Into the Fire

Okay, here's the thing . . .

We are different from each other. Right? Some of us have been labeled Caucasian—whatever relevance that has to today’s cultures and ethnic variations. It’s been simplified to “white”. Others now called African-Americans used to be called Negro or “black”. Then there are all kinds of Asians who used to be called “oriental”. How about Mexicans who are often referred to as “Latinos”? Pick anyone from anywhere. Besides being people together, we can be very different in appearances, not to mention character, culture, and chicanery.

Why some people decide one ethnic color or heritage is superior to another is beyond reason and rationale. Makes zero sense. Of course we know the enemy of our souls is the instigator of turning people against people and people against God. Nevertheless, we acknowledge that what is known as racism is prevalent in places all across this world. Not just here in the United States. Everywhere. Someone somewhere thinks because he’s white, black, golden, or you-name-it, he is superior to someone who is not.

We each have inherent qualities which have no relation to our skin colors. Some of us grow up being taught to hate and since it’s easier for some than others to be tempted in this area of sin, there is prejudice, pride, and all the separatist ugliness to go along with it.

All different kinds and colors of people resist associations with those who are not like them. Nothing new. Some of it is borne out of fear rather than hatred, a misunderstanding of likenesses and differences between the humankind.

But here’s the deal: to pretend we don’t have apparent differences if only in appearance seems foolish to me. It’s obvious we’re different. So what? Color of skin has never determined one’s character, and it never will. It might determine an ethnic heritage, but just as often in this day and age, many people of all kinds are far removed from their family’s real history. My Italian heritage traces back to the province of Lucca, Italy, but when my dad in his senior years went back to try to find even a trace of his family history, he found no one who knew of his father or his relatives. Too many years. Too far in the past. It’s like this for many folks today.

Having said all that to give you this: If you see President Obama as the “first black president”, ask yourself what you’re really saying. Do you also acknowledge that he's half "white"? He’s a man, folks. He stands for things which some apparently think are rational and needed. I see him as a man who stands up for things which are evil—not just bad ideas. Abortion is evil. It is a horrible deception used to kill infants in the womb. He is breaking this country down economically step by step and creating a government which resembles the old Soviet Union. It has nothing to do with his “race”. Yet when people rise up to disagree with his philosophies and actions, some politicians pull out accusations of racism.

Obama is to be evaluated by his policies, not his color. And don’t think it’s racism which is bringing his popularity numbers down because it’s his practices which, when exposed, show who he really is, and it has absolutely nothing to do with ethnicity unless he wants it to. What motivates a man to want to bring a great country to its knees? That’s the question he needs to answer.

Father, you know my prayer. You know. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Hot

When western Washington surpasses eastern Washington temperatures in the summertime, something crazy is in the works. People in the Pacific Northwest are baffled by three-digit heat and to be sure are sweating it out big time. We generally don’t have A/C, although some newer homes do. So when we get above 85 degrees in this area, it’s difficult to keep our houses from becoming furnaces which is not conducive to sleeping or anything else which requires any measure of comfort.

The temperature is the talk of the whole area from Seattle to Portland. We’re not used to weeks without rain and highs above 85. It is traditional for the Seattle area to have a hot summer after a very cold winter, and we had one of those which seemed to hang on without end and force a short spring. But this? Never. Records have been set with no end in sight.

No complaints from here. We love summer. Our house has given up its fight and surrendered to the heat. The little box fans pant away 24/7. The horses are listless and stand most of the day in the shade of their shed. Our shady porch registered 100 degrees today.

Hot time, summer in the city . . .

Father, I give you praise for this day and each one to follow. You are the Author of Life, the Giver of every good and perfect gift. Thank you. I’m desperate for you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

What a shame . . .

Yesterday I reviewed the debut novel by Sara Mills, Miss Fortune. The heroine of the story is a Private Investigator in the late 40s. An entertaining story with a perfect ending, I ordered the second in the series published by Moody Publishers, Miss Match, anxious to see what Alexandra Fortune is able to do with her newly acquired information. Today I learned that Moody opted out of their contract for the third book in the series, and the reason for that is almost always a result of less than expected, or hoped for, sales.

I reiterate to you that I understand sales and profit margins. If you’re in business, you must make a profit to survive. But here is where I take exception to some—please note I said some—of the decisions made in publishing.

Francine Rivers is one of the most respected authors in Christian fiction, deciding after a specific experience with the Lord to write only for Christ, having already achieved success in secular/general market publishing. Her novel Redeeming Love is perhaps one of the best novels ever written in all of literature, not just CBA fiction. It’s truly a legend in its own time, and it has sold millions and millions of copies in many different languages all over the world. I cannot remember Francine Rivers doing any marketing for her novels. I could be way wrong here, but I don’t recall any overt marketing. Yes, she’s been interviewed occasionally, but beyond a website, I haven’t seen much of her on the web. You might suggest that she doesn’t have to—she has a solid fan base, Redeeming Love continues to sell in the Top 20 even after all these years. People always look for her Biblical Fiction and her older contemporary novels. One mention of a new novel by Rivers and her fans are on the prod. Well, you could say the same about Karen Kingsbury, but she’s out there hustling, promoting, being acutely fan friendly—a marketing guru.

Those of you who visit regularly know how I feel about marketing. It’s a curse. A necessary evil for an author if that’s even possible. Some authors take on the mantle heroically and gladly soldier on with their creative juices flowing into the seller’s mode. Not this lady. And not so many others. We’re told to get real: this is the “new” age of publishing. Publishers aren’t going to have the funds to celebrate your book beyond a certain dollar plan: YOU must sell your book. And who better, they ask. Well, I can tell you this much: I can better discuss my novels than anyone else but force feed them to others who might not even appreciate the genre, voice, or style? No way.

An author who I love (voice, style, genre, the works) emailed his/her “fan list” and asked “us” to buy the latest release on a certain date before a certain hour to get a certain rating on Amazon.com. Honestly, I resented being just a means to an end. A monetary outlet, nothing more than a customer for the marketing scheme. I bought the novel because I love the writer, but if this is what “marketing” has come to, I can assure you it will not include this author.

The point here is not marketing except to note that no matter what is done, marketing doesn’t always work. Good writing, good stories, great voices, interesting styles fall between the shelves, go unnoticed for whatever reasons, and people miss them. And those people miss out on good books. Sara Mills wrote a very good story in Miss Fortune. Friends of hers took up the cause of marketing her novel because she faced tragedy in her young life as the novel released. Even compassion and well placed authors asking their readers to purchase a copy of this novel to support the author in her time of need couldn’t elicit enough sales for the third book in the series to be produced. It just seems wrong. Can’t the print runs be reduced to accommodate smaller numbers for niche novels? Is Print On Demand really so farfetched in these cases?

We are told by professionals that paper and printing costs have gone up. No doubt they have along with most everything else. However, maybe if publishers shopped their printing needs around and stirred up some competitive pricing somehow, they could get good deals on smaller runs. Is it possible? Surely there’s a solution to make sure a good writer with an intriguing series isn’t stopped before the stories barely have time to get noticed. It really is a shame if there is no feasible remedy.

(If any publishing professionals want to weigh in here with some information, please do.)

Father, I recognize you hold the answers to these problems. You know the hearts of those involved. I pray Sara would receive recognition for her writing skills, that you would encourage her while you comfort her in this time of trials and grief. Bless her, Lord Jesus, as only you can do. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Finding A. Fortune in . . . Miss Fortune

Sara Mills writes a 40’s mystery matching a female Private Investigator with an Irish-Italian FBI Agent, both of whose mothers try to get them married off at every possible opportunity.

Alexandra Fortune, who insists people call her Allie rather than Miss Fortune for obvious reasons, begins this story with a sweltering sleepless night in August resulting in her 12 block walk back to her office from her apartment in the middle of the night in New York City, circa 1947. There’s an unopened file on her desk which has beckoned her to open it since she received it in the mail, and she both hopes and fears it holds the information she seeks.

A sharp, repeated knock on the glass of her door turns out to be a fearful woman who wants to hire her because she says she’s being followed, claiming someone is trying to kill her. Judging from the woman’s appearance, Allie is sure the woman can’t afford her fee but listens to her tale anyway. After giving her the three rules, the woman pulls off her belt and plucks a hundred dollar bill from inside the seam. She gives Allie three days to find out who is after her.

Allie’s high society mother is appalled at her daughter’s choice of occupations and when she makes it apparent at their weekly Wednesday dinner that Alexandra is to attend one of her formal fund raisers, Allie meets FBI Agent Jack O’Connor. Before long they discover they’re working on the same case for different reasons and combine forces to solve what becomes a dangerous recovery of ancient jewels. Allie makes a deal with the FBI for one thing: she needs to know if someone from her past is alive or dead.

Sara Mills captures the noir aspects of private investigation with just the right nuances from a female’s point of view in a man’s occupation during this era. Allie knows her nickname by the local law enforcement is P.I. Princess but she is immune to name-calling, confident enough to hold her own in assessing situations and people. This particular case stretches her limits, though, and there are times when she is grateful for her new partner’s strengths and knowledge.

Woven throughout this story are flashbacks to Allie’s youthful experiences with one person whose star-crossed relationship with her has never been placed in the “closed” file. Her life changed because of him and there are loose ends and heartbreak tied to him. When she discovers that the information she desires—if she can get it—is only partially going to satisfy her, she realizes the real source of her life’s hope and direction.

I bought this debut novel to support Sara Mills when her husband passed away a very young man, leaving her a widow with three young children. If I hadn't, quite frankly, I would’ve missed a treasure of a story in the beginning of at least a two book series because, yes, you guessed the reasons: it’s somewhat historical and it’s quite short. This is a well-written and entertaining story, a suspenseful mystery perfectly set after the war ended in the late 40s with memories dating back ten years.

In yesterday’s post regarding romance I emphasized that not all writers can handle romance. This story isn’t focused on romance, but at the heart of it is a moving love story. For me, there were moments of tears as Sara perfected the intensity of youthful irrationality, attraction, and tragic love. What little true romance there is? Done exceptionally well. Perhaps because of Sara’s personal loss after the publication of this book, Miss Fortune wrenched my soul even deeper. The ending to this story couldn’t have been better. On to the second novel by this talented writer: Miss Match.

Father, all I can ask is that you strengthen Sara Mills, encourage her, and continue to comfort her in her tremendous loss. Sorrow requires so much of us, and without your strength, it's impossible to get through it. Please bless this lovely writer in all areas of her life and keep her safe from all harm. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Down the romance trail . . .

Here is my bi-yearly (or is it annual?) post on the writing of romance. Wait, guys! Don’t leave quite yet. There might be something slightly useful here.

First I must state the obvious—not everyone can write romance. I know, I know: not everyone wants to write romance. And that’s a good thing, okay? However, the best romance is not as some refer to it with a near snarl: sappy. It’s not. On the contrary. The best romance is real.

One of the reasons people tend to view romance in a negative light is because it can lend itself to silliness, cliché, or melodrama. Category romance offers a standard formula and without meaningful characters, it can read like a daytime soap opera.

It’s difficult to portray situations where men and women are involved and not portray some kind of relationship issues. They don’t have to be blatant, but chances are if men and women are coworkers in a story or face extreme challenges together as partners, they will encounter situations which at the very least cement their working relationships or occasionally cause their conversations to gravitate toward personal issues. Romance need not be included but relationship of some kind must be.

Men and women either relate well or are in conflict. Usually some kind of conflict is inevitable. Romantic conflict must be done well or the eligibility for sappiness becomes a major factor.

Those who write romance well capture the beauty, the pain, the frustration, and the power of love, and in so doing, they elicit a strong emotional response from the reader. Those who do it well hit a nerve that reverberates within those who claim they’re not inclined toward romance. That certain truth within well-written romance touches a heart with recognition and identification. It stirs the soul.

Romance is no different from any other meaningful writing. When it’s exceptional, it makes a mark, and the reader tends to remember it.

Father, you’re the author of life, romance. You are Love. You embody Truth. You are Good. Let my writing reflect who you are from your heart to mine, from your Spirit to my words, somehow, some way. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Sunday's Offerings

Go now, write it on a tablet for them,
inscribe it on a scroll,
that for the days to come
it may be an everlasting witness.
These are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord's instruction.
They say to the seers,
"See no more visions!"
and to the prophets,
"Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions.
Leave this way,
get off this path,
and stop confronting us
with the Holy One of Israel!"

Isaiah 30:8-11 (NIV)

Friday Five

I’ve always loved my name. Many people I’ve known have hated or disliked their names. My first name isn’t so different now, but it was one of a kind when I was young. I’ve always loved it. My middle name is my mom’s first name: Colleen. Isn’t that pretty? And my last name just goes so well with the other two. I’m very grateful for my entire name including that of my husband’s.

I’ve discovered that many of the “average readers” don’t realize how empowered they are to spread the word about a good book—that they’re a definitive part of the coveted “word of mouth” marketing tool. They read a novel, they like it, they start the next one, and unless anyone happens to ask them about a certain book they’ve read, it won’t come up in their conversations—even with other readers! Ay, ay, ay.

Just finished reading my seventh novel this month! Mercy! I had to hustle because a couple of them arrived late, but they were good so they went fast.

I really do not like to be scared, so I’m wondering why I read thrillers, murder mysteries, suspense, a little CBA horror, and watch the following television shows: “NCIS”, “CSI” (all three), “Bones”, and “Criminal Minds”. I’ve read two non-fiction books about the FBI profiling of the worst serial killers. What’s wrong with me?

I love proclaiming the talents of other writers who I enjoy. It’s so easy. Not so with myself.

Father, praise your holy name. You are slow to anger, abounding in love. Thank you for it all. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Sparrow

The Lord referred to the death of a sparrow to point out that nothing is insignificant to God Almighty. The little bird with the big voice, a rather plain brown bird, comes to the end of life and God knows. I think we can assume from that fact that He also knew when the small little critter was born. And that the Creator gave him those plain clothes to accentuate that robust and beautiful singing voice over his appearance. Perhaps.

God chose a specific order for my life that not all people have enjoyed. Three “things” have been with me as far back as memory travels. Horses, writing, and romance. Ordinary things for sure, but it’s kind of extraordinary to me that they have been so prevalent throughout all of these years. They’ve intersected and stood alone, but they have accompanied me on my life journey.

I’ve done some crazy things—some fun, a few daring, and some I’m ashamed of—but there’s been this steady march toward the meshing and filling out of each of these areas in my life. God ordained. His plan. His design. It took me long enough to discover His overseeing, but finally when I did, it all made so much more sense than just my acknowledgement of these recurring phases and with that recognition I gained purpose.

I have to think that even the sparrow is designed with a purpose, if nothing else to delight God with songs that herald the arrival of His new days with lovely melody sung from a heart living a simple life.

When the journey becomes confused and centers on oneself, it’s a better choice to listen to the song of the sparrow in the morning and be reminded of so many simpler things of value.

Father, thank you for design, purpose, your plans. Thank you for the beauty of the simpler things, the songs of the sparrow, the very center of life that comes and exists only within you. Praise your holy Name. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Played out . . .

Inspiration comes and goes. Some people keep it fueled for long seasons. Others grasp onto it for the here and now and then watch it slip away like a foggy morning. No use in categorizing it or trying to explain its appearance or its disappearance. I’m sure there are things we can do to squelch or hinder it, and very possibly for some, there are things that can be done to coax it back, but I suspect that would be much like trying to bribe a cat.

Sustaining the creative compulsion is a challenge. When little affirmation comes our way and even less reason to continue writing with no cognizant evidence of progress, we can feel played out in this game of storytelling.

Writing itself begins to assert its fiendish side. Snarling and cynical, words fall onto the page with hints of venom and snark. The wit with a bite crunches down on our faux-favorite topics and shakes them about with a hint of vengeance.

Resentment rides the high waves of meager accomplishments and drives through the curl poised over our pens with less than noble intentions. No surprise the pen flips us into the ocean of doubt and regret.

The reckoning comes when a particular scene, word, name, character, expression, metaphor, or plot point surges to the surface filling us with a fresh breath, and we jump aboard the writing process anew. The previous wave’s played out by now, but there’s a new one behind it, even bigger.

The Lord God Almighty gets all the credit for reviving our feeble efforts to continue this gig known as “authoring”. He is inspiration. Apart from Him, it doesn’t exist. Sad to see so few acknowledge the Source of their abilities.

If you’re played out, go to the Source and ask for help. There’s no better way to get back in the game.

Jesus, it’s all about you.

Why is it "this vs. that"?

Continually, whether frequently or infrequently, we read about the literary vs. the world, the Amish or prairie romances vs. contemporary whatever, vampires/werewolves, zombies, etc., specfic, sci-fi, and fantasy vs. everything in the ever expanding genres of Christian/CBA fiction. Writers take sides, deride opponents, state the obvious, rant or rave, and declare their passions for their favorite types of fiction.

Recently Eric Wilson, author of the Thomas Nelson published Trilogy of the Undead, Christian literature featuring vampires, said critics/observers accused him of “jumping on the Twilight bandwagon” when, in fact, he stated that he’d proposed a series about vampires over five years ago.

It seems ludicrous to me to allow the serial killers in the Christian thriller/horror genre to kill rampantly while denying the bloodthirsty vampires or other such wicked beasts to be sanctioned to the secular market. Personally speaking, I don’t remotely care about the vampire, etcetera culture amped up because of their particular current flavor for beast of the month or year or era. Not my gig. Never has been. However, if any writer wants to engage in such literature, it’s alright with me. Now a Christian writer who attempts to bring these types into the Christian “label” will have to do an amazing job of placing that scary creature into a potentially more meaningful story which could require more skill than the standard issue monster novels purport simply because it has to win an audience which is used to reading them from the secular market.

Regarding the other end of the writing spectrum, if a writer wants to step back into a culture where life is structured to the max, observe a time now gone by, and keep to long past means of transportation, communication, and other less modern ways to live, I say go for it. Do the research and write the story.

Either way, there’s the escape mechanism involved. The reasons for reading a novel involve escaping to the place and activities of the author’s presentation to the reader.

It makes no sense to me to argue for one over the other. To assume because there is a large audience for the sweet prairie romances or the Amish/Mennonite stories, that there aren’t audiences for the other extremes in Christian literature is to eliminate segments of the audiences still waiting for Christian novels to address their needs.

Each genre in Christian fiction presents its own niche market. Why not produce novels for all of them? I still maintain there must be a way to produce smaller numbers of niche market novels so that all readers who desire stories which at least involve biblical values in some manner can be available. But then . . . what do I know?

The only place I know of which requires certain books be read is in school and still people find ways not to read them. No one forces a consumer to pay hard-earned cash to buy one novel over another. And although there is definitely a competition for those book buying dollars, there shouldn’t be a competition which eliminates entire genres before they even have the chance to consistently compete for their share. Should there?

Father, you know the vast imaginations of your people and the tasks you’ve given your writers. You are no respecter of persons, you love us equally. Help us all to write to honor you with the words you supply. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.