Into the Fire

If you've ever read an Amazon one-star review, you know what I'm talkin' about. Some readers can be downright mean and nasty. If I can only give a book a one-star review, I'm not going to waste my time making it public – other than here on my blog where I will give ample reasons for my dislike.

Surprisingly, some of the two-star reviews aren't all that bad. Some of the writers of those reviews mention the book didn't appeal to them with reasonable explanations, but not all of them trash the story and its author. Some acknowledge it's not their kind of book.

This is why I tend to give disclaimers for my novels. Because if you don't get my writing, you're not going to like my books. And by "get" I mean you have to understand my motive, my voice, and my style.

Let's take The Famous One. It's written like a fictional biography chronicling the protagonist's life. Omnisicient point of view is used for roughly the first half of the story, switching to third person. If you expect to read a star-studded account of gossip rags and the typical Hollywood hooplah, this isn't the book for you. If you expect to read the typical CBA romance – and it is a love story – this book is not for you. If you want major action-packed conflict, definitely not for you. If you have no expectations and are willing to try something a little different, have at it.

Let's next look at Breath of Life. Although not a particularly true romance according to genre definition, it too is a love story packed with romance. And that's pretty much all it is. Two lonely people finding each other and journeying down the road to a commitment and finding the trip-ups along the way. The story is notorious for ending abruptly – some readers wanted more included regarding the mistakes and outcome. But the objective was to tell the story primarily from the "hero's" point of view, although second and third person POVs were used. "He" chose to close the story quickly with a hopeful ending. Not every reader's ideal. Almost an experimental novel for me in my first attempt at first person (and from a male POV) and in sticking closer to 100K words which has been a challenge for me. Not surprised some didn't care for it, and from a reviewer's eye, there were definitely options to criticize  it.  

I've observed a few things about readers in perusing several one-star reviews. The one-star reviewers want their opinions known. They're disappointed and can't wait to announce it to the reading world. Only a few of them seem to understand the writer's intent. Whether or not to them it's the writer's inability or failure to communicate his/her intent – it's still an opinion. Where I tend to really distrust one-star reviewers is when there are multitudes of four and five-star reviews listed for a novel. This indicates to me the reader is mad that so many others really enjoyed the book they found so distasteful. They tend to write harsh criticisms insulting other readers as well as the author.

My personal stance on the Amazon forum is not to post reviews for those novels I really don't like unless I'm obligated to do so because of a "free for review" assignment. I too am sometimes shocked at rave reviews for books I found poorly written, formulaic, and predictable, but it is just my opinion after all. And maybe I don't prefer a particular author's style or story choices. I will voice my opinion here to warn like-minded readers of my assessments, but that will be the end of it. 

Those readers who choose to give one-star reviews with snarky and insult-laden opinions show me a few things. They regard their opinions as necessary, valid, and important, and they have no real understanding about what it takes to write a novel. Rather than consider they could be the wrong audience for the book, they profess the author is untalented, incapable, or invalid. 

On the other hand, professional reviewers are often known for being outspoken, sometimes rude, opinionated, and refusing to consider themselves in error as to their assessments of the stories they read. They have no qualms about criticizing a story or the means used to tell it. Some readers rely on professional reviewers to dictate their novel choices because they've been convinced the pros offer more than just their opinion, that somehow they have the ability to be objective and fair. After all, they are professionals. 

And such is the life of authors who somehow manage to write a novel that generates such diverse and uncomfortable reviews.

Father, please help us be the best we can be and to ignore those who offer nothing. Help us to endure . . . In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Not so the wicked!

   They are like chaff

   that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in judgment,

   nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

   but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 1:4-6 (NIV)

Vince Flynn fans have learned the news that the late espionage/political thriller writer and creator of the fantastic character Mitch Rapp will have his unfinished novel The Survivor completed by bestselling author Kyle Mills. Included below is the Vince Flynn website where a wonderful letter from Kyle Mills is printed. By his own admission, Kyle acknowledges there's no replacing Vince, but he intends to give it his best shot. It's bittersweet for everyone, but I'm encouraged by Kyle's honesty and greatly looking forward to another Mitch Rapp novel. I hope Vince will be blessed by Kyle's efforts.  

             http://www.vinceflynn.com/Vince_Flynn_News.html

Father, please help Kyle to write this unfinished novel, to understand the heart of Vince's characters and expression. Bless him as he undertakes this huge task in the realm of writing and thank you for giving him the desire to do it. May your blessings rest upon him. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

The Jack Noble novel Noble Beginnings by L. T. Ryan is the first of many in the Jack Noble thriller series.

An exciting story, told in the first person of Marine Sergeant Jack Noble, Noble Beginnings dictates the journey of Jack and his mammoth partner Bear as they are falsely accused of murdering an Iraqi family while engaged in a CIA operation. Beaten without mercy for a crime they didn't commit and returned to the states to end up imprisoned, a former CO gets them released, but from there people keep turning up dead with everything pointing to Jack as the killer. A sophisticated framing job turns into a bona fide conspiracy with Jack and Bear intended as the sacrificial lambs by higher-ups in government.

I thought I was done with general market fiction until next year when Vince Flynn's legacy is continued, but something about this story caught my attention and here I am in the aftermath.With minimal bad language, no sexually graphic scenes, L. T. Ryan has written an entertaining piece capturing the essence – and the underbelly - of clandestine assignments, living on alert, and surviving all manner of deadly surprises.

Creating a likable hero in Jack Noble, a plausible sidekick in Bear, the two have their moments of conflict but work as one. Both proficient in getting what they need from whom they need it, their lives are threatened most by learning they have no one they can absolutely trust to prove their innocence and clear their names. Forced on the run and involving Jack's former nurse girlfriend when Bear is shot, together and apart they search for who's responsible for their guilty fugitive status.

The only two totally insignicant "problems" I had with the story were Jack's girlfriend slipping away and her choice regarding a CD, and Jack's reaction to his CO's daughter Clarissa. Neither is a "story-breaker", and I can whole-heartedly recommend Noble Beginnings as a well-written, taut tale of high-level conspiracy with an intriguing and satisfying conclusion to Book One of the Jack Noble Series. 

Father, you know L. T.. You know his heart and soul. I pray for both. Please continue to bless his life and meet His needs, the primary need for all of us is knowing you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." (This saying first appeared in the 3rd century BC in Greek. It didn't appear in its current form in print until the 19th century, but in the meantime there were various written forms that expressed much the same thought. Courtesy of http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder.html) In other words what is physically, emotionally, or even spiritually "beautiful" can be subjective.

So it figures that an author displaying a character of beauty would depict that character from personal preferences or from another character's perspective. And we all know how enchanting physical beauty can be. But as an author we must decide if our character(s) will be physically beautiful or if their inner beauty supersedes their physical appearance.

As people, we know our looks play with our minds. Beauty – or a perceived lack thereof - can dictate how confident we are, the reactions we experience, and how we value ourselves. Right or wrong, most of us want to have some physical appeal and if we don't see ourselves with any, we can be ruled by low self-esteem.

The distinction of types of beauty lies in the author's perceptions and translates to the page. How serious a writer takes such things will be communicated by the inner workings of their characters.

Will we use beauty to entice, to seduce, to enhance? Will our character be attractive but shallow? Gorgeous but hardened? Beautiful and unapproachable? Glamorous and aloof? Pretty but unaware of it? Lovely but reticent? How will beauty be portrayed?

As a reader and/or as a writer, what role does beauty play in your favorite novels – including your own?

Father, you find beauty in what you create. Like everything else, mankind has distorted beauty. Help us to view things more from your perspective. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Writing the "beast" is much easier if you're a fantasy author. Within that framework you can build all kinds of beasts and make them good or evil or a combination of both. But when you're constructing general fiction, the beast lives within a person and his or her actions determine just how much of that innate evil is allowed to live and thrive.

I've had the opportunity to meet author Steven James when he taught some classes at a large, multi-faceted church function in my area. I invited a friend to help me "man" his book booth while he spoke and taught classes. If you're unfamiliar with Steven James' novels, you need to know he writes some of the best contemporary thrillers in literature. A Christian author with a Masters in Storytelling, he selectively teaches writing classes, and he rails against "Christian" being inserted in front of fiction.

A tall, slender, nice-looking guy who sometimes wears hip glasses, Steven James is soft-spoken but enthusiastic, athletic, nice, and gives the impression he could be a lot of fun in a less professional setting. Steven James writes some of the most evil characters you will ever discover. Horrible. Creepy. Yet often appear to be ordinary, suave, or accomplished. He has stated he wants to capture evil and demonstrate its emotional content. The question you might want to ask is, "How does a nice guy like you write such despicable characters?"

To write evil you do have to understand its source. The most painful part of writing it is knowing if you travel down deep enough, you can find it inside yourself. Not a good feeling. But true. Granted, not all of us can go that deep and come up with the stuff that fills the pages of thrillers, nor can all of us afford to examine evil to the length required to write the kind of mindsets which comprise the makeup of serial killers. That's a good thing. It's more than some can bear, dangerous to look at or study, and completely not suited to the fearful and/or delicate psyches.

We are to hate what is evil, but if we make evil "typical", it makes for boring reading. Evil comes in so many forms in human conduct, but it inevitably begins in the mind. Creating an introduction to the beast hidden within the human soul requires us to creatively introduce the subtleties of wickedness without sustaining clichés. No easy task.

Making the beast exceptional requires the writer to look deep and forge an evil from the demonic influence on the human soul. Few writers can do this well. Perhaps even fewer want to do it.

God, for those of yours who are compelled to display evil, I pray your divine protection over them. I pray your insights will permeate their creations and that redemptive alternatives will be presented. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:

     haughty eyes,

     lying tongue,

     hands that shed innocent blood,

     a heart that devises wicked schemes,

     feet that are quick to rush into evil,

     a false witness who pours out lies

     and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

Proverbs 6:16-19 (NIV)

                                                          OR

Okay, I happen to think actress Keira Knightley is beautiful. Inserted into acting at a young age, she became a sensation after playing Elizabeth Swann in the Pirates of the Caribbean Series. Mostly period pieces followed her success in "Pirates" with a couple of exceptions.

And I think we can all agree the picture of the "Smoke Monster" above is surely a beast.

I don't think any of us would find it surprising to hear the potential for either beauty or beast tendencies exists in the human soul. Now we can argue semantics, but in literature we read of overt or subtle battles between good and evil. Protagonists are rarely depicted as purely good and occasionally antagonists are portrayed as not all bad.

What about the author? Do we favor the beauty or celebrate the beast? Do we give accurate accounts of both or do we slip into clichés of either or both?

Do you as a reader need to "understand" the motivations of both the hero and the villain?

As a writer, if we write drama, we are compelled to make our characters realistic. Their language in the dialogue must fit them and the time slot in which we write. Their physical identity and descriptions must augment who they're set up to be. Their reasoning during crisis mode must not supersede who we've set them up to be.

If we've accentuated beauty and minimized beast – or vice versa – we are responsible for convincing readers there is a justifiable reason for choosing to do it.

It can be painful to allow the beast to erupt into our writing and difficult at times to show the beauty. Much depends on our vision for what we write based on our experiences in this world.

What's it like for you as a reader? Beauty or beast? As a writer?

Father, you're the only beauty we have and can cling to. Help us show the contrasts effectively and somehow demonstrate the only hope for the human race is in you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.               

When west Texas former Army Ranger and lawman Deputy Sergeant Dawson Hughes and Brooklyn-born and employed Private Eye Veronica "Ronnie" Ingels get entangled in the death of Ronnie's husband, all kinds of sparks and gunfire fly.

Ronnie's husband is out of town on a motivational speaking engagement so Ronnie decides to visit an old college friend in Texas. When Ronnie enters her friend's bridal boutique, she finds her husband Mark in a heavy embrace with her BFF. The shock almost knocks her to her knees, and the explanations of their "love" and Mark's desire for a divorce leave Ronnie in shambles until she learns she's the prime suspect in his murder.

Ronnie has little time to adjust to the shock of his and her "friend's" affair, to grieve his death because she truly loved him, or to ask herself what she did to deserve his betrayal because she's knee deep in the investigation as soon as she casts aside the suspicions about her involvement in his death.

Deputy Dawson Hughes must quickly learn she's unwilling to sit by and let law enforcement handle the investigation, and although she frustrates him no end, he realizes she's a proven investigator and turns up new leads, handles her Glock like a pro, but can get herself in dangerous situations without even trying. His protective instincts grow as they uncover a package in her husband's hotel room they never expected to find. But someone else did.

Harmful Intent by Nike Chillemi, the first in the Deputy Sergeant Dawson Hughes and P.I. Veronica "Ronnie" Ingels series, will be followed by Deadly Designs. A fun little mystery with the typical banter you'd expect from an all-male Texas lawman and a spunky Brooklyn private eye, the story gives the reader small snatches of the backgrounds of these two individuals leaving the door wide open for more personal character development and relationship enhancement in future books. The chemistry is solid, the hero is strong, the heroine is street-mart with just enough vulnerability to keep her sympathetic. Peripheral characters add flavor and intrigue. Perhaps Ronnie's former friend is a tad over the top, but if you're looking for a summer-lite read with a touch of meaningful wedged in between the storyline, Harmful Intent is the book for you.

http://nikechillemi.wordpress.com/harmful-intent/

Father, please continue to bless Nike in all she does for you and give her many more stories to tell. Lead her on the path you designed just for her and guide her every step of the journey. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.      

In light of my recent reading and reviews, I thought this post from July of 2010 seemed "appropriate". I hope you can see the value here in baring (literally) my soul.

Before I get into this topic, let me give you a snapshot of who Nicole Petrino-Salter is with and without her flaws. Without my flaws I am a child of the King, a passionate Jesus-loving Christian. Apart from Him, I can do nothing. Period.

With my flaws I am a passionate Christian who spent 30 years in the world believing in God but not having a relationship with His Son. I didn’t get it. I don’t know if I ever truly heard the gospel until just before my conversion. Perhaps I did, but it fell on deaf ears. The fickle heart pursued an independence which led me astray from the values impressed upon me by God-fearing parents. I’m convinced my mother was a Christian when I was growing up, and my Dad was an excommunicated Catholic because he eloped with my mom who didn’t belong to the Catholic church. However, for many in the Catholic faith, once a Catholic, always a Catholic. Later, for sure, I know Mom solidified her salvation, and Dad became a Christian.

I’m a mature woman who grew up in tumultuous times for our nation. Drugs, sex, and rock ‘n’ roll came on the scene hard and fast and wore down even the “best” of us, and by best I simply mean those of us who clung to our understanding of morality. I planned to be a virgin on my wedding day. I didn’t plan to do drugs. I planned to be published, become an actress, and to get out of college after my first year. Out of all those “plans”, the only one that became a reality was getting out of college after my first year. In a way you now know me intimately.

So. What does that have to do with Christian publishing and sex? The decisions people make in their lives regarding something so personal, so intimate and invasive, as sexual conduct reveals an immense amount about who they are, who they perceive themselves to be, and who they will ultimately become.

Within the many responses to this discussion there is an occasional outrage and accusation concerning the inclusion of sexual content. If you’re reading secular/general market literature: get real. It’s all over it and should be expected. However, if you’re reading CBA literature, sexual content is minimal in spite of a dominant line of romance novels.

Let me stop right here and commend Francine Rivers and Lisa Samson for their insightful, daring, and profound novels Redeeming Love [and Bridge to Haven] and The Passion of Mary-Margaret, respectively. Sexual issues horrifically and tenderly addressed in both books. These two novels are love stories, not romance novels. No one will ever convince me otherwise. Love stories often include romance but their plotlines reach farther and provide epic revelation which exceeds the tight framework of romance novels.

I can say to you with humility but without shame, I am called to contrast the world’s views of sexual issues to God’s view of the same. I write love stories, heavy on the romance. Real romance. I have been on both sides of these issues. I know what it’s like to succumb to the worldview and live with regret. I know what it’s like to be a girl, then a woman who is not gorgeous with a beguiling build in a world where these things seem to be the measure of a female.

I know what it’s like to hear the comments of boys and men who revel in the body parts of females. I know what it’s like to watch girls and women use their bodies to entice, to tease, to woo, to control the reactions of boys and men. I know what it’s like to wish I could.

I know what lust feels like, how it can dominate, how it can overrun good sense and innocence. I know what it’s like to hold onto something so private and important only to release it and give it away because remembering why it’s valuable has lost its grip, its reality, its poignancy to the moment and time of life.

I wonder at Christian women who are appalled at novels that contain what they consider too much “sex” in CBA fiction. Um. Where? Please understand I mean no harm here. Graphic and/or explicit sex doesn’t exist to my knowledge in CBA fiction. I don’t write graphic sex, but my work does contain the physical connections, reactions between men and women. The lost are portrayed without judgment. The saved are portrayed with exuberance.

What is it about sex, that most intimate of actions designed by a loving God for the expression of love between husband and wife, that raises the rancor of some Christian women? Because the world perverts the act, makes it unseemly, makes it casual and meaningless much of the time, turns it into a weapon, a four-letter word, makes it a measure of a man’s prowess, a woman’s attraction . . . is it because sometimes some of us can’t quite get to the place where this sexual union is sacred? Have we sucked in the world’s aphrodisiac and are afraid we’re just as ugly, just as jaded as “they” are? If we enjoy sex too much as a female, are we no “better” than a promiscuous woman? If we don’t enjoy sex at all, are we more “righteous”?

The accusations fly about not writing to cause a reader to stumble. And sex is the hot-button issue we use to entice our readers to sin? Does that mean to portray it without graphics is sinful? Heck, is sex sinful?!

Women have many obstacles to overcome with sexual issues. Some of us have to fight through the regret, the pain of feeling insufficient, the hormonal conditions which leave us vacant and hollow in the sexual drive department. There are so many valid reasons to be uptight about sex. The problem is they’re mostly unhealthy. Mentally and emotionally, physically and spiritually. God didn’t design sex just for men. No, he really didn’t.

I’m going to stop here—I’ve gone plenty long. Please, please, don’t let this post offend you. Please.  

Lord, we get all tied up in falsehoods and misconceptions. Help us to live truly free in you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.