Into the Fire

Five pair of boots. The long and short of them. Yes, you have to have the legs for the long ones. I love them all. I used to have a pair of black thigh length calfskin boots with a flat heel. Loved them. Had to rig a belt through the loops at the top under my dresses to keep them snugly up, but I didn't care. And I never would've warn them like the top model. Mini-dress, yes. Micro-mini. No. Those boots were awesome. And I was 20 years old at the time. I have two pair like the short ones in these pictures, one brown, one black. I have a pair of black mid-calf leather boots and one pair of black knee-high boots with a high heel, two pair of boots used to exercise Thoroughbreds, one brown, one black. So. That's this Friday's Five. 

Lord, you've put up with me for so long. How grateful I am for that. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

If you love the trumpet and soft jazz, Chris Botti is your man. Love his music.

Thank you for the infusion of your beauty into music and those who play it. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Sheer elegance with a touch of rustic finishes. Gorgeous. Love this one.

Father, heaven must be spectacular because you've allowed tremendous beauty on this fallen earth. In spite of us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

So. If it came right down to it, what is the percentage of Christian novels you read compared to those of the general market? I'll tell you my estimate: 80/20 Christian novels to secular.

I can also tell you it used to be 100% to zero. I spent 30 years in the world believing in God but not knowing Jesus as Savior and Lord. I spent the last 10 years before my salvation delving into worldly ways, essentially knowing right from wrong and rebelling into wrong areas. My rebellion wasn't against my parents because I loved and respected them and recognized that how they'd raised me was the way life should be. I think I rebelled because I wasn't "happy" so I tried sampling the other direction. That might've been fun for awhile, but it certainly didn't solve my "happy" problem – it only made it worse.

When I met the Lord, I didn't want anything to do with certain things I used to do so I began my Christian reading with the amazing Frank Peretti. Loved his novels. And that's how my reading stayed for many years.

However, in recent times, as Brenda S. Anderson noted in her guest post here, the authenticity of several Christian novels has suffered from rigid requirements to keep them "clean". Most of us realize life is dirty. Sometimes dirty low down. Does that mean we must saturate our work with filth? No. In fact, it makes the opposite true. We expose the dirt for what it is by writing authentic stories with real life un-sanitized situations and emotions but not focused on the vile. It certainly can be done and done well.

If you ever had the privilege of reading The Passion of Mary-Margaret by Lisa Samson, you know exactly what I'm talking about. A tremendous story of love and loss, defiled dreams and rewarding fulfillment, an incredible story with plenty of the ugliness and beauty of life and love.

The menu in Christian fiction, also acknowledged in Brenda's post, has been restrained significantly. Amish novels flooded the market. Historical romance is all that's offered according to Brenda Jackson instead of the inclusion of historical epics without the predominance of romance. Romantic suspense dominates the mystery/suspense genres.  

Most of us who read Christian fiction do it because we don't wish to be inundated with f-bombs, total irreverence, and explicit sex scenes. Granted, not all secular novels include these things, but it's fair to say that most of them take part in at least one of them.

So . . . your percentages?

God, thank you for rescuing me. I never deserved your love but am so grateful for it. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.      
     

Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished,

   but those who are righteous will go free.

Proverbs 11:21 (NIV)

In today's society, it's impossible to ignore social media. It can be minimized, but it's hard to completely eliminate it. If you're an author, you're encouraged to engage certain activities within the social media world. Some writers choose a boatload of sites before they eventually start reducing some of them.

I started this blog years ago because two different people online at sites I visited suggested it. Neither of those people still visit this blog. I do Facebook and Twitter, although basically on Twitter I just post links to this blog. I visit a few other blogs – many less than I used to – and currently I'm content with what I do. I'm privileged to guest post at Novel Rocket once a month. Although I've signed up at Goodreads, I rarely go there.

How important to you is participating in what social media has to offer?

Father, we can overload on so many things and easily be distracted from you and what you have for us to do. Please help me not to do that. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

One current popular phrase used to describe relationships, work situations, and just about anything that makes normal things harder than they should be is, "It's complicated". No  kidding. Life is filled with complications. Snags, hardships, busy-ness, illness, failure to communicate. All kinds of circumstances contribute to those elements of confusion and chaos in our lives.

For a fiction writer, those "complications" serve a twofold purpose. Number one, we're charged with identifying and portraying them in realistic ways in entertaining stories. The second "purpose" is the tough one. It's the equalizer – the complication of words refusing to exert themselves and land face up on the page. Writing breaks are normal occurrences, but writing famines are . . . complicated.

Some authors never face the writing drought. Others gaze into the maw of wordlessness in frequent junctions. It's scary. And complicated. Because the solution varies from writer to writer, there's really no "for sure" cure.

Sometimes the results of returning from the abyss of silent words can be exhilarating. Other times, the results are spotty, sparse, and intimidating. Will they return in force or will we be forced into a wordless unwanted retirement?

In life's maze of complications, writer's "block" is small compared to many other difficulties people face daily, but in the midst of it, a writer is faced with trusting whatever or whoever inspires him to return to his craft. For a Christian, we know who gives us what we need for every area of our lives. Heaven help the unbeliever facing the writing complication.

God, we're all desperate for you. Thank you for words and stories. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

This song by Twila Paris is one of my all time favorites and never fails to elicit tears.

                 Powerful, sorrowful, and beautiful.  

                   Thank you, Jesus. Never enough.

We're going rustic for the next few weeks. Simple, functional beauty here.

Father, thank you for the simple and beautiful. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Although I received The Bones Will Speak by Carrie Stuart Parks for review from the CFBA, the book arrived past the deadline for review thus making mine late.

We join Gwen Marcey in this second novel post breast cancer and out of work. She's a forensic artist who's suffered a messy and particularly hurtful divorce during her battle with cancer, and job gaps make everything tough. When her dog Winston comes home with a skull and leads her to a nearby deserted homestead in the woods where she finds a tortured young girl on the verge of death, she is suddenly employed once again by her friend and Sheriff Dave. However, an incident with the sheriff's cell phone at the crime scene causes the Missoula sheriff to take over the investigation with a competitor forensic artist who Gwen taught everything he knows. Just as quickly, she's unemployed again. 

Gwen is never satisfied to be on the bench during an active investigation especially when the previously murdered girl whose skull Winston found and the recovering young victim (Mattie) in the hospital both look very similar to her daughter Aynslee. However, her efforts to find out who's doing this lands her in a boatload of trouble with Dave.

Adding to the chaos, a group of white supremacists are staging a parade through town, and the sheriff is scrambling to put enough people on patrol. Gwen's best friend Beth, a research guru, provides detailed information on the group and helps Gwen connect some vague dots in the case. When Gwen, Beth, and Aynslee concoct a plan to see Mattie in the hospital, everything that can go wrong does.

Carrie gives us a vulnerable woman in Gwen who fights bitterness over her divorce, works hard to continually prove herself, bravely tackles impossible circumstances to protect and rescue her daughter, and endures humiliation to accomplish hard goals while struggling with her faith. Her life isn't easy and frustration follows her around, but her strong will enables her to persevere and regain those things which are most important in her life.

If you enjoy the mysteries of forensics, out of the ordinary storylines with mysterious villains, you'll certainly enjoy Carrie Stuart Park's two novels A Cry from The Dust and The Bones Will Speak. There's a wealth of unique information in them and building suspense that turns to intense action toward the end.

Father, please continue to provide for Carrie's every need while blessing her body, soul, and spirit. Inspire her, assist her in her storytelling, and may she feel your pleasure as she writes in obedience to you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.