Into the Fire

Passionate thoughts about the world of writing and the Power of God

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Passionate: right or wrong. Writes love stories with a passion. Raw Romantic Redemptive

  • Traveling on a . . . Lost Mission

    Most serious readers of Christian Fiction recognize the name of Athol Dickson, associating him with an uncanny four nominations for a Christy Award and winner of the award twice for River Rising and The Cure. Other novels include They Shall See God and Winter Haven plus a memoir titled The Gospel According to Moses. His current novel Lost Mission, published by Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, became available to me through a promotion on agent Rachelle Gardner’s blog post with the author.

    Lost Mission presents a calculated risk by literary writer Athol Dickson. Told in a roaming omniscient point of view mixed with traditional third person POV, reading this story is like listening to a translation of an epic tale on the knee of an old relative whose native language is not English. With heavy emphasis on both old and newer practices within the Spanish Catholic church, the story weaves back and forth with little separation between the 18th century Alta California and present-day southern California and brief inclusions of small-town Mexico. Even with Athol Dickson’s picturesque writing, the consistent tone of the story sometimes makes it difficult to stay focused. This could very well be because of my general dislike for historical novels, not because of the story or the writing itself. It’s a long novel for Athol Dickson and the author insinuates its first draft consisted of even more rambling.

    A naïve but devout young woman decides through a series of what she determines to be prophetic events to venture over the Mexican border into America to save the heathens who live here. As most illegal immigrants do, she risks her life to gain access to this country not for the wealth and opportunity it offers but on a mission of salvation for the innumerable lost souls. Her only real possession of value is an ancient unfinished but miraculous three-sectioned painting kept in its sacred location by the priest of the church in her town and passed along to her because of the prophetic mission she knows she must make. Meeting another fellow sojourner along the way, she agrees to follow the group of Mexicans attempting a border crossing at a distance. In the heat of the desert she becomes separated from them and clutching her icon she continues until her water is gone and she can no longer travel. She experiences a brief vision of a man with shining black hair, but it is a young American who rescues her and nurses her back to health. He is as naïve and devout in his Protestant faith as she is in hers and together they begin Sanctuario which ministers to a community of mostly illegal immigrants.

    As time passes and they share the teaching of each other’s language and ministry, the young woman “Lupe” fights her feelings for the young minister “Tucker” and leaves to continue her mission to the lost Americans. Several miles away in an affluent beachside town she attempts to reach the people she passes, but they ignore her.

    Interspersed and intersecting with past and present lives from an original Spanish Mission, we meet its founders and their connection to the characters in the modern day location. Lupe’s life encounters many strange occurrences as she examines her mission and fears its abject failure. The years move along, she preaches every Sunday morning at the beach to no interested listeners, and her rich employer and his daughter treat her as a member of their family until tragedy, prejudice, fear, and vengeance interfere with several of the characters’ views and actions. The man with the shining hair and the three-sided painted icon weave their presence into climactic moments throughout the story. The simultaneous stories collide with the reason for the decimation of the original Mission. The conclusion to the story points to both physical and spiritual failures and successes.

    There is plenty of symbolism within the book, but I’ll leave the implications to its readers.

    The writing never falters from its original tone even with the merging of POVs. When the story is over, I can imagine the storyteller heaving a sigh as I gaze up at his face wondering what he gained from the lost missions within these lives. I applaud Athol for taking a risk with the structure and style of this novel. Even though it’s not my kind of story, it will be and already has been marked as exceptional and meaningful to some—which proves my point that readers appreciate different kinds of books, do not fall in lock step with “rule” writing, and can certainly enjoy variety by innumerable types of authors. Well done, Athol.

    Father, you know the plans you have for Athol. Good plans. He continues to present you in his stories and honors you with his writing. May your hands of blessing be upon his continued life of writing. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

  • Look out when . . . Eternity Falls

    First of all it’s important for my review readers to know I don’t generally like speculative fiction. What I gleaned from a specific correspondence with Rebecca Luella Miller is that the term “speculative” can refer to fantasy, sci-fi, and basically any fiction that “speculates” about “how things could be” built into story form. That’s a bare-bones definition because the point is I would classify the CFBA Tour’s featured Eternity Falls as sci-fi speculative fiction. Is that redundant?

    Kirk Outerbridge is the author of this Marcher Lord Press speculative novel, and it is precisely because of Jeff Gerke’s Marcher Lord Press offering for the CFBA Tour that I ignored my normal distaste for the genre and signed up to read Eternity Falls. You might remember Jeff Gerke’s interview here some time back. What he’s doing in the publishing industry deserves recognition and I commend him for his efforts. Now he’s announced a new contest to check out if the speculative market is of interest to you.

    Honestly, I wanted to check out the quality of Jeff’s selection in publishing Kirk Outerbridge’s novel to see if Eternity Falls would be a good sell for Jeff’s independent publishing status. Kirk Outerbridge did not disappoint with his writing skills. The cover is well done—not my favorite but there’s nothing wrong with the quality of design. When an independent publisher produces a book, most eyes take on a critical stare either desiring to pick the book apart or to determine if it’s a worthwhile project and professionally presented. From the production standpoint, the novel is equal to royalty publishing standards even though there were some copy-editing errors which weren’t caught in this Advanced Reader Copy, but this is in no way any different from many of the big publisher’s final books. No one likes to see errors in the copy, but it happens. And there have been plenty in recent novels produced by all of the big name CBA publishers. So the few noted in Eternity Falls don’t separate its overall quality from any other publisher. This is an equal endeavor on all counts.

    One of the reasons I don’t necessarily enjoy speculative fiction in the areas of sci-fi, and definitely not fantasy, is probably because it seems somewhat cartoon-ish to me. I’ve never been a fan of cartoons. Maybe it’s because I have an inferior imagination when it comes to futuristic gadgetry, technology, and the abilities to “excel” beyond humanity. Maybe it’s because I can’t get past “what you see is what you get” in my current reality unless you bring me into speculative fiction of the spiritual realm: then I’m totally involved and a true believer. Don’t get me wrong here, in Kirk’s novel he makes most of what he presents plausible for the future, but it just feels like in sci-fi, a story has to keep adding on to the established technology, asking the reader to yet again bend or stretch his imagination to “visualize” and/or accept the possibility. This contemporary reader isn’t up to that challenge.

    When the story begins, we’re introduced to widower Rick Macey, retired Colonel from the CDI (Civil Defense and Intelligence), who is working on private investigation projects, although often allowed to use his CDI credentials by his friend who remains in the department. Macey accepts a job from a feminist PR/Marketing guru for the Miracle Treatment product which insures its users will live young for as long as they keep taking the product. One of their most famous users, an aged actress who’d managed to look as young as a 20-something, has just died of natural causes with a signed Bible on her chest. The marketing woman, Sheila Dunn, is convinced that someone must have created an antidote to their eternal life product and administered it to the actress in order to destroy the company that produces Miracle Treatment—and Sheila’s career.

    When Macey sees the inscription in the Bible, he knows he must involve himself in the case but doesn’t reveal any of his private reasons for doing so. Once he signs on to the case, the dangerous pursuit for a possible counter formula to the Miracle Treatment and the one whose name appeared in the Bible amps up big time with more high-tech, cyborg snap-crackle-and-pop action than you can imagine—or at least more than my finite mind can imagine. But that’s okay because for the most part it’s quite entertaining.

    Outerbridge does a good job of demanding a reader stay tuned to the subplots, but I think as he creates more novels, he’ll do what many of us must do as we advance our writing skills: he’ll get less preachy. In a few parts there were too many unnecessary explanations of the Christian elements in the story. It’s a common error by those of us who evangelize in our stories. It isn’t the scenes themselves—it’s the overdone presentations of biblical data and interpretation. When we do this, we slow the story down, and this is a rip-roaring adventure which only occasionally required a break in the action.

    Eternity Falls presents an interesting and action-fed premise of futuristic cyborg abilities combined with emaciated cities, cruel existences, and the age-old human conflicts. Think Robo-Cop merges with the Six Million Dollar Man (although with inflation maybe it’d be the Six Billion Dollar Man). The writing is crisp, bold, sometimes harsh but realistic, and the book bodes well for Kirk Outerbridge and Marcher Lord Press. Congratulations, Guys! Well done.

    Father, you give us imagination. And even with the magnificent extensions of that imagination such as that of Kirk Outerbride, we still cannot fathom how great you are. Thank you for Kirk’s devotion to you and his wonderful effort to put your Truth into a futuristic story. Please bless both Kirk and Jeff for their efforts to glorify you with their talents. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

  • The Good, Bad, or Indifferent

    Those of us who read a lot of books rather quickly decide the fated label of the novels we tackle. Once we begin to express our likes and dislikes on our blogs, our preferences become common knowledge to those who visit us on a regular basis. Sure, every now and then we throw in a complete surprise but with me probably not very often.

    I’m up front about what genres I enjoy, the authors I select repeatedly, and those I might read again but with no guarantees. Since I write what I prefer to call non-traditional romance, it’s a bit disappointing that there have been few recent romance novels which even slightly tempted me to read them. There can sometimes be a fine line separating a romance novel from what is now a genre unto itself called “Women’s Fiction”, but other times the line is marked and specific. Women’s fiction is supposed to cover “issues” that pertain to women which may or may not include romance. This genre is not supposed to fall into category romance definitions but can include romantic content.

    One of my favorite authors when it comes to romance is Kristen Heitzmann. The reason for this is she captures the UST (Unresolved Sexual Tension) perfectly. The dialogue and situational conflict ring true. Her characters can be attractive, quirky, desirable, naïve, intimidating, and/or well versed in flirtatious behaviors. The stories are never just about romance. In fact, the romance is a by-product of the circumstance, and it works so well even when the reader knows what’s going to happen. The “hows” and “whys” come in multiples and variances. The relationships within the stories resonate with depth and meaningful characters. They aren’t “fluff” and they don’t always come easy. In other words they feel real. Within that reality she weaves the gospel message concurrent with story parameters, and it’s never forced.

    When I read what I consider a bad book, the usual common denominators are unlikable characters and poor, unrealistic dialogue. Unlikable characters will turn me off to a story faster than anything else. It’s impossible to criticize category romance for being predictable or formulaic because those qualifications define it. However, if the heroine or protagonist maintains an unlikable persona, forget it. The novel fails at the most basic level of appeal.

    One of the most unfortunate results when reading a novel is to complete it and immediately give it an “indifferent” classification. Not saying it’s bad but neither saying it’s good makes it next to invisible emotionally. Nothing to make us particularly care one way or the other. Nothing to make us remember the book so we can recommend it with any enthusiasm. Nothing.

    Avid readers share the “good” books. And, yes, no one knows how completely opposite opinions on the same novels make it impossible to universally agree. Subjectivity rules. Every now and then a book will speak to wide audiences but positive agreement for most books varies widely.

    One thing all readers agree on is that they have read novels which fall into these three descriptions: the good, the bad, and the indifferent.

    Lord God Almighty, help us to write well, to write meaningful stories to honor you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

  • The dull roar of controversy . . .

    Controversy can be an interesting beast. Roaring or subtle. Raging or slippery. Shouted or whispered. How Christians handle it can either be a lesson in diplomacy or a spectacle of jeering.

    Apparently Ted Dekker created some noise about romance novels and writers, and the Steeple Hill Love Inspired imprint which bans certain words from appearing in its stories. At the bottom of this post in the Technorati Tags, you can click on and visit agent Chip MacGregor’s comments on Ted’s exposé, and/or you can visit Mike Duran’s take on Ted’s post over at Decompose.

    When a writer—known or unknown—decides to wage ideologies, thoughts, or opinions on the offerings of other writers, said writer will invariably inject himself into some kind of controversy. If because I don’t care for the fantasy genre, I decide to minimize or mock those who write in that genre, what does that say about me?

    I haven’t yet read Ted’s post, might not read it, but I did comment on the banned word list on Mike’s blog because the rather comprehensive list does imply that within a story these words would somehow portray either unclean or unsafe reading. Honestly, I can’t comprehend that. And, although I know there are incredibly capable authors able to work within the framework of the Love Inspired guidelines in order to tell meaningful stories, the absence of those for-the-most-part totally inoffensive words seems excessive and unnecessary.

    Don’t get me wrong: I think any publisher can dictate whatever restrictions they desire. It’s their business, and they should have the right to structure their guidelines any which-way.

    I think my point here is twofold. Today I’ll just address this one. Criticism by Christians of a particular facet of Christian publishing must be couched in straightforward words with a healthy dose of kindness. Picking apart writers, their styles, choice of genres, or anything else in the industry really should be done carefully. Not because there aren’t areas in need of improvement. Not because there aren’t books in need of a bad review. Not because there aren’t valid reasons to point out weaknesses, but because criticism can be toxic when it’s leveled in the wrong spirit. It can point a finger right back to the individual leveling the criticism and eventually come back to roost in their nest. It’s the reap what you sow principle, and it works.

    You know I’ve written a few bad reviews. You know I’ve got a few negative opinions regarding certain aspects of the publishing industry. You know I’m not afraid to speak my mind. But God forbid I should ever be ugly or demeaning in my words, degrade any individual or company for exercising their professional “rights” or preferences.

    If you choose to read Ted’s post, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts . . .

    Father, I’m responsible to you for my words. I fail often. I know you will watch over me and hold me accountable. Help me to honor you with my words. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

    ***Addendum: After taking a look at Chip’s and Mike’s and Ted’s posts, please click on Ted Dekker’s apology on his Facebook entry. Apparently, he failed to make his position perfectly clear and seeks to rectify his faux pas.***

  • Sunday’s Offerings

    For the lips of an adulteress drip honey,
    and her speech is smoother than oil;
    but in the end she is bitter as gall,
    sharp as a double-edged sword.
    Her feet go down to death;
    her steps lead straight to the grave.
    She gives no thought to the way of life;
    her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.

    Proverbs 5:3-6 (NIV)

  • Saturday Sample

    “Yes, sir. I’m here right now next door. Yeah, that’d be great. Thank you.”
    “He’s coming over, isn’t he?” Nelson grinned at Hutch.
    “Yeah, you think he’ll mind me being a horseshoer and all?”
    “Nah. He was fine with renting to me, and he understood when I took the house instead. He hasn’t been burned yet by a racetracker, so he doesn’t know the difference.”

    “Dick! What’re you doin’ here?” Cee got up from behind her desk and closed her office door so she could embrace her husband.
    “I owe you an explanation, and I didn’t want to waste any time giving it to you—as well as my apology for keeping something from you. I feel pretty stupid about it right now, but I’m also very appreciative of how you’ve been so patient with me. You’ve handled the situation much better than I have.”
    Putting her hands on his shoulders and smiling a little mischievously, she asked, “Your dream?”
    “How come you’re so smart anyway?” He kissed her.
    “I don’t know how smart I am, but I do know when something’s really got you bugged.” She kissed him back.
    “You know what?”
    “What?” She smiled.
    “I’m so glad I don’t have to wait any longer to crawl into bed with you. To have you next to me. I thought that day would never come.”
    “I know.” After a moment, she said, “Why don’t you tell me over dinner? I’m done here.”
    “Sounds great. I’ll be in the car.”

    “Nelson, I can’t thank you enough for this. What a relief. Mr. Raleigh seems like a real nice guy, too.”
    “Glad to help. You hungry?”
    “I was just going to offer to buy you dinner. I think I’ve got a clean shirt in the truck.”
    “You’re on.”

  • Friday Five

    Here are five of my favorite female authors in no particular order and certainly not inclusive of all of my favorites. Of the authors on this list, I’ve read at least two of their novels.

    Francine Rivers, Kristen Heitzmann, Brandilyn Collins, Susan Meissner, Sibella Giorello

    When I visited Ireland many years ago, my friend and I were told it was safe to hitchhike there. So we did. We traveled from Dublin to Galway hitchhiking which is a substantial distance. Two nice young men took us quite a ways and we got slowed down in our travels with them by a herd of sheep crossing the road all around us. The Irish countryside is as beautiful and lush as all the pictures portray it to be.

    Of all the places we visited I must admit I liked Dublin the least. The people there at that time were incredibly rude.

    Once we made it to Galway, we hitched a ride with a tire salesman in his big white van. As we considered our journey with him and listened to his stories, we figured he’d taken us in a big circle.

    The boat trip from Scotland to Ireland was the roughest voyage I’ve ever been on with plenty of people in the restrooms getting sick, trays crashing as the boat rocked and rolled, and I wonder now why I don’t remember being scared.

    Lord, you have been so good to me. I love you. And I’m desperate for you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

  • Maintaining a dialogue . . .

    Right from the start, let me say this: I’m not pretending to be a teacher here. Too much of a rebel rouser in the writing world to profess a teachable attitude or a willing spirit to bend to the status quo, I like what I like, love what I love, and feel just as strongly about negatives and those who continue to implore writers with certainties and inflexibilities. Having clarified my position on those few things, this post addresses dialogue.

    First of all, I’ve been told by some readers that my strengths lie in characterization and dialogue. What that insinuates is that I lack sufficiently in plot development! Regardless of those opinions, I do think I can put some meaningful dialogue on the page. Keep in mind I write contemporary stories, so I’m not claiming any abilities in maintaining the dialogue in historical fiction.

    What I think is the first prerequisite for writing good or authentic dialogue is to truly know your characters. If you can’t picture them, “hear” their voices, or see them “speaking”, chances are you can’t get them to effectively express themselves. What we often refer to as “cardboard” characters acknowledges that they’re “stiff”, unnatural, one or two dimensional, and seem cut out of another book, article, or perhaps a drawing, much like an old-fashioned paper doll. Picture the movement of a cardboard character. You don’t expect to “hear” a cardboard character talking.

    Understanding your characters requires a significant mental/emotional investment. When a writer tackles a character who is the opposite of all things he holds as important, vital, courageous, or other such traits, it isn’t easy to get into the character’s head and ultimately to speak for him. But that is precisely what must happen in order to come across without stereotypical vacant dialogue. As a writer, you have to know who this character really is, how he thinks, and consequently how he talks. The same goes with the sweeter-than-light character. To make her acceptable we as readers have to buy into her sincerity or the overall reason for her demeanor. Otherwise she’s just as stereotypical in another way as the villainous character.

    The next prerequisite for good dialogue requires being a good listener. Hearing the intonations of people’s voices, their expressions, their formalities, their slang, their vulgarities (not that you’ll choose to use them directly, but they’re still important in figuring out your character’s voice), their intelligence or lack thereof, their mannerisms, their accents if any—all of these help decide, describe, and give detail to individual character’s words and are the tools used to create good authentic dialogue. Real people speak real-ly. As a result, you have to make fictional characters speak real-ly, too, for who you’ve designed them to be.

    Finally for this post, if you need a final judgment on how the dialogue “sounds”, read it out loud. To yourself. Then to someone else if you’re still not sure about it. That dialogue must fit the person you’ve created. If you’ve got the King’s English coming out of the mouth of a 17 year old street person, something has gone terribly wrong.

    Our words, even in conversations, speak volumes. They define us more than we’d sometimes like to believe. Characters’ words must back up who you’ve made them to be. If they don’t, something’s got to change.

    In the worst novels I’ve read, the dialogue stands out as being dreadful. No contractions used in casual conversation. Exaggerated and unlikely emotional descriptions. Drama unfitting to the situations. Hard to imagine them getting past an editor with the way they’re written, but, alas, there they are. And for those novels, there were readers who methodically read the books and probably didn’t even notice how stilted the language appeared. They read them for the stories. It’s interesting, too, that the worst novels I’ve read also contained characters I came close to detesting and who in no way were supposed to be offensive. The accompanying dialogue only accentuated how little I enjoyed them—or perhaps contributed to why I didn’t like them.

    So . . . what do ya think?

    Lord, your words are perfect. Love having dialogue with you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

  • For Veterans Day

    I’ve never met a more patriotic man than my father. The American-born son of Italian immigrants, he purposefully forgot most of his parents’ language to embrace his country’s native language. His father was a cobbler in Butte, Montana. If you know any history of Butte, it was a rough place to live and most of your options for work ended up in the mines, which is where my dad worked for awhile as a young man.

    I wasn’t born yet when WWII broke out, but my dad, now married with a young son and living in Washington state, beat feet down to enlist. His remorse at being rejected because of those feet bothered him a lot because he was willing to fight and even die for the freedom offered by this country. He got a job at Boeing to help with the war effort and once the war was over he moved into the retail business where this self-made man with barely a junior high education worked his way up to become an executive vice president of a retail chain before retiring. Even late in his life when Alzheimer’s had robbed him of most of his cognizance, he still demonstrated a love for this country and a respect for the military and everything it stood for.

    I can rarely speak of the military without coming to tears. I know not every man or woman who’s worn the uniform is deserving of accolades (i.e. Fort Hood), but the majority of them certainly deserve our respect. They place themselves in the service of this country—to defend it, to protect it, to fight here and abroad to accomplish the freedom we so often take for granted and abuse. The respect should be automatic. We should be grateful to them and for them.

    Pacifism disgusts me. It’s a cowardly excuse for giving in to whatever the current political fad dictates. This earth will be destroyed one day and it won’t be by mankind. God will render its end, and no man can stop it. The arrogance of thinking the efforts of sin-laced hearts will find a compromise to make peace is laughable. Why not by now? If man is so brilliant, why is it that greed and fanaticism and the lust for power which have existed since the fall of man still reign supreme? There has been no improvement, no technology, no ability to simulate a compliant race of human beings. We are flawed and damaged by our sinful hearts, and no noble professions of philosophies will solve the world’s ills.

    Veterans, thank you from my heart. You have my respect and my prayers. God bless you. God Bless America.

    Father, for each individual who serves you and this country with a willing heart, who understands sacrifice, who believes in your principles, may your rich blessings cover over them. May they know you through your Son and embrace your Spirit. Thank you for them. Thank you for this country. Thank you for the privilege of living here. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

  • In the guise . . .

    Few things seem more like sabotage in reading than fiction which “pretends” to be Christian fiction when it’s clearly not. I know this topic could easily digress into the familiar “What is ‘real’ Christian fiction anyway?” That’s not where I’m going here.

    Although the differences in doctrines appear uncontested in novels from CBA publishers, this isn’t about the nuances in doctrinal differences in stories. My irritation lies in those books which infuse themselves into the Christian fiction market with no intention of meeting any basic standard of the faith.

    I find it mysterious why a writer who depicts characters and situations in direct conflict with Christianity would want to portray said characters as Christians in the first place. Why not just allow those worldly characters to be true to how they act? Why bring faith and Christianity into the story at all? It’s one thing if a writer chooses to portray them as hypocrites or backslidden individuals who’ve had a lapse in their identity and are either angry at God and have turned away from him or who have attempted to participate in the world while professing the faith. We’ve all known these people or experienced those very lapses within ourselves. In those cases we understand where the characters reside in their faith or lack thereof. But to read about characters who have no moral fiber, no attention or desire to adhere to the direction the Lord has for them, and allow those characters to represent real Christians? No. And why?

    I’m a firm believer in writing the stories God has given each one of us to tell. If you examine some of today’s CBA authors, you will find several who insert Christianity in nearly invisible or peripheral ways. These are writers who profess and live out their Christianity in real life but who feel their mission to readers is to appeal to a broader base—in other words: not the proverbial “choir”. They don’t pack so-called Christian characters into their stories who in every aspect of their lives fail to accurately represent true Christians. Many times their protagonists are unbelievers and act as such. Occasionally, a close peripheral character or sometimes a lesser peripheral character will represent a person of faith. The insertions of these characters rolls with the storyline, fits in perfectly, and gives a nod to true faith without asserting a strong message.

    The hypocrisy of representing real Christianity in a faux “believer” is not only disconcerting but very odd. Any ideas why an author would choose to do this? I’m not suggesting any of the mainline CBA publishers would publish such an effort, but I’m more curious as to why a writer would think a novel like this would appeal to either a Christian or secular audience.

    Father, you are Truth and the Truth cannot be improved upon. Period. Thank you, Jesus.