A Wrinkle in Time Archives

Mad About Madeleine Winners and Women’s History Month!

Congratulations to the winners of the A Wrinkle in Time Giveaway! Siobhan won a copy of A Wrinkle in Time with the movie tie-in cover and Christina L. won the movie giftcard! Thanks to everyone who entered. I do hope you’ll take the time to see the movie or read the book. Stay tuned as I hope to do more giveaways as my own books near publication!

This is Women’s History Month and to celebrate, I’ve been doing a little reading on some amazing women. I just finished Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly. You might remember this from the movie that released in 2016. It’s an amazing read about the black, female “computers” that literally helped propel NASA into the space age. These women were on the edge of the space race while confronting gender and racial discrimination throughout their lives and careers.

I’m in the middle of Becoming Madeleine, the biography on Madeleine L’Engle written by granddaughters Charlotte Jones Voiklis and Lena Roy. I’m really enjoying the glimpse into Madeleine’s childhood and how her varied school experiences shaped her as a writer. I especially love the snippets of journal entries written by a young Madeleine that reveal how desperately she wanted to be a famous writer, while also wanting to fit in at school like any other awkward teenager.

I’m hoping to finish out the month with Gift from the Sea. Anne Morrow Lindbergh, a writer, aviator and the wife of Charles Lindbergh, wrote this little gem in 1955 but her words speak across the years to new generations of women on writing, love, marriage, children and anything in between.

What are you reading this month? How are you celebrating amazing women, both those from history and those around you every day?

Mad about Madeleine Month: A Wrinkle in Time Giveaway!

February is drawing to a close, and that means spring is almost here, but more importantly, so is the release of the new A Wrinkle in Time movie! The movie opens nation wide on March 9th, 2018!

Not excited yet? Check out the trailer and you will be!

Director Ava DuVernay’s portrayal of L’Engle’s classic story has many people, including me, pretty hyped up. The cast includes Oprah, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling and Chris Pine, plus Storm Reid as Meg Murry. The movie looks to be an amazing blend of L’Engle’s original story with the creativity and diversity of DuVernay’s long held vision to bring this movie to life.

To celebrate the movie’s release, I’m having a GIVEAWAY. Whoo-hoo. Enter to win one of two prizes. (Yes, two winners!)

Prize 1 – A Wrinkle in Time book – movie edition. The original book with the updated 2018 movie cover. You can read it before you see the movie, or see the movie and then enjoy the story. Either way, you’ll want to hang on to your copy!

Prize 2 – A $15 Fandango movie gift card you can use to purchase your ticket to see the movie! Plus, Fandango is running a sweet deal to nab a free Be A Warrior movie poster when you buy your ticket. So your entry could lead to two cool prizes!

*The Rules*

You must be a resident of the U.S. and 18 or older to enter. Winners will be chosen randomly at the end of the giveaway.

The Mad about Madeleine Wrinkle in Time Giveaway begins March 1, 2018 and ends March 8, 2018. Winners will be notified through information collected by Rafflecopter. I will also post the two winners on my blog on March 8th.

Good luck and please enter below! Thanks for celebrating Mad about Madeleine Month with me!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It’s Mad About Madeleine Month: Mad Space Facts & Giveaway 2!

Happy Mad about Madeleine Month! (And you thought I was going to say Happy Valentine’s Day. Well, that too!)

First off, thanks to all the entrants in the Becoming Madeleine book giveaway and congrats to Kelly W. on winning the book!

If you’re sad you didn’t win, I’ve got great news. Giveaway 2 in the Mad about Madeleine Month begins today. This week’s giveaway is on Instagram! Head on over and follow KSMitch17 to enter to win this week’s awesome prize?

What is it? Glad you asked. I really wish I could keep this prize to myself, but I’m going to give you a shot at winning!

Madeleine L’Engle was an avid fan of physics, stars and all things space related. It’s one of my favorite things about her books. She always took the opportunity to weave space and science into her work, and she didn’t see a divide between science and religion. Instead, she encouraged her readers to explore the deep connection between these two tough topics.

Today’s giveaway honors a love of space, both mine and Madeleine’s. Head over to Instagram to check it out and enter.

Read on for some fun facts on space! Did you know…?

There are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on all the beaches of Earth. Astounded? That’s more than a billion trillion stars.
Most stars are between 1 billion and 10 billion years old.
Astronomers believe there may be at least 1 planet orbiting every star. Take that number in.
Scientists estimate that the number of potentially habitable planets in our galaxy (the Milky Way) is around 2 billion.
It’s highly likely that we (well, or our descendants) will find life on other planets. Will that life be in a form we recognize and one that can communicate with us? That’s the great mystery!

Now go enter the giveaway and see you next week!

“They are very young. And on their earth, as they call it, they never communicate with other planets. They revolve about all alone in space.”
“Oh,” the thin beast said. “Aren’t they lonely?”
― Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time

Giveaway Time: It’s Mad about Madeleine Month!

You GUYS! If you follow me at all, you know I’m a huge admirer of Madeleine L’Engle, both as an author and a person. She’s become a bit of a spiritual guide for me as I pursue my own writing journey. I count 30 books by her on my bookshelf. That’s not obsessive, right…?

I digress. Let’s get to the GIVEAWAYS! Yes, that’s plural. I’m doing a giveaway every week this month in celebration of my love for L’Engle’s writing.

Tomorrow, February 6th, Becoming Madeleine, drops. I’m really looking forward to this biography on Madeleine written by two of her granddaughters, Charlotte Jones Voiklis and Léna Roy. It’s written for a middle grade audience, so right up my alley as a writer of middle grade fiction, but I think it will be a great read for any age.

My copy will be arriving soon, but what about yours? Time for a giveaway! Enter below to win your own copy of Becoming Madeleine.

Tell me what your favorite Madeleine L’Engle book is and why!

The giveaway starts today and will end Sunday, February 11th.

And, stay tuned for more Madeleine themed giveaways this month. Follow me on social media to find out more next week!

Good luck!

**Please note: all entrants must live in the continental U.S. to receive a hard copy or be willing to accept an ebook (Kindle) edition in place of a hard copy if at an international address.**

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thankfulness – Madeleine L’Engle

It’s become popular in the last few years to do thirty days of thankfulness in November as we look forward to celebrating Thanksgiving. I’d like to expand on that idea this month and write about the books and authors I’m thankful for.

I can’t write about the authors I’m thankful for without beginning with Madeleine L’Engle. Madeleine (I feel we’d call each other by our first names if I’d had the chance to know her) has had a deep impact on my desire to write and the types of stories I choose.

Most people are familiar with A Wrinkle in Time, her Newbery award winning book. L’Engle persevered through 26 rejections before finding a publisher for her book. Anyone who writes knows the sting of rejection and how hard it is to continue when those ‘noes’ begin to pile up. Yet Madeleine didn’t give up on her science fiction story when others told her it was too adult, too strange and too overtly Christian. Lucky for us.

Of course, A Wrinkle in Time is just one of five books in the series, and if you haven’t read the others, you should do so right after you finish reading this blog. All of the books are equally wonderful in their eccentric plots and settings, from traveling inside the body to traveling to other worlds, to traveling into the past to a Biblical story. Madeleine centered her stories around the big questions. Why are we here? Why does evil exist? How do we live in the midst of evil? Is God real? Does He love us? These are the same questions many kids are asking themselves as they grow into adults, and questions adults continue to ask.

L’Engle’s other books range from autobiographical to the Austin Family Chronicles to her thoughts on spirituality. All of them encourage me in some way or another to push the boundaries of my known world. Her deep interest in science and the way the universe works spurs on my own interest in these topics. Her unwavering faith and eloquent interpretation of what it means to be a Christian help me understand my own faith.

Without a doubt I’m thankful for the written legacy Madeleine left for me and for many others for generations to come.

Here’s a few of my favorite Madeleine L’Engle books.

Many Waters

Glimpses of Grace

A Ring of Endless Light

A Circle of Quiet

Night Time with Stars in Sky Image courtesy of moggara12, Autumn Maple Leaves Image courtesy of Aduldej, and Planet and Star Background Image courtesy of Photokanok, all at FreeDigitalPhotos.net