Into the Fire

(Originally published as "That first kiss . . . and other romantic inclinations on June 4th, 2014.)

Most young girls dream about their first kiss. Fantasize the romance of it. The older they get dialogues are composed, scenes established, and clothes fashioned to accommodate the mood – all the romance created in the minds of little, young, and bigger girls.

I remember worrying about being "Sweet 16 and Never Been Kissed", and I cut it pretty close. The summer before my 16th birthday in September I "received" my first kiss. It's a memory I treasure as an event I anticipated and welcomed. Sweet, short, twice to be exact, in broad daylight on our front porch. And of course for me it was romantic. That young man eventually proposed to me and we were engaged. But . . . we didn't marry each other. The Air Force, the UW, and the racetrack came between us, but I later realized some things aren't meant to be.

Writing romance to capture the complexity of people who fall for each other takes more than a formula. Romance is no easy experience. Emotional intensity, conflicting feelings, pressures to impress, honesty, trepidation, indulgence – these are just a few of the areas for individuals to contemplate, experience, and overcome when attempting to start or sustain a relationship. The sexual component adds temptations, conflicts, and decisions. Not easy ones either.

Romances are not targeted for men. Romance is a word causing the majority of men to cringe because we women have constructed these impossible scenarios for our knights in shining armor. Few men picture themselves in armor, much less charging to the rescue of damsels in distress. Neither do they want to present a Fabio image from the cover of some supermarket paperback. While many men might not object in private to being a bodice-ripping he-man, it's certainly not the image most of them can comfortably perceive or portray.

And here's where the problems with romance always coagulate. Women design romance with their personal preferences in mind. Men perceive romance as leading to a satisfying passionate encounter. In between those two potentially very different perceptions are innumerable concoctions which usually create some separation instead of a united fusion.

Women love romance for the sake of the feeling it gives them. Men see romance as a means to an end.
Both are acceptable if understood. Generally speaking, women love to be loved. Cherished. Appreciated. Even respected. Men want respect. Admiration. Devotion. Loyalty. And sex.

As a writer of love stories, I want my romances to touch souls, to cause memories, to resurrect real feelings of what love feels like, becomes, and where it goes. To present real people in real situations and bring all the emotions, physical and spiritual, to the surface, exposing the human flesh and the human heart, both light and dark. That's my basic design.

Father, you put the romance in my soul. Thank you for that. Thank you for letting me transmit it to the page. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

                                                         WOW.

Thank you for incredible beauty, Lord. Let all those who create it know you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

The incredible Stevie Wonder. Hard not to love his sound. Some great tunes over many years.

Father, let us all recognize that apart from you, none of us can do anything. Please bless those who honor you in all they create. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Book two in Irene Hannon's Private Justice Series presents Thin Ice. Following Buried Secrets, Thin Ice records the first case of former Delta operator, middle brother of the three MacGregor sons, rookie FBI Special Agent Lance MacGregor. 

Christy Reed was an Olympic hopeful when injury wrecked her efforts to secure a gold medal, but no matter how disappointing it might've been at the time, she has no regrets about that part of her young life ending as it did. She still teaches ice skating to young hopefuls, but it's more for pleasure than anything else. However, pleasure has not been evident in her life for the past several months. She's lost her parents in a fatal car crash, and now her sister's house is up in flames. 

The newest agent isn't used to being low man on the totem pole, having been in control as a Delta Force soldier leading ops into harrowing territory pursuing terrorists in foreign lands. Time and incidents took their toll as it had with his brother Mac. Their "little" brother Army Ranger Finn is the last one in active Special Forces but has been acting a bit obtuse during and since his last leave. 

So while perusing a pile of boring case files on his desk, Lance receives an anonymous phone call from a pay phone forwarded to him by the receptionist asking for a discreet private meeting. There is distinct fear in the female's voice giving him his instructions. He agrees to a meeting and surprises the attractive woman who is clearly trying to act composed but failing to conceal real terror. She's received a letter in her sister's handwriting – a sister she assumed was dead. This letter changes everything and might just scare her to death. 

After meeting with the woman behind the phone call, it's clear he's got his first case. With assistance from other agents with considerable experience, it's determined the lady is in real danger.

Irene depicts her villain as a serious psychopath pursuing the lovely skater, one with a vicious vendetta who will stop at nothing to execute his meticulously construed plan.

As the frustrations mount in this case, Lance becomes more enamored with Christy and begins to realize foreign feelings for him in the romance department. When he and the other agents keep running into walls, a real clue from an unlikely source finally gives them what they need. 

Thin Ice gives readers a touching prelude to a real relationship, awakens a dormant and repressed faith, designs an ugly, horrendous antagonist, and opens the door to the tale of the younger brother Finn while concluding a good story with a resonant ending.  

Father, you know exactly what Irene needs to keep writing these stories. Please keep her amply supplied and bless her in your abundance. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

. . .

he does not treat us as our sins deserve

   or repay us according to our iniquities. 

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

   so great is his love for those who fear him,

as far as the east is from the west,

   so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 

Psalm 103:10-12 (NIV) 

The five household chores I like the least (and that's putting it mildly):

Ironing

Dusting

Cleaning the refrigerator

Cleaning the oven (even the self-cleaning kind)

Cleaning the blinds 

Lord, give me a willing spirit to get these chores done without procrastinating so much which of course makes them worse to do. Sigh. Help me, Lord. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

(Originally posted as "Broken and . . . Unwritten" on July 31, 2014.) 

I've been the straggler when it comes to reading Charles Martin's novels. Shame on me. Unwritten is my third venture into Charles Martin's work, and it seems he has yet to disappoint. A few years ago – you Charles Martin experts will know exactly when – he switched from the Christian fiction genre to the general market.

Some of his devoted readers were disappointed with a book or two of his after his decision. After reading Unwritten, I can imagine he decided to do this because of the restrictions generally placed on certain language and innuendoes in Christian fiction, but that would be a guess based on this particular novel. Those who are more familiar with him probably have read or heard his explanation for making this change.

Unwritten, published in 2013 by Center Street, a division of Hachette Book Group, is a story about two individuals who have been shattered by life's experiences and have one person in common before they meet each other in the worst possible way. Their common denominator is an 80+ year old Catholic priest who goes by the name of Steady. He's in the rescuing business and has a phenomenal ability to plan the merging of two broken people, who couldn't be more different from each other, in order to save them both.

Katie Quinn is a world famous actress of the stage and screen who's carried unrelenting pain which originated in her childhood, carried over into her youth, and has intensified to a level she can no longer bear.

"Sunday" is a mystery man, a recluse, who fishes and hides out on the shores and islands off the Florida coast. Somehow he's made enough money in his younger life to sustain his minimalist existence. His friend Steady joins him to fish and visits with him when Sunday stops by the church to talk.

When Steady realizes what Katie is about to do, he convinces Sunday to go with him to see her. Once they are able to reach her, life changes for both Katie and Sunday in a huge way – a way neither of them appreciates in the beginning.

What Charles Martin is able to do throughout this interesting story with three unusual characters is to slowly develop each one and weave their lives together as their revelations sneak out from the obtrusive walls Katie and Sunday have built to conceal them. Broken by different assaults, Katie and Sunday share empathy they're slow to discover, mutually unwilling to allow trust to be a factor in their odd new friendship.

Damaged and disguised, they venture together toward a realization neither of them expects to find – or really even wants to. A tiny hope on life support flutters in each of them, neither ready for what happens when clarity strikes them.

Unwritten is a contemporary story of breaking free from those things which hold us captive and torment us with their painful prodding and terrifying threats of even more hurt. Those things that keep us bound to the pain and refuse to relinquish us to find a workable freedom enabling us to live.

Although Steady brings the presence of godly wisdom and faith, both Katie and Sunday in particular never quite embrace the fullness of God. There are still some grudges and blame placed on God which Sunday can't quite overcome, but the story leads us to believe the faint glimmer of hope recognized and experienced in the ending of this tale could lead to a recognition and amplification of faith.

I would say the appearance of God is visible but obscured by the elements of the story which features two people who haven't decided to allow Him a place in their aching hearts. Steady keeps them aware of the goodness of God and the unconditional love he and God has for them. He is the one constant in their tumultuous emotional reckonings.

Unwritten displays the unique storytelling and imaginative, lovely, and intricate prose of Charles Martin. With compelling characters precisely because of their oddities, they lead us on a journey of discovery which elicits raw and all-consuming pain with the hope that in the end they will survive its terror.

The ending of which remains unwritten.

Highly recommend the work of this gifted novelist.

Father, please continue to supply the stories to Charles and give him what he needs to write for your glory. Bless and encourage him as only you can do. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

"I went to my room one day, and I locked the door, and got down on my knees before Almighty God, and prayed to Him mightily for victory at Gettysburg . . . And I then and there made a solemn vow to Almighty God, that if He would stand by our boys at Gettysburg, I would stand by Him . . ."  President Abraham Lincoln 

Several days after the Battle of Gettysburg, President Lincoln proclaimed a national Day of Prayer to "recognize and confess the presence of the Almighty Father and the power of His hand . . ." 

Father, we're desperate for you. Always. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Girl got some lungs. A classic done her way. Smooth jazz. 

Lord, thank you for spreading your creativity around in so many ways. May each artist know you, the Source of it all. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Irene Hannon started her Men of Valor Series with Buried Secrets. 

Police Chief Lisa Grant left the Chicago PD for St. Louis in search of several personal revivals in her life. Although she didn't anticipate former Navy SEAL Mac MacGregor, now a detective from the county assisting her with a new case involving years old buried bones, being the source of those personal answers, she quickly learns his assistance in the case isn't the only thing he's helping.  

Finding an obscure red stone in the shallow grave of the decedent gives additional information to help identify the victim of many years ago and produces a plan to determine what really happened. Going back in time to find the details, they speak with a retired detective who confirms their suspicions about three individuals who knew the victim. 

It seems Lisa and Mac are heading in the right direction until suddenly there are more present day victims. 

Irene writes an interesting romantic suspense with a cunning antagonist who will go to great and precise lengths to eliminate what might reveal any complicity and expose the events that led to the victim's death. The romance is done with a light touch, the Chief and the former SEAL are likable characters, and their efforts to solve the cold case are relentless but often leave them discouraged yet no less determined. The climactic ending works well and brings a satisfactory conclusion.

Faith elements are basically peripheral and low key.

Father, you've blessed Irene with many stories to tell. Please keep them coming. Encourage her as only you can do and keep her safe from all harm. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.