Into the Fire

Ivy Clark is a beautiful Vogue cover model who's getting "old" approaching 25. Her agent and uncle, Bruce, is not hopeful or helpful, and Ivy is beginning to feel desperate. Ivy's father, via making her mother his mistress, has died and all the uncomfortable memories of his distance and cold detachment from her are resurrected at his funeral back in his home of Greenbrier, South Carolina.

Her step-mom Marilyn forgave her husband for his affair and welcomed Ivy into their home. She was the only one who welcomed Ivy every summer, her dad hiding out or disappearing whenever Ivy came to visit. Marilyn fell in love with the child, but Ivy wouldn't respond. Marilyn's faith rested on God's promise of the work he planned to do with Ivy.

Davis Knight used to be a New York scene photographer in demand until he hung up his camera because of a terrible accident to his younger sister Sarah while she visited him in New York. Sarah and her guide dog live with Aunt Marilyn now, and Davis does penance by working as a custodian in his church back in Greenbrier.

Marilyn owns a bridal shop and has been given the opportunity to feature her gowns in the well-respected and highly acclaimed magazine Southern Brides. She summons Bruce, her brother-in-law, for Ivy's services for the layout and requests her nephew Davis to do the shoot.

Ivy resents having to leave New York. Davis resents having to pick up his banished camera as a favor to his aunt. Two miserable lonely people are forced to work together which ultimately produces the best photo shoot Ivy has ever experienced, and the best photographs Davis has ever taken. And presents all kinds of new problems for them both, neither choosing to directly address them. 

Once again there is the Christian romance formula to fulfill, and Katie Ganshert manages a good job of portraying all kinds of broken people in A Broken Kind of Beautiful while demonstrating the multiple venues in which God applies His ever mysterious ways.Traditional guy who's returned from losing himself in the fast lifestyle, lost young woman still trying to fill that hole in her heart with the fast lifestyle, crash and clash and come to terms with faith, life, and love.

A good romance with bristly, annoying, snarky, and lovable-at-times hero and heroine, both flighty in different ways and running from simple truths they've made complex.

The story ends abruptly with an epilogue after satisfying its goal.

Father, you know Katie's heart and soul. You give her stories and make the way for her to write them. Please continue to bless her heart as she writes for your glory. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

When wickedness comes, so does contempt, and with shame comes disgrace.

Proverbs 18:3

It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the innocent of justice.

Proverbs 18:5

Tunnels. Bound on both sides and on top. Through something. A chosen pathway. Unnatural lighting. Restricted.

If you want a biological definition of an actual term used to describe a real type of vision, you can look here.

I refer to the type of focus a writer might use when involved in the construction of a novel. It's an alternate destiny requiring getting to know people (characters) intimately, visiting them on their home turf (sometimes made up places, sometimes not), and conversing with them in all kinds of situations (via their internal thought processes or through talking with other people [also characters]).

To do it adequately it requires concentration, the kind you must use if you're going into a dark tunnel where you're not entirely sure how long it is or where it ultimately leads. The tunnel vision required to see at all reminds us of the unpredictable and insecure journey but keeps our eyes narrowed and on our goal.

I don't have the physical condition described in the above link. However, I've been singularly minded as far back as I can remember, and that's a pretty long ways. Tunnel vision tends to describe the kind of focus with which I view life. Sometimes a blessing and other times not so much, it is who I am whether or not I'm writing a novel. In fact, I tend to break the norm for myself when I write, taking unexpected random trips away from stories and losing my focus. When I regain it, the acquisition of that vision can resume at full throttle or sometimes break down in the tunnel which is always scary.

How would you describe your vision of life?

Father, thank you for focus. Help me to keep it where it's supposed to be. Always. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

We've all asked the simple question. Why did this have to happen? Why did he do this? Why does she have to be so stubborn? Why can't I stand them? Why can't some good things happen once in a while?

Many times we ask without expecting a concrete answer. Other times we ask wishing for one. And sometimes we don't like the answer we get or know.

The answer might come quickly, take a long time to discover, or maybe never arrive.

For believers, longing for an answer is just as compelling as for a non-believer. However, believers do understand one thing: answers can be complicated and finding them can be illusive. We know there is purpose in all things, but that purpose might elude us until our venture into eternity. Unbelievers search with equal determination but rely on substance they can touch, see, feel, and explain. Humanity must contain answers even if they can't be found.

"Why?" is a prominent question guiding writers of stories. Motivations, reasons for behaviors, and purpose for incidents must be approached, considered, and at least somewhat answered in fiction. The author is responsible for multiple conflicts surrounding a major inciting incident and tying them together with workable solutions or leaving the reader with a viable cliffhanger, all making for good novels. However, life isn't always so cut and dried.

Tragedy, sorrow, evil, intervene "normal" lives and leave people asking "Why?" What did I do to deserve this? How could this happen? And so on. The same question could be asked of joyful rewards, splendid occurrences, and remarkable pleasures. Answers often cannot be explained in simple terms. They're mysterious and perhaps not understandable.

It's a difficult question to answer in many cases. Sometimes the answer we get we don't like. And it won't do. What then? Sometimes the answer is "Don't ask".

We will, though. Continue to ask. We can't help ourselves.

Father, some things reach deep into our souls and we crave understanding. Trust doesn't come easy for some of us even though we know trusting you is the best answer to any of our questions. Please help us to go through the hard things without losing faith because you're the best possible way to traverse the journey of life. With you all things are possible. Thank you for that. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.  

Presenting a good romance, the CFBA Tour offers Until I Found You by Victoria Bylin, published by Bethany House.

Kate Darby is a Los Angeles advertising/marketing designer who needs a leave of absence from the firm where she works to take care of her beloved grandmother Leona Darby who's recovering from a stroke. Leona is a widow living in the small town of Meadows and runs The Clarion, the local newspaper her husband started, but now must count on Kate to keep it operational while Leona heals.

Helping Leona with feature articles, author Nick Sheridan plans to offer more assistance until Leona is able to resume her duties. However, Nick doesn't realize the beautiful woman trapped in the BMW hanging by some shrubs on the mountain cliff will be his partner at the newspaper because she's Leona's granddaughter. Nick saves Kate's life and loses his heart as the two of them try not to get involved while keeping the paper going strong. 

Okay, it's a romance. And romances follow formulas. Right? So really the only things romance authors have going for them are interesting, unique, quirky, or attractive characters and something to make their stories rise above the typical "boy meets girl, boy and girl suffer conflict, boy and girl resolve conflict, boy and girl attempt to live happily ever after". Christian fiction adds the spiritual dimension to the attractions, conflicts, and resolutions, and here is where a Christian romance novel either shines or fails to arouse what I refer to as "the genuine factor".  

In many ways Until I Found You is the typical Christian fiction romance, but Victoria Bylin has managed to rise above the fray and give us a good story with a very good male co-protagonist in Nick, a confused and fearful female co-protagonist in Kate, who sparks all kinds of emotional reactions from compassion to disgust, with the unusual backdrop of the California condors as the parallel plot point.

Nick has many regrets from his life during the composition of his best known California adventure manual for "real men", but the book still sells well and people recognize his name, especially men who admired his quests and conquests. From those regrets he chose Jesus and his life changed dramatically in spite of the temptations occasionally still haunting him.

Kate struggles mightily with fear, unable to realize that no matter how much she thinks she has her life under control – or that it's even an option – she is usually out of control, confused, overwhelmed, and seeking safe solutions to all of her problems big and small in all the wrong places.

California Condor #53 plays a significant part in eventually leading her to a place where she must either choose the dominance of fear and perpetual chaos or the serenity of allowing personal chains she's carried since her childhood to be loosed.   

Until I Found You presents readers with the dilemmas of accepting faith in God for what it is – the unseen, often unknown in the visual and practical sense. Kate epitomizes the young career woman striving for control of her life and losing at every endeavor to do so even when she feels secure. Nick shows the struggles of a man who indulged most of what the world offered, turning away from the familiar to the holy, and finding it harder than he imagined, especially with the addition of Kate into his life.

Although Kate drove me nuts, I loved the underlying significance of the condors and the persistence and efforts of Nick to walk his talk in the Lord. Leona is a trooper and models a woman of faith who's survived a cruel world and triumphed in Jesus. Until I Found You by Victoria Bylin is a good romance with a dual meaning title and a fantastic cover. And who doesn't love a writer who dedicates her book to another author, listing one of that author's attributes as a "Lover of adjectives"? That set the mood for me. Enjoyed this novel.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764211528

Father, please watch over Victoria and give her lots of stories to tell. May she enjoy your abundance and continue to honor you in all she does. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.  

The Making of Isaac Hunt by Linda Leigh Hargrove, a joint imprint of Institute for Black Family Development and Moody Publishers (copyright 2007), is a fascinating story about a young black man with light skin and blue eyes who discovers a startling revelation from his granddaddy on his death bed.

Except that nothing is as it seems.

Except for some things which propel Isaac Hunt from Raleigh to the small town of Pettigrew in North Carolina, to look for Betty Douglas, the woman with whom he has a significant connection he's never known until her name was revealed to him by his granddaddy in the nursing home.

In his present state the young handsome figure of Isaac Hunt is the spoiled son of Judge Ricky Hunt and his wife Chloe. He's angry about the tone of his skin defying the darker color of his heritage. He's angry for multiple reasons he hasn't really figured out yet, but his mission to Pettigrew is the only solution he's got to come up with some resolution to what has suddenly become a confused mess of a life.

From the moment he arrives in the Pettigrew neighborhood where he hopes to find Betty Douglas, everything goes haywire. He wakes up in an old woman's home in significant pain from a beating applied by a mean white guy who was abusing a dog when Isaac intervened. There he meets Miss Lucretia, the kind owner of the home, her beautiful, spunky granddaughter nicknamed Catty, a little boy who won't talk named Patrick, and a white migrant farm preacher-man "Trip" who rooms there with all of them.

The story focuses on Isaac's determined search for Betty Douglas, her relationship to him revealed in the prologue. Through pain which includes the physical, emotional, and spiritual, Isaac perseveres until the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, is revealed to him concerning the lifetime of hidden information designed to keep him safe. In Pettigrew he learns he is anything but safe at times and exceedingly well-protected at others, but the information he needs to find himself is slow to come and not without trauma and heartache.

Being a "white" woman, I loved this novel because it taught me about the different perspectives of color from the black, or African-American, points of view. Sometimes sorrowful, sometimes baffling, and sometimes refreshing, the unique conflicts and the expected and unexpected prejudices were handled expertly by Linda who created a balanced and intelligent picture of both the highs and lows of the mysteries of and reactions to skin color.

Linda Leigh Hargrove's writing style meshed the sophisticated with the lowlife perspectives, creating an interesting story of people keeping secrets all along the way of Isaac's journey to discover who he truly is. He realizes more about his personal makeup than he bargained for, regardless of his heritage, and ultimately decides he needs to do the only thing that can truly help him.

The faith issues are handled with humor and directness but clearly illustrate the sometimes difficult path to arrive at solid and meaningful conclusions that satisfy the longing of the soul. The Making of Isaac Hunt is a good story about a young man who must come to understand how he truly feels about who he is and his amazing heritage.

Although a bit fantastical in the end to decipher the labyrinth and complexity of Isaac's extended family, the story entertains, satisfies, and informs. Good job, Linda.

Father, please continue to bless Linda in all of her writing endeavors. Keep giving her stories to tell and open doors for her work. Please watch over her and pour out your Spirit upon her and her family. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Dear God, thank you for heroes. Thank you for their sacrifices to keep this nation One Nation Under God. I pray their sacrifices would serve as a reminder of how much freedom and liberty cost. And, Jesus, you gave the greatest sacrifice of all for every person ever created. We can have true freedom in you. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Then Jesus told him [Thomas], "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed  are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

John 20:29 (NIV)

The eye reacts to images, translates and formulates a definition, an impression, and finally a response which might involve all the senses.

When you saw this image, what did you think first? Did you react to the beauty or the science? Emotional or practical response? Spiritual reminder?

Are you aware of the first sounds of your morning? Either before or after your alarm if you use one, what do you hear when you're in the awakening process?

Creating images is essential to make an appealing story. Bringing each sense into a reader's focus accentuates what he's reading, involving him in a visceral way.

What image comes to mind from a novel you've read? It's stuck with you because of the power in its description. Images make imagination come to life.

Father, you create amazing images. Help us to bring them into words. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.  

One of the fascinating things about writing and reading fiction is noting the reactions of other writers to what they're reading as compared to those readers who don't write.

Make no mistake, writers have their favorite authors, and those favorites can be comprised of all different kinds of voices and styles or strict adherence to particular voices and styles.

Readers seem to me to be far more diverse in their preferences than most authors I know. Authors I know stick to a regimen of genres with a couple of exceptions. Take me. Once in a great while I will read something which is normally way off my radar. In fact, it usually means a writer friend has written a novel which is outside my usual preferences, but because of them I will make an exception to my rule. One rule which I have yet to break: I don't read fantasy. For anyone.

Authors tend to notice things in other authors' works which we fail to notice in our own. It's easy enough to do. Our story is interesting to us from start to finish, but with someone else's story the same areas of annoyance in their work appear in our own without attention. We can be guilty of the same things which irritate us because in our stories it's different. Except it isn't. We just like our story better and we prefer how we did it over how they did it.

The important factor for us as writers is to recognize that our techniques are not unique. We strive to separate ourselves from the staid and norm, but sometimes it's impossible to do. Our efforts must result in creating characters our hoped-for readers can enjoy, relate to, have empathy with, or hopefully can elicit some kind of attachment to them. Or else our story had better pack enough punch to overcome any weaknesses.

And of course there will be readers and writers who don't like our gut-wrenching efforts and will proclaim their opinions in reviews, on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads to our shame or embarrassment or disappointment or whatever it is we feel when we see one star on Amazon.

Nevertheless, we like what we like and don't what we don't. Writer or reader, we can often see the same things as somehow different.

Father, help us to see what we need to see when writing and reading. Help us to always improve and to strive to be the one you designed us to be. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.