I thought this book was very well written. I also really enjoyed the plot and theme of this novel.

I thought In a Blue Birds Eye was an extrememy well written novel

Honor Jane Whitfield, the pricipal character of Anita Clay Kornfeld's literary novel is wise beyone her years (eleven). She lives in the town of Margate, a coal-mining town in Tennessee in the late 1930's. Her mother, Martha Jane, a transplant from southern gentry, yells at Honor a lot. Her father, a scholar, who also drinks too much with the town's lowlifes, teaches at the local highschool that also doubles as a "Hell and Damnation" church whose foot-stomping minister speaks openly against the two blacks who live in the town. "God didn't intend for races to mix."

This wonderful story unfolds with Honor believing in a magic bluebird who lives high above the Big Dipper, can fly anywhere and see anything with his magic eye. And the Devil is everywhere wrapped up in jaybird beathers. The only person who believes her is a dynamic character called Lola, a black woman who's spent time in prison for killing a white man, now paroled in custody of the town's doctor and his mean-spirited wife as a "free maid." Honor is fascinated by Lola and their secret friendship is at the heart of the story. She plots various escape routes for Lola. The sassy dialogue is southern exposure at its best. When the coal mines shut down, also the pending death of Margate, Honor's father sees a way out, moving the family to Kentucky and, through a college friend, he finds employment in a better town.

Lola tries to escape by means of one of Honor's schemes, and what follows is heart breaking as well as a healing for the Whitfields. Reading this classic work of fiction one is reminded of Tennessee Williams, and Harper Lee's beautiful novel, "To Kill a Mocking Bird." From the very first page of "In a Bluebird's Eye," Anita Clay Kornfeld wraps her magic around you and holds you tight for days after you've savored the last word.

One of the joys of reading historical fiction is the sense of place: the environment, language, actions, and attitudes of the characters are true to the historical period. Ms. Clay publishes a newsletter on the Regency period. How, then, can we understand the poor historical research and out of context characters that the author attempts to foist off on the reader? The historical inaccuracy begins on the first page: in May of 1816 the heroine arrives in a "huge clipper ship" (the first transatlantic clipper was launched in 1845). From there, the author moves on to a constant stream of inaccuracies: she does not understand the difference between a "draught" and a "dram" of brandy (and had females drinking brandy); thinks that letters are "dusted with powder" rather than sanded; has a Lord serving as a Member of Parliament rather than in the House of Lords (and does not understand the differences in business between these two houses); claims that Thomas Jefferson authored the Constitution (he was ambassador to France at the time); does not understand how votes were taken in Parliament; and more. The worst part, though, was how the author developed her main characters. In 1816 the Suffregettes were still far off, yet the author has her heroine handing out leaflets in Hyde Park espousing "reform" and doing other outrageous acts that clearly are more characteristic of the 1890's than 1816. In 1816 "reform" referred to parlaimentary reform, but Ms. Clay thinks that it refers to the social reform that came to the fore thirty years later in the Victorian era. The result is a very confused book. All that is very well if the book had been well written and interesting. However, the best that can be said is that the book is -- dull. The author gives us no reasons to care for her characters, there is no real conflict, and it is hard to sympathize with the heroine when her antics come across as sophmoric and immature. If you'd like a good regency, try Nadine Miller's The Barbarian Earl -- you can find the time to read it by passing up this one.

Ms. Clay has once again written a lively, entertaining love story, this time with two strong characters who loath one another on sight, but during the course of the story learn to respect and admire one another's differences. As a writer myself, I both admire and respect the deft manner in which this author slowly and believably turns the strong conflict between Miss Darby and Lord Penwyk into a strong and abiding love, a love based not on physical attraction but on admirable qualities portrayed by these characters. Ms. Clay's attention to the smallest details in her stories always brings Regency England alive. I felt I was viewing Lord Elgin's marbles, visiting the Tower of London and attending the lavish soirees and balls right along with the hero and heroine. Bravo! Marilyn Clay's attention to accuracy and detail is what makes her newsletter, THE REGENCY PLUME so very popular with Regency fans the world over. Thank you for writing and for giving those of us who love this period in history another wonderful story to enjoy again and again!

Miss Tessa Darby is not your typical Regency heroine who comes to London for the Season and to snag a husband. Miss Darby is bright, intelligent and single-minded. She is the perfect match for the high-born, principled Lord Penwyck, who can't figure out how to control such a strong-willed and independent young lady. Miss Darby's spectacle-making antics and escapades keep this very proper Regency gentleman hopping. Another page-turner from this first-rate Regency author!

The title is misleading; this book is pure, bad fiction. It is deceptively advertised leading you to believe that you will get some juicy details about the phone sex business, but, instead, you read boring and tiresome fiction that stinks! When I read on the copyright page that it was a work of fiction, I was very angry... we shouldn't encourage deceptive advertising and we don't want to aid and abet terrible writing.

At times this book breaks your heart.

The details about Salt Lake clubs are authentic, and being a club go-er myself, that was really cool. I love the whole love affair thing. This book is amazingly well researched and believable.

I can't wait for the second one.

I've never read a book like this before. It's a novel that reads exactly like an autobiography. It's told in the first person, present tense. The details seem plausible and accurate and so it's effectively engrossing.

I guess I picked it up because of the title. I thought it would be about phone sex, and that intrigued me. But it's actually about the girl behind the phone sex.

I love the way the story unfolds into an underlying complex personal battle with self esteem. I really could relate. I love how the author's message is wrapped inside the tale. It really makes you think. I didn't know where it was going or how it would end up. And I was sad to reach the end of the book. But at least the excerpt at the end has me excited for book 2.

This book is beautiful inside and out!

The title is more precise than one would hope. The text delivers not a guide nor a how-to book, but rather a simple definition. Basic yet adequate black & white photo illustrations provide no more than a cursury surfing of the term hand building. Although useful to define the technique from throwing on a wheel, this book is useless if one is searching for an in depth study of proper hand building technique.

Much more than a basic overview! Has a lot of intriguing designs that, unlike more advanced books, are totally reproducable for the beginning to intermediate artist. Has pinch pots, pinch sculpture, coil pots, coil sculpture, slab pots & sculpture and a section on clay surface embellishment - the decorative textural treatment of clay. Abstract works, also.

I recieved this book today and it appears to be sufficient to get the certification. It is a 12 page pamphlet from Vatterott College with an answer form and an envelope to mail in the answers to Vatterott, along with [required amount of money]. It looks like something you could pick up for free at a supply house,.... Look around some before you order this, save [your money], like I should have. I will let you know if it works.

I recieved the Certification, looks like Amazon won't let me tell you how much the total cost was but it was not out of line with the other online certifications I have found. The test is a no brainer, the pamphlet gives all the answers word for word.

As far as QS-9000 goes it has a lot of ISO 9000 rules. During my reading I just got guidelines and instructions as far as what I or anyone else needed to do in order to be QS-9000 certified and the certifications in order to stay certified. The Big 3(Chrysler, Ford, & GM) were the main concern for QS-9000. But overall it was good.

This was an interesting book as far as leadership and management is concerned. The different styles established within the reading are good and could be very helpful for some businesses. Sometimes in the business world you need to talk to people differently so they can grasp things better. When a task is to be done, different instructions have to be laid down for different people.

Lonely planet books are usually a good companion both if you're clueless or experienced. In this case however, the book is a lot thinner than the Rough Guide for Scotland and offers less information. The LP looks better, but who cares about the looks of a travel book.

I found the Lonely Planet guide to be an excellent resource, especially when used with the Baedeker Scotland guide. LP offers truly helpful information, such as where to find maps, how to get back your VAT, weather and insect warnings... as well as brief but very descriptive chapters by region, including the oft-neglected Highlands.

Suggested itineraries are included, and the descriptions of sights, towns and historical destinations is wonderful.

While the guide is short on maps and history -- this is where the Baedeker guide does an excellent job -- it is full of useful and up-to-date information on travelling Scotland. I found my copy to be incredibly resourceful.

There's nothing in this book (in terms of technique) that can't be found elsewhere, and the examples are singularly uninspired.

As the author states: this is a book for "earring addicts". A little prior knowledge on how to use jewelry tools for forming and attaching loops to the earring wires may be necessary because these basic skills aren't well-explained. The instructions rely mostly on step-by-step explanations, and a photo of the finished piece, rather than diagrams.

I like this book because I have gotten lots of good ideas from it. In particular I like the section showing several designs for coiled wire and bead earrings. I'm also interested in some made with seed beads woven together in interesting designs, including a dangling birdhouse. Not having prior experience with weaving beads, the instructions may be a little difficult to follow, but I still am willing to try. Fortunately, these woven designs do have diagrams.

There are instructions for making earrings from all kinds of materials, including polymer clay, fused fabric that has a mosaic look, sheet metal formed into interesting shapes, gourds, and many other materials. Some of these materials require tools beyond traditional jewelry tools to work with, such as a jigsaw, metal file, and sewing machine. Although I think a few of the designs have a tacky out-dated look, the majority look quite boutiquish. For crafty earring lovers, there should be at least a few pieces here to inspire.

While not completely without merits, The New Photo Crafts was a big disappointment from a publisher (Lark Books) whose books are usually exciting and interesting, both visually and instructionally. The book begins with a quick overview of photography methods, types of film & cameras, and an intro-duction to taking a "good" picture. The first chapter is perfunctory and uninspiring, but is okay as a basic (very basic) overview to get the reader started. This book, however, lacks the usual quality, visual and instructional excitement usually found in Lark books. Many of the projects are very shoddily put together: Anniversary Couple Commemorative Portrait is very roughly cut out around the edges as is the diorama photo on page 35. These projects look amateurish and slapped together. The refrigerator photo frame magnets are insultingly basic--just pieces of cut out felt with a photo sandwiched in between and a magnet glued to the back. Any half-way intelligent or talented crafter could come up with that one out on their own. The School Friends Frame was another project that was amateurish, unattractive and completely uninspiring: Photocopied, individual portrait photos of schoolmates, placed around the perimeter of a sheet of white paper with a child's drawing in the center and the whole thing plopped into a clip frame. How exciting is that to "create" to anyone more skilled than a grade schooler? The Fabric Photo Album was a mess. The fabrics and findings appeared slapped together with no thought to composition, color or pleasing arrangement. The first line in the instructions, ironically, says to "Take the time to plan the design." Perhaps the designer of this project should have taken her own advise. The book is not completely without merits, however, and there are some projects that are interesting. The lampshade project is funky and fun, and could be adapted to any size shade and fixture, with endless themes. The Flip Books are a fun project, and the Carmen Miranda doll is a real fun, funky way to use a photograph in an unexpected way. I liked the light switch plate a lot--it has clear instructions, and many possibilities depending on the type of room and photo used. The polymer clay transfers are another great idea. There are quite a few ideas for different handmade cards and folding book-type cards that are nice, too. But overall, in my opinion, this book was not worthy of the Lark name, and I couldn't recommend it to crafters who are more advanced or who are looking for something really original.

This book was so much better than I thought it would be. I expected the usual tacky, cliche photo crafts, but that was not the case. There were quite a few ideas I had not seen before (and I have a LOT of craft books) and lots of other projects that were nicely updated to the tastes of today's more sophisticated crafter. I especially liked the "Vintage Print Quilt" which can easily be done by those of us that don't sew, as it's all zigzag stitching. The author uses a number of different photo materials and methods in her projects -regular photographs and prints, photocopies, image transferring to fabric and polymer clay, digital photographs and hand-colouring photos. I haven't read all the text, so I can't say if it's well written, or not, but many of the projects certainly look interesting. You will not be disappointed.

There is nothing in this book that any person with common sense doesn't already know.

I would reccomend getting The Idiot's Guide to getting Your Romance Published- by Julie Beard, instead.

A great book for all beginning romance writers. This mother-daughter team are experts in their field and the easy to follow advice is a must-have for all aspiring romance fiction authors. Advice from characterization, plotting, dialogue, motivating your characters to revisions is included. Add this book to your reference collection today!

This short book is full of good basic information including defining a romance novel and listing and describing the many types of romance novels. The authors provide guidelines for creating characters, developing plot, and writing dialogue. The basics of selling your novel are included, and there's even a section on what happens after you have a contract. Thanks to this book, I expect to have my own romance novel finished in a few months--then maybe I can quit my day job!