http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYvUEBs3500&feature=related
Father, such maginificent beauty you give to your creation. For your pleasure. Thank you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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Nobody loves Christmas more than me. The celebration of the birth of Jesus in all its miraculous glory never fails to bring me true joy. I love Christmas.
So perhaps someone can tell me why I don't like Christmas movies, Christmas television specials, or Christmas novels. Unfortunately, Remembering Christmas by Dan Walsh reinforced my prejudices.
Remembering Christmas shows us the wayward, successful, resentful son Rick who's obligated to come home instead of heading out for a ski weekend on the long Thanksgiving holiday because his step-father Art has collapsed on the floor of the small Book Nook Christian Bookstore that he and Rick's mother own and operate. Rick plans to be there for just a few days, but Art's condition is critical and a few days begin to stretch into a few more. Rick's discomfort about helping out at the store is eased by the part-time employee Andrea and her six year old daughter Amy. Attracted to Andrea but receiving no encouragement from her for a relationship, he's forced to realize the spiritual gap between them is a deterrent for her.
When the store is robbed, Rick immediately assumes it's the homeless man everyone calls JD who Rick has chased away from the store in spite of Art's and his mom's efforts to help the man. Andrea assures Rick it couldn't be JD, but Rick won't be persuaded until the police locate the out-of-towner who broke in and took the money and it's returned to him.
My dislike of the protagonist – and I emphasize here, Christmas novel or not, it's risky to make an unlikable character your main guy in a story – really didn't change much after some good things happened because the way those things occurred seemed too convenient. The twist near the end provided a welcome revelation and made the story interesting. Written with simple prose, a stereotypical hardened protagonist, and some stilted conversation, I'm not the target audience for this little novel. The final conclusion to the remembered part of the story seemed a bit presumptuous and easily predictable. I guess that's what Christmas movies and stories have in common.
For those who like the Christmas novel where everything goes so wrong before it goes exactly right, Remembering Christmas by Dan Walsh will suit you well.
Available September 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
Father, please continue to bless Dan for his efforts to capture the homespun tales for those who love them. Please provide for all that he needs to continue to do as you ask. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"
Matthew 6:22-23 (NIV)
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Veterans of the United States Armed Services:
We salute you! We honor you!
Thank you from our hearts.
Father, thank you for each one who's fought for freedom. God Bless America. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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A few of today's headlines:
Protester fatally shoots self
Fake pot, heart attacks linked
Sandusky painted out of mural
Postal worker hoarded mail
Will Kindle Fire threaten iPad?
Man says he 'woke up gay'
$100 million for priest abuse
Father, we're desperate for you. Desperate for you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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Some writers choose to edit as they go. Others choose to get the words in the manuscript down first.
I'm of the edit as I go persuasion. So let me give you the generally speaking pros and cons to this method.
Pros:
Less to do at the end of it all. After it's finished and you've let it sit for a time, there's less re-writing.
Regular/constant attention to plot points as the story reveals itself.
Cons:
By the time you're at the end of the story, you know it almost too well and are glad to set it aside.
That repetition fatigue causes all kinds of doubts.
You're not sure you want to read it all over again since you've saturated yourself with it so many times already.
The pros or the cons can outweigh each other, but I doubt I could put together a story any other way. It's the way it is, you know?
How 'bout you?
Father, you wired me. I know I get those wires crossed plenty of times, but somehow you manage to keep me functioning. Thank you for that. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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"On the contrary". I'm sometimes there. Contrary to what's "accepted". But not just to be contrary.
Not into debating issues. Will absolutely stand up for what I believe to be true, for what I know is true, and even for what I know is right even when it's contrary to political correctness or publishing correctness.
Some people love to examine every facet of issues. Analyze every side to discover the validity, if any, to the claims. I analyze but not to the enth degree. Some things stand out as right or wrong and need little studying while others require far more attention due to the devil in the details.
Do you like to play "the devil's advocate" in a discussion? Do you enjoy presenting an opposite opinion just to spark conversation? Do you prefer to engage in controversy on the blogs? What, if anything, will cause you to engage the opposition?
Father, you created us with different strengths and we all have weaknesses in our sin nature. Lord, give me the strength to honor you in my disagreements with others. Help me to be the one you want me to be. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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And do you want to "see" the characters you're reading about? I do. I want to visualize them, their expressions, their mannerisms, their movements, or antics. I want to know them.
What don't you want to see? And how do you not want to see it?
Father, please continue to instruct those writers you've inspired to tell stories. Teach us all the little things that can easily be ignored. Help us to be the best that we can be. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the Lord's unfailing love
surrounds the man who trusts in him.
Psalm 32:10 (NIV)
