Why do you like certain characters and detest others? Is it easy to articulate? Sometimes it’s easier to describe “who” we don’t like and nail down the reasons for that than it is to tell why we like others. Can you do it?
Father, thank you for the unique ways your people write and create. Keep inspiring them, Lord. This fallen world needs your insights infused through those written words. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Travis Thrasher recently posted that he was hard-headed enough to keep banging on the doors of publishing until one of them opened. http://thejourneyiseverything.blogspot.com/2011/03/keep-on-knocking-writing-tip-64.html
So how ‘bout you? Are you stubborn enough to persevere—or should we use the religiously-correct term of “determined”?
Does your belief in your work, your intention to improve, your dedication to craft, make you impervious to rejection?
Admittedly, I’m stubborn. But maybe not in the way this publishing business requires. Maybe I haven’t got what it takes to be considered a viable author in CBA.
I can gut out a lot of things but I’m old enough now where they have to make sense to me. Maybe if I was younger, I could use my innate resilience to keep plying my trade at the usual places.
So tell me: what have ya got? Are you gutsy enough, determined enough, believe in the system enough to keep pursuing the dream? I hope you are and you do . . .
Lord, I’m grateful for wherever you take me. Help me to follow you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
Jesus answered, "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
. . ."
Matthew 24:4-8 (NIV)
Excerpts from the ACLJ:
There are powerful political interests that still want to see the Islamic victory mosque built on this sacred ground.
The ACLJ stood before New York's State Supreme Court and argued that local New York City officials abused their discretion when they declined to give the building – which stands in the shadow of the Twin Towers and where landing gear from one of the hijacked planes fell to the ground – landmark protection status.
In discussing demolition of the existing building at the proposed Islamic victory mosque site, our attorney made it clear: ''That building is a monument to that day.'' By refusing to grant landmark status, the City cleared the way for the Islamic mosque project to be built at that site. We showed that this abuse was because of political pressure from Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The ACLJ is litigating this case on behalf of our client, Tim Brown, a firefighter and first responder who survived the Twin Towers' collapse. The City of New York tried to have our lawsuit dismissed outright, claiming that our client has no legal standing – no connection to the building in question. If our client, who was on the front lines on 9/11 and who lost nearly 100 friends in the attacks, doesn't have legal standing, who does? As our attorney so aptly responded, ''He [Tim Brown] certainly has an emotional, moral, and personal stake in monuments to that day.'' Quite frankly, the City's legal position in this matter is an insult to those who made the ultimate sacrifice and took the gravest risks on 9/11. We have already responded and are winning this battle.
There is no question that the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 were attacking our way of life – our firm belief in liberty and every person's inalienable rights to free speech and the freedom to practice their religious beliefs. An Islamic victory mosque at Ground Zero would be a political statement supporting those attacks on our American values.
Yesterday's oral arguments were just the first step in what is going to be a lengthy litigation process. The ACLJ is in this fight for the long haul . . .
We will not rest in our fight against the spread of radical Islam and the infiltration of Sharia law into the United States.
Jay Sekulow
ACLJ Chief Counsel
Father, woe to those who call evil good and good evil. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Does your heroine display any of these characteristics? Does she have a quick wit and a sense of humor? Is she compassionate and empathetic? Can she discern the needs in others or solve problems? Does she charge into trouble or shy away from any hint of it?
What’s to like about her? Is she kind? Is she acerbic? Is she clever? Is she tough?
What’s her spiritual condition? In the world or of the world? Lost or found? Leaning toward God or running away from Him? Indifferent towards His advances? Desperately hoping He exists?
Do we need to envision her clearly for the story? Does her appearance play a role? How old is she?
Does she have a best friend, a husband, a business partner? Do we get to know her quickly or is she stand-offish and unpredictable?
Is she strong physically? Emotionally? Spiritually? Is she fragile at one level and strong in others? Is she delicate?
Will men enjoy reading about her? Do you care if they do?
What’s important to you when you read a story with a female protagonist?
Lord, help us to write memorably. Help us to flesh out and spirit up the people in our stories. Help us to do and be real. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
If you’ve ever watched very young children, you know that people at their most innocent ages demonstrate bad behavior, selfish acts and attitudes, and live life as if it’s all about them. Now before all of you over-the-top mothers bash me with excuses for the conduct of those sweet little beings known as our children, I understand the concept of right and wrong has yet to be firmly demonstrated and implanted in their developing psyches. Tell me this: once that concept is firm, how many of them are wholeheartedly willing to comply? None of them. None of us. It’s not our nature. Sin runs through our bloodline. We lean toward “wrong”.
I find it an admirable quality when people love people. Of course many people are lovable. Good qualities flow from them and override the bad. In fact, with some people it’s difficult to find “bad” qualities. However, there are many people who rate the adjective “unlovable”, and when people can love them, it says something. And somewhere in between I suspect the majority of us reside. We’re not so bad—only occasionally. And, we can be very lovable. At times when we’re not angry or being selfish with our time, money, possessions, etc., we can be downright . . . likable.
Christianity makes some blunt claims. Really not negotiable. Although there’s plenty within our bible which can be “discussed” without total agreement, anyone who considers the bible the Word of God given to man through the supernatural inscription of the Holy Spirit will not flex on the way to God.
(John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” NIV)
I find it odd that Christians can be influenced to compromise the basic tenet of the faith. Jesus died so we could go to heaven. He took the punishment for our sins. Why would we need Him if we can get to heaven without Him?
Love is the big deal nowadays. A love based more on human perceptions than godly actuality. God is Love. He’s perfect. We most certainly are not. No matter how hard we try, we cannot duplicate the love of God because real Love is synonymous with God, and we will never be Him. Over and over God has proven that enclosed within that Love are discipline and judgment, and somehow those often get left out of the human translation of His love.
Sin is evil. This is another quandary for people-lovers. Some want to cover sin with a pseudo-grace instead of bringing it to the altar of repentance. Since when does Love tolerate and justify and disregard sin? No people deserve the beauty and grandeur of the described heaven offered to followers of Jesus. No one. There’s a prerequisite to get there. People-lovers cannot accept that anyone truly “deserves” to be thrown into a lake of burning sulfur where torment lasts . . . forever. Those people-lovers accept the Love of God without His judgment. It doesn’t matter to them that He’s been warning the human race since time began. He’s been demonstrating the consequences of sin, the perils of idolatry, the coming of the apostate church for eons. They choose to ignore and modify those scriptures, doing the unthinkable by taking pieces of truth and inserting homemade lies into them because they can’t bear the thought that God is serious about those who choose of their own free will to disregard the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.
God loves people far more than people are capable of loving people. However, there have always been parameters in God’s creation. He made Adam and Eve in His image. They were special to Him. He gave them their parameters. When they disobeyed, He didn’t hesitate to execute judgment. Sin matters in God’s world. Because of His love, the plan for redemption of His creation came into play, and no sacrifice has ever been as painful as the one God offered. So. To think He’ll just cast it aside because Mr. So-and-So doesn’t want to believe in Jesus Christ? Don’t think so. Both the New and Old Testaments give no indication of that possibility. None.
There is a Judgment Day. Heaven or hell. Like it or not. You get to choose but only while you’re here on earth. It’s now or never.
God, help us to see your Truth, not man’s. In the Name of your Son, the only name under heaven whereby man can be, must be saved, the Name above all Names, the Name of Jesus, Amen.
On novel reviews. A couple of years ago I argued I wouldn’t be doing “reviews”. Equated them with book reports in school. Anything “school” makes my curly hair go straight and my normal nail-biting increase tenfold.
Once again author Mike Duran posted an interesting opinion about book reviews (http://mikeduran.com/?p=11984#comments) and generated a lot of comments which were equally stimulating.
So. Got me to thinking about what I do here. Sometimes I do novel reviews. Sometimes I give a simplistic approach to sharing what a book’s about and who might appreciate it. Sometimes I review and recommend a novel.
If I choose to do a review, I’ll tell you what I like and don’t like about the novel. If I go the simplistic route, I’ll give a limited description and commentary about the novel. The reason for that is I’m not the target audience for the novel but figure it meets the prescribed needs of the intended audience. The review with a recommendation might also contain what I like and don’t like about a novel, but what I don’t like is insignificant if I’m recommending it to readers. A perfect example of that is my review of the novel Dogwood by Chris Fabry. To this day I’m unsure as to whether or not I like the ending, but I loved everything else about the book. I mentioned one weakness besides my indecision about the ending, but that opinion of the weakness didn’t diminish the story or his writing for me.
I have given a few “bad” reviews. They’re difficult to do, and the only reason I’ve done them is I felt duty bound because of the arrangement with those who supply the books. Yes, the CBA writing world is relatively small and it’s possible to one day be in proximity to someone whose novel you chose to review with a less than positive evaluation. Not to mention having them stop by your site to read what you’ve written about their book. Will you be able to face them and feel comfortable with how you presented your review? If so, then you’ve done a fair job.
Does that mean you shouldn’t mention negatives about a book you read? No. It means your objections should be clothed in gracious explanations. If you’re not the target audience, state that.
And remember the Classics. Even with their distinctive recognitions, the novels which have achieved literary acceptance over decades and some for centuries are still debated and disliked, criticized and canned, ridiculed and ripped.
Keep in mind you might be a judge of a novel, but you’re not the jury. You’re one individual with an opinion. It might be the prevailing opinion about the piece, and it might not. Any reviewer is entitled to give his/her opinion—however each one chooses.
It would be more informative if those who “review” novels indicated they only choose to publish opinions of the books they like. And it would definitely be more helpful if those who give opinions of novels tell us if they’re readers or writers or both.
Just some thoughts on the subject of “reviews” . . .
God, help us to be truthful with grace. To be kind and honest. To treat our peers as you would have us do. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Life goes on. Blah.
For some it doesn’t. It stopped in Japan for so many. Swept away in a wash and a mountain of debris. Lost. Devastation so complete it’s hard to imagine the photos aren’t “doctored”. Within the horror miracles of a four month old baby found by the father and a man miles from shore rescued . . .
So I find it disgusting when the tragedy, huge in its sorrow and destruction, is reported with amplification and dishonesty and tabloid sensationalism. Isn’t what happened enough? Isn’t the magnitude of the quake, the size of the tsunami, the shock of survivors, the incalculable injuries, the mounds of death enough? When is it okay to create a charade, to add to the chaos with supposition and pontification? Can truth ever be less valuable than a pseudo reality?
Journalism is a dying art. It’s been hijacked by liars and deceivers who want their stories to be the biggest, who want to outdo everyone else who’s reporting. They want the clamor and attention focused on their reporting, their accounts, their alerts, them.
Life and death. The measure of days we’re given to live. They end. Who knows how or when? Some are mourned. Some go unnoticed. Some are never found. Sadness follows the ending of a life. Joy eventually reigns in the Christian’s spirit.
Some truth in the aftermath of such pain:
Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:
“Today if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”
Hebrews 4:7 (NIV)
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Hebrews 4:13 (NIV)
. . . mourn with those who mourn.
Romans 12:13b (NIV)
. . .
a time to be born and a time to die,
. . .
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance . . .
Ecclesiastes 3:2, 4 (NIV)
God, we plead for your mercy for the people who’ve lost it all in Japan and across your globe. We acknowledge our smallness. We’re desperate for you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
If you’re a fan of the Love Inspired line of novels and you like romantic suspense, Robin Caroll’s In the Shadow of Evil will fill your bill. Published by B& H’s Pure Enjoyment fiction line, In the Shadow of Evil is featured this week in the CFBA Tour.
Two people embittered by painful events in their childhoods come face to face in a murder case. Layla Taylor’s Homes of Hope house has burned to the ground with a building inspector inside it. Detective Maddox Bishop and his older partner Houston Wallace add the female contractor (Layla) to their suspect list. Layla’s devastation at seeing the rubble of her award winning home is doubled by the fact that a murdered business associate lies within its remains. From the start of the investigation Layla and Maddox butt heads and glares, but as more tragedies erupt in the town directly related to Layla and her younger sister Alana, feelings and attractions between the contractor and the cop evolve into concern and closer contact.
We learn early on that the teenaged Maddox’s mother dies in his arms from a stab wound when he arrives home late after his curfew—and that his father who’s in the service and away on tour blames him for her death while Maddox blames his father for being away. Her murder has never been solved. Maddox also blames God. Layla, who is a believer, witnessed the aftermath of her mother’s overdose and hasn’t been to see the debilitated woman, since her OD caused her to remain in a nursing home, in spite of Alana’s urging Layla to forgive and visit their mom.
In the Shadow of Evil follows the events of a corrupted and mentally disturbed associate in the building industry who’s trying to win a bid on the construction of a casino. When things and people get in his way to the contract he’s counting on for misguided reasons, he believes his only choice is to start eliminating those obstacles.
With forgiveness as its major theme, In the Shadow of Evil follows the intersecting of lives when tragedies strike and compassion emerges, and crimes are unexpectedly solved. The naïve and strong-willed Layla runs smack dab into her equal as far as stubbornness in Maddox but also finds his strength a relief when she’s at the end of her own.
Cleanly written, predictable romantic suspense. If you enjoy the simplicity and innocence of stories that typify those in the Love Inspired line of fiction, In the Shadow of Evil from Robin Caroll and B&H Pure Enjoyment will provide you with a few hours of entertainment.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805449795
Father, please continue to provide those stories you have just for Robin to tell. Give her hope and strength and diligence in the process. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes,
fear the Lord and shun evil.
This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.
Proverbs 3:5-8 (NIV)
