Into the Fire

     The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its wall. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length [about 1400 miles/2200 kilometers], and as wide and high as it is long. He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick [about 200 feet/65 meters/or high], by man's measurement, which the angel was using. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. 

     I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. 

Revelation 21:15-27 (NIV) 

We honor you because you signed up to serve the Constitution and to protect our country. You went wherever the powers-that-be sent you, their choices right or wrong. You served this One Nation under God until He says it isn't. You took an oath to do so and for that we're so grateful. Thank you is not enough. 

Father, please protect each one who served and is serving this country. You're the only One who can. Let them know your love is real and that you will never leave them nor forsake them if they choose you, Jesus. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

I bought that hat in a lady's hat shop in Denmark. I wore it all the time, loved it. You can see my Longacres Barn Pass on it so I could get in and out of the barn area where Longacres' veteran racetrackers will recognize I worked for Bill Cummings at Barn 4B. I'm driving a '65 Le Mans convertible, yellow with a black top, nicknamed "Loretta". I was buying it from my folks – it was my mom's car. 

Father, thank you for your patience. You waited until I emptied myself of me and then you rescued me. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

There's a point when it actually gets to us authors where we have to talk ourselves off the ledge of either being empty of words or having stacked too many things together to meet a personal goal – and it's not even close to working. The advice pictured above is simply a reminder that "something" is better than nothing although many of us would be hard-pressed to believe that something randomly thrown onto a page will be worth anything of value. We want to be "in the flow" where few things can distract us from a scene or dialogue – where everything's working and we're smiling as our fingers hit the keys as fast as we're able. 

But then we hit a wall. A lapse. The time tick-tocks away with no words, and this unsettled feeling encroaches on our peaceful assurance that it's just a break. We needed it after all. Right? Well, all the little justifications for that break don't work for long. And, although we're itching to get back to it, we seem to have this compelling drive to do anything else but write. 

Sometimes, it really is the fact that we need to take a break, freshen up, reread, and overall relax. That story isn't going anywhere without us and we'll get back to it shortly. Other times, we just need to use what little discipline we have and stare at the screen until we type a few words to get going again. 

Or we can write blog posts like this hoping it will inspire other authors to share their grievances in the creative process . . . Anyone? . . .

Father, you know exactly what's going on even when I don't. Help me to do what you have for me to do. Please. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.  

Once calling themselves Jefferson Airplane, they "graduated" to Jefferson Starship. Still produced great music for the era. I think most people remember the voice of Grace Slick when thinking of this group. 

Father, you know each one of us from the inside out, knit us together in our mothers' wombs. Only you can save us. May our hearts always be turned to you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Those of you who know me are familiar with my primary reading choices: thrillers, mystery, and suspense. Authors who write thrillers have much to write about these days. Those that I read have incredible "inside" sources because their novels turn out to be slightly, if not actually, prophetic. As those fans of Vince Flynn's and later Kyle Mills' stories will tell you, it seems their sources were infallible. 

Which brings me to my lesser favorite genres, but I read them from favorite authors. The two genres are Cozy Mysteries and Women's Fiction. If those are your favorite genres, then let me just tell you about four great authors tackling the production of several very good books in those categories. Cozy Mysteries: Karen Kaufman, Heather Day Gilbert (both of whom also write in multi-genres); Women's Fiction: Brenda S. Anderson and Normandie Fischer (Normandie tackles most of her work with a southern flair). Highly Recommend you visit these authors for your pure reading pleasure! And one more thing: If you enjoy their work, tell your friends and mention them in your social media circles. You have no idea how much that helps authors. 

Now about what I actually write: Love stories with a passion. And one mystery. Go figure. It's who I am. If you're a romance lover and a love story fan, my novels are love stories heavy on the romance. Footnote: I write Christian Fiction so there's a redemptive element in my Raw Romantic Redemptive collection. 

Read fervently. And buy lots of novels for Christmas gifts! 

Lord, thank you for writing. I love it. Please anoint my stories. Apart from you, I can do nothing. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

     One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 

Revelation 21:9-14 (NIV)

Fastrope by L.T. Ryan and Fiona Ryan is the 10th novel in the A Rachel Hatch Novel Series.

(I've been really upset with L.T. Ryan for what he did to Hatch. Very upset. And now that Savage has a series of his own, I refuse to read it. At least for now.) 

Anyway, Hatch is home with her family when she receives an unusual phone call from an old military friend who sounds like he's in trouble but decides not to elaborate and is gone. The call disturbs her, and she decides to head out to see if she can determine what's up with him. She uses her boss (Tracy) with the private security/ops company she's worked for to help her locate his address. When she arrives, it's a gut-punch to see the full-dress uniformed marines standing outside his home. 

What she learns by chance about a recent event where a drug dealer and his son were murdered by a group that's been hitting dealers and robbing them, she's pulled into the investigation and talks to a scared witness (Sophie) and a temporarily suspended female detective (Santiago) with whom she gains mutual respect for surmising there's someone "dirty" coordinating this. 

Hatch hates to assume the worst of her friend, but when she spends meaningful time with his grieving widow, they put their heads together and start to figure out some of the weirdness going on. Hatch is no stranger to chaos, and in no time flat after figuring out what's going on, she and Santiago face serious trouble.  

With the call signs of the culprits engaged, it's tricky to figure out who's who, but it all becomes clear at some point. With Tracy's insistence and assistance, things go as planned. 

As usual, this Hatch story is as complex as others in the series and just as dangerous. She assesses herself as better when she's in the fight for what's right, and this time is no exception. 

I highly recommend the Rachel Hatch Series. She's my favorite female protagonist next to Sibella Giorello's Raleigh Harmon. Hatch is scarred physically and emotionally, and still she's tough as nails. Fastrope is a good entry to the series. 

Father, you know hearts. Only you save souls. Please continue to shine your face upon L.T. and give him what he needs to write the stories he wants to tell. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.