Into the Fire

     "This calls for a mind with wisdom. the seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction. 

     "The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings — and with Him will be His called, chosen and faithful followers." 

     Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish His purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."  

Revelation 17:9-18 (NIV) 

This is from Chapter 13 of my WIP (Work-in-Progress):

     I accompanied her in silence until we reached the area between her cottage and my home, waiting until she unlocked the door and turned with a smile and a brief wave. Walking back to the car, I got in and sat there before backing up to put it in the garage.

     I have a tendency to run from serious contemplations. Mostly because they take me back to where I don’t want to visit. Memories aren’t always kind. In hindsight I had very few of the good variety. They seemed instead to be reminders of what a jerk and a lush I could be, an inconsiderate guy who took advantage of – and everything I could get from – the opposite sex with pleasure. It now made me shudder and I whipped my car in reverse to back it into its spot. Since when had I grown a real conscience?! 

Father, apart from you, I can't write word one. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

There are times in our lives which we almost rush past, participating but not realizing how quickly these times will pass and move on to the next times in our lives with barely a moment to truly reflect on what took place. That's when memories are called upon by a simple remembrance, a flash from the past, that brings us to a sudden stop to recall how meaningful those quickly passing times truly were – and how we missed so much in the moment of our past when we kept looking ahead instead of right in front of us. 

Re-connecting with people who meant so much to you, but somehow then there wasn't the connection you hoped there could have been. 

Memories are funny things. They can sometimes elevate people, places, and things to pedestals they never could've occupied, or you relegate them to failures when they were really just a part of living. 

Not all memories are accurate nor are they all good or bad, but they serve a purpose in the tomorrows of our lives, and it's best not to let them slip away again. 

Father, I have some good and some bad, you know them all. Huge regrets and major joys. The best thing is you rescued me from myself. And that memory is precious. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

The highest praise for me directed at my novels is this: "They seem so real. It's like I know the people in the story – or that I want to meet them." 

"I appreciate the honest reality of the temptations many Christian’s experience and struggle with."

"Right off the bat I was drawn to the book’s two main characters, Stone and Jenna, who are as rich and as complicated as people are in real life—something I like in a novel."

"As a Christian, I find her writing inspiring as she unfolds the realities of life as they tie into a relationship with Jesus."

"Petrino-Salter also captures the pain, anger, shame, and defensive attitude that so often manifests in the lives of women who have been sexually abused."

"This story has such a great message. In addition to that, I loved all the characters. They seem like real people."

"I could relate to the characters…. especially the young lady who was so broken."

"Petrino-Salter creates a three-dimensional man that each reader can understand and relate to. I felt his frustration and depression and yearned for him to find the true love of his life."

Thank you to the readers of my novels who "get" me, who understand the contrasts I make, the befores and afters, the pain, the temptations, the ugly, and the beauty, the passion, the love of and in life. Thank you to each one who felt something reading the story. Thank you to each one who championed the "real" factor in the different stories. 

Thank you is not enough. I'm so grateful to all of you. 

Father, thank you is never enough for all that you've given me, done for me. Never enough, but it's all I have. I love you, Lord. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

I can't tell you how much I love his music. Maybe it's the passion I hear. The first time I heard the beginning of this song, I cried. Those who know me are well aware that I can cry at almost anything, but it's not just that I'm a sap, because I am, but it's the passion and intensity of the feelings that stir me so deeply. I'm not sorry God made me this way. It's who I am. Hope you enjoy this one as much as I did. 

Thank you, Lord God Almighty, for it all Always desperate for you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

It's a strange expression, but everyone seems to know what it means. It took me a long while to get here, but I'm definitely comfortable in my own skin. Not proud of it but comfortable in it.

I think it takes time to learn who you are, what your purpose is, and how to attempt to be the best individual and "corporate" entity you can be. 

With me, Jesus made the difference in the desire to understand who He'd created me to be. It was slow going, but I made it. There are innumerable complexities in each of us. Maybe our desired outcomes for our lives are relatively simple, but getting to them and gaining the momentum to clarify and then put ourselves under the direction of the Savior isn't always as easy as we might hope it to be. Struggles usually empty out our own designs, but until we understand how we're confounding ourselves in the pursuit of being "better", it inevitably takes a hard and bumpy road to get there.

Having been one to rarely learn any way but the hard way, maybe it took longer than it should have to get comfortable in my own skin. So be it. I got there in spite of myself and definitely with the Holy Spirit's assistance. And now? What you see is pretty much what you get. I don't play games, and I want what's best for you. I do my best to be the best friend I can, but I am selective. I love deep. I cry hard and often. I'm emotional. And I'm grateful that's who God made me to be. 

How about you? Are you comfortable in your own skin – or is there chafing going on under that skin at the moment? 

Father, I'm thankful for your work in me – I know it hasn't been easy. Thank you always for rescuing me from myself. Amazing God. Please continue to refine me. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

     One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of their adulteries." 

     Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead:

                                     MYSTERY

                            BABYLON THE GREAT

                       THE MOTHER OF PROTITUTES

                AND THE ABOMINATION OF THE EARTH. 

I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. 

     When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. Then the angel said to me: "Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come. 

Revelation 17:1-8 (NIV) 

I don't know how unique or unusual it actually will be, but this latest novel I'm working on is a bit of a different kind of love story. It's told mostly from the male protagonist's first-person point of view. Of course, as a female author, I'm taking a risk by working to get his voice, his perspective, and his actions correct and believable. I did this approach with one of my older novels Breath of Life, but that protagonist had a totally different personality from this one. This hero is a bestselling author who's moved away from the publishing hub and all that went with it in his life to an obscure location in northern Idaho on 30 acres of forest with a two-story cabin he remodeled along with building a guest cottage with a garage and a 3-bay garage/shop for his vehicles. 

With those of us who are what is known as "seat-of-the-pants" writers, we never know what's going to happen as we begin our stories, but there's a lot about the style of this novel I really didn't see coming. I'll have to go with it for now, but the words of a special friend who was the beta reader for many of my novels are echoing in my head. She told me she didn't prefer a lot of dialogue in stories. 

Anyway, that's a mini-preview of "the next one" in the lineup . . . 

Father, you are the giver of good and perfect gifts. I thank you for every inspiration, character, story, words. Apart from you, I can do nothing. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

When you're anticipating having that 2-yr.-old kind of mindset on Thursday . . . 

Father, you've protected me my entire life. I could always be my own worst enemy. And yet, there you've always been. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

As much as we wish they weren't for various reasons which shall follow, novelists rely on reviews to help promote and sell their novels. It's a fact of life. 

As you know, romance is the genre for millions of readers and because of that, there are multi-millions of books they can choose to read. That means stiff competition for the authors of love story/romance novels. And although many authors don't care to admit they are entering a competition when they engage their efforts in writing novels, if they desire to sell any of their wares, they must admit it is a competition, like it or not. 

So. Reviews matter. And the last thing any author needs is a 1-star review on Amazon or anywhere else. I recently opted to buy some reviews by experienced reviewers and lovers of romance for Goodreads exclusively. Some authors and readers spend considerable time there. Others don't. I don't, which is why I chose to have a handful of reviews posted there for Then . . . you. Big mistake. Out of the several people who selected to review the novel, most of them were from foreign countries and I suspected the nuances of American romance novels might not translate well no matter how fluid they perceived themselves to be in the English language. That is not meant to be an insult in any manner, and, in fact, it turned out to be quite true. I declined to offer it to a couple others because it was quite clear their overall "personality" most likely wasn't cohesive with Christian Fiction.

Two of the reviewers got the protagonist's name wrong, one labeled the novel for Young Adults, proceeded to do a critique with a list of complete misinterpretations and misunderstandings and hard to decipher points made (yes! a list), and it was an agonizing disaster of a review that made no sense at all. And managed to make me quite angry. Out of that expense I received one rewarding review. 

Live and learn. This was the last thing I expected. 

Just a few thoughts this Wednesday in the life of a novelist. 

Father, you know it all. Everything. You collect our tears. You know the number of hairs on our head. Who can ever understand your incredible magnificence? Thank you for the all-consuming grace and abundance you've shown me throughout my life. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.