teenaged boy by the name of Kenny was given a copy of The Victor as a birthday present. He just recently began reading it and while his mom and Iwere IMing back and forth over my imminent visit to her church to speak to homeschoolers, she reported to me that Ken was absolutely drooling over the description of “Prunella’s almond cakes”. To his immense shock and delight I IMd that the fictional pastries were actually based on a real pastry that only could be gotten from a little mini-Antonello’s restaurant located on the upper floor of South Coast Plaza.
He was so thrilled (and obsessed) at the idea that they actually existed in real life that I made a special trip there today just to pick up half a dozen of them for our trip tomorrow where I will get to personally present them to him myself. Here below follows the excerpt from the book describing the cakes:
Once back in camp and safely within their tent, Joshua withdrew their sticky treasures and placed a thick, golden-brown one in Ardon’s outstretched palm. Sprinkled over the top were slivers of sugared, thinly sliced almonds drizzled with honey. Ardon grinned at Joshua then stuffed it whole into his mouth, unable to help groaning aloud with pleasure. The inside was filled with nuts and finely ground almond paste. The taste was beyond description! Light and delicate but with a sweet nutty flavor that, with every bite, made him crave more. Where had these been all the days he had grown up at court? With his mouth full and eyes rolling in ecstasy, he stuffed another and another into his mouth until his cheeks bulged like a squirrel’s, conceding his argument with gluttonous enthusiasm.
Below are photos of the famous cakes themselves and Ken’s reaction upon seeing and eating them.
This is the man, who made the cakes that appeared in the book that I wrote:
Massimo - pastry chef at Antonello’s Restaurant
SoCal Local Wins Copy of The Victor through Goodreads
On December 16th, after a month-long contest in which I offered two copies of The Victor on Goodreads, a local girl was one of the lucky winners.
Her name is Annie Jackson and she works at 20th Century Fox Studios. I spent 2-1/2 hours driving in the horrific Los Angeles traffic (during a rain storm no less) to personally deliver her copy of The Victor to her office on the studio lot.
She was a wonderful hostess and gave me a quick tour around the lot on a golf cart and even a personal sound stage tour of the “Doll House” set that is currently being disassembled. It was a massive set and she told me about the series concept which sounded fascinating. I am now going to have to rent episodes of Doll House so I can see what that set looked like in all its’ glory.
Below is a picture of Annie and I outside her studio offices. Thanks again, Annie, for being such a wonderful host! I hope we can become better friends. Enjoy the book!
Marlayne