Deep POV: Confessions of a Christian Writer

What's your perfect major?

2006-01-13T19:04:00.000-08:00

As I am finally recovered from a nasty case of the flu, I find I have the energy to once more play. Here's one of those silly quizes, which I'm sure you'll want to take as well! The outcome was no surprise to me.

English

92%

Linguistics

83%

Journalism

83%

Philosophy

75%

Sociology

58%

Theater

58%

Art

50%

Psychology

50%

Dance

33%

Anthropology

33%

Engineering

33%

Mathematics

17%

Chemistry

Biology

What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3)
created with QuizFarm.com

Is your title a winner?

2006-01-13T14:19:00.000-08:00

There's a cool test on Lulu.com here. It'll analyze your novel's title and tell you what the chances are that the title will be a winning one. So far, of the three novel titles I've analyzed, my latest novel, still being written, has scored highest with a 63.2% chance of being a best-selling title! Which is just fine by me. :-)

Try yours!

Rejected by the Publishers

2006-01-03T19:24:00.000-08:00

Rejected by the Publishers - New York Times:

"Submitted to 20 publishers and agents, the typed manuscripts of the opening chapters of two books were assumed to be the work of aspiring novelists. Of 21 replies, all but one were rejections. Sent by The Sunday Times of London, the manuscripts were the opening chapters of novels that won Booker Prizes in the 1970's. One was 'Holiday,' by Stanley Middleton; the other was 'In a Free State,' by Sir V. S. Naipaul, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Literature. Mr. Middleton said he wasn't surprised. 'People don't seem to know what a good novel is nowadays,' he said. Mr. Naipaul said: 'To see something is well written and appetizingly written takes a lot of talent, and there is not a great deal of that around. With all the other forms of entertainment today, there are very few people around who would understand what a good paragraph is.'"

2005-12-17T19:24:00.000-08:00

Morgan, Gracie, and Noah-my three darlings!

Dumb, dumb, dumb

2005-12-14T17:44:00.000-08:00

Me, that is. I wondered where everyone had gone. Suddenly, I had no comments, none whatsoever. Had I committed some grave online faux pas that I couldn't remember? Maybe I went to someone else's blog without a hostess gift? Or stayed too long? Drank too much, uh, coffee?

Well, as it turns out, being very preoccupied these days with my three-month-old granddaughter (have I told you how utterly gorgeous she is?) and a new contract job (doing research), not to mention the normal Christmas stuff, I failed to check the moderation section of HaloScan where the comments are stored until approved by me. Which I'd set up. Of course.

So, my apologies if you commented and were greeted by stony silence! I enjoy the comments almost more than anything. I'll try to keep better track of them from now on. {Hangs head, walks away.}

Celebration in December

2005-12-14T17:35:00.000-08:00

Merriest of Merry Christmases!

Geseende Kersfees, buon Natale, feliz Navidad, felix dies Nativitatis!

In case anyone is wondering, there isn't a Celebration of New Christian Fiction this month. I think people have enough to do in December without adding something extra so I did not try to recruit anyone for the job.

I do, however, need folks for 2006. If you've been a part of the Celebration in the past, you'll be hearing from me soon. :-) If you haven't, and you'd like to get involved, please e-mail me or leave a comment. I'll be glad to add you to the mailing list.

I'd like to do more next year to showcase our writing more so if you have ideas, be sure to let me know!

Encouragement for Older Writers

2005-12-03T19:35:00.000-08:00

Lexington Herald-Leader | 12/03/2005 | Retired nurse spins family story into her first book:

"A true story about a little girl swept away by floodwaters haunted Jan Watson for some 50 years.

What if the girl had lived? What would she have looked like? Where would life have taken her?

Watson, a retired Lexington nurse, took those imponderables and turned them into a work of fiction that has gained praise, support and editing expertise from no less than Jerry B. Jenkins, co-author of the bestselling Left Behind series of end-of-the-world novels.

Watson's first novel, Troublesome Creek, is now on bookstore shelves. Last year the manuscript won the Christian Writers Guild 'Operation First Novel' Contest, a nationwide competition to find unpublished talent in Christian fiction. The win brought Watson a $50,000 prize and a publishing deal with Tyndale House.

Watson said she can barely believe that something she wrote is available in the marketplace.

'How cool is that: To be 61 and sell your first book?' she said."

So, if you don't feel, as the saying goes, like a spring chicken, take heart! You, too, might get a book published even at your "advanced" age!

Good Books and Recommended Reading

2005-11-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

Brothers Judd Good Books and Recommended Reading

Here is a list of lists of recommended books from many different sources. Don't ever say you can't find something interesting to read!

C. S. Lewis Superstar

2005-11-23T15:45:00.000-08:00

C. S. Lewis Superstar - Christianity Today Magazine:

"Clive Staples Lewis was anything but a classic evangelical, socially or theologically. He smoked cigarettes and a pipe, and he regularly visited pubs to drink beer with friends. Though he shared basic Christian beliefs with evangelicals, he didn't subscribe to biblical inerrancy or penal substitution. He believed in purgatory and baptismal regeneration. How did someone with such a checkered pedigree come to be a theological Elvis Presley, adored by evangelicals?"

I've always wondered about this. The article in Christianity Today attempts to provide an answer and they do a pretty good job. However, I suspect an additional answer is that many evangelicals have no clue what C.S. Lewis believed and some would be disturbed if they knew he did not share all of their beliefs. Biblical inerrancy, for example. That seems like a huge one.

But I think what the author of this article, Bob Smietana, says is true. The perception is that there are not that many "brainy" or intellectual Christians around who can so eloquently defend the faith in a way that makes sense to the common man or woman. Lewis might fall out of fashion with some, but he'll remain a staple for most of us thanks to his intelligence and his imagination.

Lileks Once Again ...

2005-11-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

LILEKS (James) the bleat:

"The worst part: Culling books. It’s hard work, and you feel a sense of shame when you find a good old book that once meant much; not only don’t you remember what it was about – I mean really about, not just jacket-copy blurb meaning – you’re consigning it to the storage room, a crypt from which it will never return. For decades I’ve had a book of Anthony Burgess’ book reviews on my shelf. I opened to the prologue, which has this entry about the reviewer’s inclination to go easy on his captives:

“Book-writing is hard on the brain and excruciating to the body; it engenders tobacco-addiction, an over-reliance on caffeine and Dexedrine, piles, dyspepsia, chronic anxiety, sexual impotence. Behind the new bad book one is asked to review lie untold misery and very little hope. One’s heart, stomach and anal tract go out to the doomed aspirant.”

-- Anthony Burgess, “Urgent Copy.”

Of course, I always assume the opposite, which is why I cannot read reviews. I apologize to reviewers, and beg their pity. I broke down a few weeks ago and noted a review in a rather prominent journal, written by a marvelous writer I have long admired, and while it was all quite flattering I took away one sentence that made me feel as if I have been on a great, steep, flaming, public decline for the last half decade. I do not think this was the author’s intention. But: it’s better for an author to be motivated by hunger than satiation; it’s the difference between, say, “Garp” and “Hotel New Hampshire.”"

I think I have to agree with Mr. Lileks about reading your reviews. Not that I've had that particular pleasure, but I do think I'll probably pass if and when the opportunity arises!

Good and Evil

2005-11-23T13:46:00.000-08:00

LILEKS (James) the bleat

Christian writers please note. Here's what James Lileks said after he received two new purchases from Amazon: A boxed set of The Wizard of Oz, and Batman Begins:

"The Wizard of Oz is fraught with darkness, but cheery in mood and resolution; Batman Begins is soaked in decline, brave and determined without joy or defining triumph. Which ones came from a culture just getting over ten years of miserable economic performance, facing a world bristling with hostile collectivized militarism? I mean, for God’s sake, why, at the height of our civilization’s powers, can’t we make clear movies about good and evil and the triumph of civilized virtues?

Besides nine hours of the Lord of the Rings and six Star Wars movies and the Harry Potter stuff and also everything by Pixar."

Goth Meets the Brady Bunch?

2005-11-18T20:59:00.000-08:00

Goth Meets the Brady Bunch? Must Be An Anne Rice Signing - 11/16/2005 - Publishers Weekly:

"It was a dark and stormy night…just the right atmosphere for former gothic novelist Anne Rice's booksigning at Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, Ill., on Monday. It was Rice's seventh bookstore event on a multi-city tour for Christ the Lord, and a chance to see how her change-of-genre gamble from horror to faith fiction is playing with her fans. Was she nervous when she started the tour? 'No, determined,' Rice told RBL. 'Whatever happens, happens.'

The downpour didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the estimated 400 fans that packed Anderson's. It was a mixed crowd: Goth meets the Brady Bunch. Middle-aged housewives with kids and businessmen in suits lined up next to teens with skull t-shirts, nose rings, and black fishnets. Some purchased Rice's backlist, but Anderson's pre-sold more than 200 copies of Christ the Lord, and sales built from that at a steady clip."

November Celebration

2005-11-15T10:53:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it? It's that time again, the time we get to tour the blogosphere and see what a bunch of great Christian writers/writers who are Christian ;-) are up to. And this month, thanks to Violet Nesdoly's brilliant suggestion, we also get Christmas gift selections from those same writers! How's that for helping with the shopping list?

Start by going here, then get out that credit card!

Just Write!

2005-11-14T18:25:00.000-08:00

Just write!

Writing Fiction: Breaking the Rules:

"What we really have is techniques, developed by trial and error (especially error). They work for most of us, the way recipes work for most cooks. When you don't want to create an inedible mess, you stick with the recipe. When you're more confident and feel experimental, you can throw in more or less than a teaspoon of salt. (A cookbook I saw recently recommends a 'glug' of olive oil for most of its recipes.) The result may be yet another inedible mess, or a wonderful improvement.

Learning almost any technique is really hard as long as you're keeping it in your conscious mind. Remember learning how to drive? If you still had to concentrate that hard every time you took the wheel, you'd sell your car. When I started learning a little Korean, deciphering hangul was physically exhausting. (I gained new sympathy for anyone with reading problems!) Time and practice have made it easier to recognize a sound or word at once, because it now goes on subconsciously.

The same is true with writing fiction. After a while you stop worrying about POV or narrative voice or the quality of the dialogue. Your subconscious writer is looking after the technical stuff, and your job becomes something like a stenographer's. You take down what's given to you, and sometimes you catch an error, but that's about it. When you stop thinking about technique, you've mastered it."

Crawford Kilian, a writing teacher, has a great blog going here called "Writing Fiction." I love his answer to the age-old question of writing rules .. obey them slavishly or ignore them to your detriment? What he says makes sense to me especially since it's the direction in which I see myself going. After writing steadily for a while, and spending an inordinate amount of time worrying over every punctuation mark, syllable, word, paragraph, and so on, I find myself just writing these days. Which is how I think it's meant to be.

Just for Fun: Middle Earth and You ;-)

2005-11-13T18:35:00.000-08:00

Here's mine:

Rohirrim

To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla

A Writing Book Recommendation

2005-11-12T18:20:00.000-08:00

Whenever anyone asks me to recommend a writing book, the first one I always mention is Story by Robert McKee [see the Amazon link just to your right].Story was recommended to me by Brandilyn Collins. Being fairly new to writing on a regular basis (something I'd wanted to do for years, but always found an excuse not to do), I eagerly went out and bought the book only to find I couldn't get my mind wrapped around it. It took me another year of sloughing through my own writing, going down rabbit trails, creating improbable characters, dealing with a scintillating beginning, a *yawn* middle, and a muddled ending, before I realized I needed to take the time to read the darn thing.

I am so glad I did.

McKee's bio speaks for itself:

McKee is the most widely known and respected screenwriting lecturer in the world today. His former students' accomplishments are unmatched: They have won 26 Academy Awards, 124 Emmy Awards, 20 Writers Guild of America Awards, and 17 Directors Guild of America Awards and even Pulitzer Prizes for writing. Some recent notable former students to win or be nominated for Oscars include Akiva Goldsman (Winner - Best Writing: Adapted Screenplay) for his screenplay "A Beautiful Mind," Peter Jackson (writer/director of "Lord of the Rings I and II", Nominated - Best Picture) and many others.

Story is used as a textbook at major American universities as well as overseas. And for good reason. You won't find another book like this, one that richly details what story is all about, that dissects the concept, puts the parts under a microscope, and teaches you what works and what doesn't. It makes no difference that he's talking about screenplays. Writers of every genre flock to McKee's seminars in L.A., New York, and London to watch him explain their craft. And the best part? What he teaches is not formalistic. He gives you the pieces of the puzzle, but leaves each writer to put it together as best suits her/his style.

From McKee, for instance, I learned that there's no reason for the middle of a book to sag, as they are wont to do. Not if you plan. If you lay out your subplots so that one or several of them begin during the story's middle, you have Inciting Incidents [which, by their very nature, are exciting] to perk up that section of your novel where your main plot might otherwise plod along.

I learned the art of scenes "turning." Read McKee's words:

Look closely at each scene you've written and ask: What value is at stake in my character's life at this moment? Love? Truth? What? How is that value charged at the top of the scene? Positive? Negative? Some of both? Make a note. Next turn to the close of the scene and ask, Where is this value now? Positive? Negative? Both? Make a note and compare. If the answer you write down at the end of the scene is the same note you made at the opening, you now have another important question to ask: Why is this scene in my script?

This is a rich book, jam-packed with so much good information you'll read it not once but time and time again. It'll take your writing to a new level and, if you've found your excitement in your craft waning, pump up your enthusiasm. It's not a quick or an easy read. Think of it as a textbook, one that requires time and attention in order to master. But it is well worth your while to read it.

If I were on a desert island and had the choice of two books, it would definitely be my second pick!

Safe and Unsafe Books

2005-11-12T10:24:00.000-08:00

Over on The Master's Artist, Deborah Gyapong has a wonderful post about safe and unsafe books (with thanks to Mark Bertrand who started the thread with his earlier post). Some of them can be good, some bad. What are you writing? A good, but book? A bad, but safe one? Or an unsafe book, good or bad?

Make sure you read the whole thing.

Another Anne Rice Interview

2005-11-11T16:43:00.000-08:00

Bluefield Daily Telegraph:

"Rice's new burst of creativity stems from her return to Roman Catholicism - though she seems a most unlikely recruit. Leaving aside those past novels (the more erotic ones appeared under pseudonyms), she quit church as a teen and never looked back for decades. Her late husband was a convinced atheist; her son is a gay activist.

But some critics thought her vampires' angst reflected the author's spiritual restlessness.

As Rice describes matters, there was “a yearning, a nostalgia, a grief” toward Catholicism but “I had this idea lodged in my head, I could never go back ... the longing was tremendous. The desire was tremendous.”

“I gradually realized I could return, that I believed again.”

After years of pondering, the climax occurred in 1998 at her home in New Orleans. Rice asked part-time assistant Amy Troxler, a parochial school religion teacher, to recommend a priest. Troxler immediately took Rice to the Rev. Dennis Hayes of Arabi, La., who became her spiritual director.

The move wasn't easy because “I was tortured by questions I couldn't resolve.” She told Hayes: “I'll do my best on the unresolved questions.” Among these are her church's ban on women priests and opposition to gay sex. She's convinced both will vanish eventually."

Note: I am currently reading Christ the Lord and very much enjoying it.

Every Writers' Dream

2005-11-09T14:48:00.000-08:00

LILEKS (James) the bleat:

"Six radio interviews today, including a nice one with a fellow who had not read the book. Didn't even have a review copy. That one went 25 minutes. He began with "How did you get the idea?" I have honed the answer in such a way that does not accurately reflect the book’s genesis, but is nevertheless accurate. The truth is that I was sitting in my editor's office after lunch in New York, full of an inordinate amount of beef and red wine, brainstorming. Since we were both lightheaded from digestion and indulgence, nothing was occurring to either of us. I excused myself to use the restroom, and en route to the well-appointed lavs of Random House, the idea just dropped into my skull, unbidden: the Gallery of Regrettable Parenting. Huzzah. Booyah. Et cetera. I pitched it when I returned, and that was that."

Wouldn't you love to be in such a position?

And if you're not reading James Lileks very amusing The Bleat every day, you don't know what you're missing.

Dining with the Deity

2005-11-07T15:19:00.000-08:00

Dining with the Deity - Christianity Today Magazine:

"Whether Gregory's answers to hard questions are convincing or not, the bigger question might be: Will today's seeker be convinced by carefully packaged answers to difficult questions presented in an engaging format? The publisher is betting on it. As of September, WaterBrook had more than 210,000 copies of the book in print, its biggest printing for any book this year. Ditto for its marketing budget of $100,000, with ads in USA Today, Today's Christian, and Christianity Today. It's the type of book that many Christians will see as a way to witness to seeker friends. ('Have several on hand to give away to non-believers,' exhorts one reader on Amazon.com.)"

This is the "novel" everyone is talking about, a fictionalized account of a meeting between a man named Nick and Jesus. I put it in quotation marks because I'm not sure how much of a novel it really is seeing that it's intent is clearly to evangelize rather than entertain. I guess you can do both, but I am so conditioned now to think of a novel as not being a piece of propaganda that I automatically doubt what's been done here. Whatever it is, it's been successful, so I guess there's room for both ends of this particular continuum.

Writing Tip: Writing Rules

2005-11-05T17:47:00.000-08:00

In the latest issue of his Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine, author and all-around-crazy-guy, Randy Ingermanson, gives a piece of advice to novelists that's well worth repeating:

When you're in Creating mode, you DO NOT WANT TO BE
BURDENED WITH RULES! If you get all hog-tied with
rules in Creating mode, you are going to die in a
rule-based writer's-block angst, and you'll deserve it.
When you are Creating, just write the darn story.
Blast that story out, baby!

Some people have trouble with that blasting thing. Some
people are just a wee bit retentive and can't bear to
let a mistake go without fixing it. I heard from a
friend today on how she learned to let go. She
scrunched up the window of her word processor so she
couldn't see what she was typing! Then she just whacked
out a scene. Hey, whatever works. I guess the only
thing I'd caution about with that method is to make
sure your fingers are on the home base keys, or you're
going to have one ugly mess of letters when you get
done.

It took me awhile, but I finally learned this rule and now, when I'm laying down words on paper, I'm doing it happily, my internal editor kicked to the curb until the thing is done. All kinds of wonderful things emerge this way. And to do it the other way, worrying over every single word that hits the page, is to invite not only an agonizingly slow pace, but an attack of perfection paralysis that ends up getting you nowhere except deep into Doubt and Despair. Take my advice (and, more importantly, Randy's): Don't go there.

And if you haven't already (and, if you haven't what's wrong with you?), subscribe to Randy's e-zine by going here. It won't cost you a thing.

NYT's Review of Anne Rice's Christ the Lord

2005-11-02T19:42:00.000-08:00

New York Times Review--Link Below!

The family in Anne Rice's new novel has a secret. A really, really big one. These people have had a life-altering experience that they hide from their 7-year-old. When the boy raises questions - "But who were the men from the East, Mamma?" or "But what happened in Bethlehem?" - his relatives are mum.

But the boy begins to sense the truth. He notices he has unusual abilities. He can make it snow or raise the dead. He can sense the presence of angels. He also has dreams of terrible, fiery destruction and is visited by figure who calls himself the Prince of Chaos. By the end of "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt," this young boy knows that he himself is the Prince of Peace.

Christ the Lord" is written in the first person. How dare Ms. Rice appropriate the voice of young Jesus? She is best known for maudlin, histrionic vampire tales, so the innocence of a 7-year-old would not seem to come naturally. But Ms. Rice makes the transition much more easily than might be expected. And she delivers the only shock effects still available to her, after a career-length cavalcade of kinks: piety and moderation.

The review is here, but you need to be signed up to read the NYT--free and everyone should have such access otherwise how are you going to read the book reviews?

I am looking forward to reading the book! It sounds great.

Scandalous Truths: New Book about Susan Howatch

2005-11-02T12:06:00.000-08:00

Scandalous Truths:

Susan Howatch’s global bestsellers have appeared regularly since the 1970s, but a radical shift in her subject matter in the ’80s made reviewers and then academics adjust their glasses and stare hard at her pages. Howatch carried her loyal following of gothic and family saga readers into unexpected psychological and theological depths, while raising to a new level her experiments with narrative technique. She also introduced to her readers a character only half alive in Trollope, the Anglican Church. The twentieth-century church revealed in Howatch’s later fiction is a huge, sometimes monstrous, sometimes life-giving creature whose various dimensions make it entirely engaging and weirdly central to the centerless postmodern world.

Scandalous Truths provides a way into Howatch’s world by presenting for the first time some of her own articulations of her guiding principles, and by allowing a group of scholars to engage in a wide-ranging discussion of her art. A decade of scholarly presentations and articles now culminates in this book.

NaNoWriMo Tool

2005-10-30T12:09:00.000-08:00

green.speak

If you're participating in the month-long writing event known as NaNoWriMo, you might find this helpful.

Clerical Novels

2005-10-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

Mitford Rules - Books & Culture

Great article about the new Jan Karon book, due out soon. I've always been a fan of her books and have read each one at least twice--which I've also done with many of Susan Howatch's books. Since Ms. Howatch also writes about clergy (in her more recent novels) I guess that makes me a fan of clerical novels. Now, thanks to the article, I have some new novels to read.

Interview with Anne Rice

2005-10-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

The Gospel According to Anne - Newsweek Entertainment - MSNBC.com:

"'For the last six months,' she says, 'people have been sending e-mails saying, 'What are you doing next?' And I've told them, 'You may not want what I'm doing next'.' We'll know soon. In two weeks, Anne Rice, the chronicler of vampires, witches and-under the pseudonym "A. N. Roquelaure—of soft-core S&M encounters, will publish 'Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt,' a novel about the 7-year-old Jesus, narrated by Christ himself. 'I promised,' she says, 'that from now on I would write only for the Lord.' It's the most startling public turnaround since Bob Dylan's 'Slow Train Coming' announced that he'd been born again."

I just reserved my copy of the book at my local library! Wish I could buy it, but it just isn't possible right now--maybe later, when the finances improve!

Be sure to read the whole interview.

Update: There's apparently a lot of interest in this story. I say that because my stats took a huge jump of about 300% after the story was posted and, for the next few days, everywhere I went, people were discussing it. Unfortunately, on some of the Christian writers' lists I am part of, the discussion has been less than edifying. Some people seem to feel that they can freely judge the sincerity of Ms. Rice's return to her Catholic roots not to mention her right to exercise her imagination. The word "blasphemy" has been used. This reminds me of the saying that Christians shoot their wounded. Wouldn't we want to encourage Ms. Rice in her walk with the Lord just as we'd encourage anyone else? And aren't there a number of scriptures in the New Testament that discourage judging another person?

The Trades

2005-10-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

The Trades:

"Nevertheless, what began to disillusion me about the Monastery of Harmless Entertainment was that they advocated the rather ludicrous idea that G- and PG-rated material is inherently superior in moral quality to PG-13- or R-rated material. They thoroughly believed that family-friendly material is intrinsically of higher moral value than R-rated material that explores darker truth. I found this to be totally incongruent with the texts of Scripture. The story of Noah and the ark -- a story that you can tell in any child's Sunday school class -- is not of higher moral value than, say, the story of David -- a man so consumed with lust that he commits murder and steals his victim's wife."

This is a review of a book called Behind the Screen. After reading the excerpts from the book, it seems to me that every artist calling himself/herself a Christian ought to be reading it!

ALL-TIME 100 Novels

2005-10-21T13:33:00.000-07:00

A fun link I picked up from Infuze Magazine.

This top one hundred list dates from 1923, which is when Time first began.

How many have you read?

The Complete List | TIME Magazine - ALL-TIME 100 Novels

Update:

And here is a list of the Top 100 novels as compiled by writers in 54 countries. It's quite different, but also contains many of my favorites.

And here's a Random House list.

Google

2005-10-19T23:19:00.000-07:00

I have been a fan of Google's since the beginning. Being such an information junkie, it was perfect for me. However, this has bothered me for some time.

InformationWeek > Google > Major Book Publishers Sue Google > October 19, 2005:

"Google Inc. on Wednesday was sued by a major publishing association for digitizing library books without the permissions of copyright holders, the second such suit filed against the search engine giant.

The Association of American Publishers, based in Washington, D.C., sued the Mountain View, Calif., company on behalf of members The McGraw-Hill Companies, Pearson Education, Penguin Group (USA), Simon & Schuster and John Wiley & Sons. The suit seeks a court declaration that Google infringes the rights of copyright holders when it scans entire books and stores the digitized versions in its massive database. The trade group also wants a court order requiring Google to first obtain permission from copyright holders.

Patricia Schroeder, AAP president and a former Colorado congresswoman, said the suit was filed after talks broke down. The AAP had proposed that Google use each book's unique ID number to determine if the work is under copyright, and then seek permission from the book's owner. For more than 30 years, most books have carried an ISBN identification number, which is machine readable.

Google, according to Schroeder, refused."

October Celebration is up!

2005-10-18T11:27:00.000-07:00

Check out October's Celebration at Dee Stewart's site here! If you need something to read, you'll find a wide assortment of short stories and novel excerpts!

Jeremy Robinson and POD Publishing

2005-10-17T17:51:00.000-07:00

A POD success story (yes, it's a novel):

Blogcritics.org: Interview with Jeremy Robinson:

"Can you tell us a little about the Christian market, and if you were trying to sell your book to that market.

As I mentioned, it is a Christian book in the sense that it involves Jesus in a positive way, but the way I chose to write it (and the way I choose to write in general) is for a mass market audience. I didn't censor myself or my characters because I might offend other Christians. I don't see how an author can truly portray the real world while censoring what characters do and say.

That said, I have only heard good things from Christians who have read it and all have found the cursing, drinking and violence to be in good taste and necessary to the story."

An Excerpt from my Novel, "Unseen"

2005-10-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

Dee Stewart, who's hosting the October Celebration of New Christian fiction, had a great idea. She asked people to post something of their work, a short story, an excerpt from a novel, anything like that. Here's mine. :-)

The following is from a novel entitled Unseen. This is chapter one, scene one. I like to give each chapter a title even if I don't use them in the final book because it helps me remember what's going on. This chapter is entitled "A Good Person." Since I do not write for the CBA, there is some language in the scene, but I edited out the one word I thought might be offensive to some! Enjoy!

************

A Good Person

“No, I’m not crazy, I did see something!”

Tapping on the brakes, Jon rubbed his fogged up windscreen, watching as someone struggled in the SUV up ahead, someone constrained by a rather large man, someone fighting like mad to get free. He strained forward, trying to see through a hard rain that had been falling ever since he left the house. No, it wasn’t his imagination or the effects of the damn drugs. Someone needed help.

Bloody hell. Already, I’m in trouble.

Against strict orders, he’d abandoned his flat on the beach house’s third floor, though he didn’t blame Parker for imposing such rules. When you’d tried to kill yourself less than a week ago, it made perfect sense that your brother would want you near, especially after he’d trekked all the way to London to snatch you from the jaws of death. Given that, the sleeping pills and tranquilizers that Elisabeth provided—kept under lock and key by a very jittery Parker—made perfect sense too. Still, even while doped up, he’d been climbing the walls and didn’t think a quick trip to the sweet shop for a Crunchie would do any harm. That had led him to abandon not only his flat, but his two o’clock dosage as well.

Parker’s going to be furious.

At the next stop sign, he knew he ought to turn right and go to the shop a few miles up the road then get back to the house before his brother finished his Christmas shopping. He steeled himself to make the turn, to be sensible, the sadder-but-wiser plonker who’d given up melodrama in search of inner tranquility. After all, he owed Parker that, didn’t he?

Jon watched as the SUV went straight, debated two seconds and then followed.

Such impulsive behavior often got him in trouble, but what if someone in that car had been kidnapped and he’d ignored it? God knows, he’d be dead right now if people hadn’t cared enough to follow him. And, yes, as long as he was making comparisons, a stranger had helped him too, had in fact walked right into Act Three of his little tragedy, and given him reason to live.

In the middle of the next block, the SUV’s taillights flickered a few times, then came on for good. Jon slowed too, watching the boy inside—and he believed that it was a boy—jerk against the arm that held him. Father and son having a row? Quite possibly, but something about the quality of the boy’s efforts to free himself told him otherwise.

Just then, the SUV’s passenger door flew open and a boy, maybe twelve or thirteen, shot out of the car. Jon caught a glimpse of terror in dark eyes and knew he’d been right. The driver’s door slammed open at almost the same moment and a large man in a brown pinstripe suit followed, yelling something Jon could not make out.

Bloody hell!

Jon set the car in neutral. He grabbed his mobile, flung open the door, and leapt out, following them. As rained pelted him in the face, he dialed 999. “Hey! Stop!”

Up ahead, the man caught up with the boy and grabbed him by the arm, spinning him around. He backhanded him so hard the boy crumpled at his feet.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Jon shouted in fury, images from his own recent problems imprinted suddenly onto the frightening scene.

The man jerked around to stare at him, his face contorted with a rage that seemed almost maniacal. “Get away! This is between me and the whore!”

He remembered right then that people often die when they put themselves in the middle of domestic disputes. This exceedingly pissed off man looked to be around six-two, which gave him a two-inch and perhaps fifty-pound advantage. Damn, what was he thinking? How ironic it would be to die on the streets of Redondo Beach when he’d failed to do the job in England.

Then he had another thought. Muddled as he was, thanks to the pills and every bloody thing in his life, he’d dialed the wrong emergency number. In the States, it was 911, not 999. The phone still as his ear, he heard nothing except a static hiss. Which made him an absolute washout as a superhero.

Bracing himself against a sudden fit of trembling, Jon looked the other man in the eye. “Yes,” he said in a loud voice to the imaginary person who’d suddenly come onto the line, “I need help. I’m at Bettencourt and Diamond. There’s a man here attacking a boy.” He listened with complete attention to his make-believe rescuer. “No, I don’t know anything except he’s dangerous.” Like a soap opera star, he looked down the street with grave intensity, hoping the man bought his act. “They’re only three blocks away? Yes, please, would you send them over straight away? Thanks.” He folded the mobile and dropped it into his pocket.

With a curse, the man turned, sprinting for his car. Jon watched as he slipped once, made it back to the SUV, and, wheels spinning, took off in a shower of water.

Relieved, Jon went to where the boy knelt on the soggy ground. Wiping the rain from his eyes, he crouched next to him. “Are you all right?”

A boy with a cherubic face raised his head to stare at Jon, sodden brown curls framing finely drawn features, skin the color of almonds, long, wet eyelashes, a spattering of freckles—well, damn, he’d jumped straight out of a Botticelli painting. “Yeah, I’m fine,” this angelic child said in a hesitant whisper

“You’re just a baby. Was he trying to abduct you?”

“I’m fifteen.”

“You couldn’t possibly be.”

“I am. I just look young.”

“You’ve been hurt.” Jon pointed to the corner of his mouth, where a stream of pinkish blood, diluted by the rain, ran down his chin.

The boy touched the spot. “I’m okay.”

“You keep saying that, but it’s not true.” He’d lied so often himself he could see it easily in others. “I could take you to the emergency room. It’s just around—”

“No.” The boy seemed to make an effort to rouse himself. “Did you … was that real, about the police?”

“You’re sharp. No, just an improvisation.”

“Oh.”

Jon helped him stand and could feel how he trembled. “It’s miserable out here. Can I drop you somewhere?”

The boy looked right to left before his gaze returned to Jon. “No, thanks. That’s okay.”

“What’s your name?”

“Dante.”

Yes, definitely Botticelli. “Dante, you look quite shaken. I’m not a doctor, but I think you need to get warm, right away. You’re probably suffering from shock. Do you have somewhere to go or someone to pick you up? A parent, for instance?”

“No parent.” Dante studied the ground under him as if the pavement needed his personal inspection. “I can’t go back to where I was. Not right now.”

A cold trickle of water trailed down Jon’s back. He shivered, mind made up, then he pointed west. “See that gray, three-story beach house? I live there in a flat on the third floor. Why don’t you come with me and get dried off?”

Dante looked him over as if a second attack might be eminent. “You didn’t tell me your name.”

“It’s Jon Girard. Sorry. I’m a bit rattled, which makes me believe you must be too.”

“Why’d you do it?”

“Help you out? Well, what was I supposed to do? Drive away?”

“Lots of people would’ve.”

Jon blew out air. “I see your point. Well, I’m not a saint, but I certainly won’t hurt you either. In fact, I’m only about six years older than you although it seems like it should be ten.”

Dante looked down at his soggy clothes. “Okay, but your car’ll get wet.”

“I’ll risk it.”

“Okay.”

With great relief, Jon escorted Dante back to his car. He’d somehow managed to stay alive and still behave like a good person, a rare victory. Maybe things would turn around just as everyone kept saying. Maybe life would be worth living.

Maybe.

Preposterous Proposals Pontification

2005-10-12T16:16:00.000-07:00

Recently, in a writers' discussion list, someone made the statement that anyone who wrote the book first and then the proposal was ... well, he didn't call such people fools, but he came very close. The list and the person who made this statement will remain anonymous since I have no wish to pick a fight. Nor am I going to argue with him where nonfiction is concerned because I know nothing about the process involved in nonfiction books or book proposals. But his flat statement that (I am paraphrasing) you'll remain unpublished if you insist on writing the book first and doing the proposal afterwards just ... well, it ticked me off.

This approach makes perfect sense, of course, if you're a published author in the middle of a satisfying relationship with a publisher. Why would you go to the trouble of writing a novel first when you could put together a book proposal and get it sold before the fact? Of course, even then, we have to assume you're the type of writer who can, in fact, write the exact book you propose. Is that simply a matter of discipline? I think not. If you get to page 110 in your carefully laid out plan and suddenly Scarlett--realizing that both Rhett and Ashley are boring old fools--decides she's being called into the monastic life, well, oops! That isn't what the scintillating proposal said, is it? Is that a lack of discipline? Or is that creativity? In either case, that could be a problem. So, if you're a published author with a good relationship, etc., etc., and you can stick to your proposal, then this gentleman's idea has merit.

Let's talk about the unpublished fiction writers. The guy who made this statement wants us to pitch our idea to Dave Long, Mick Silva, or any of the other great acquisitions editors out there who don't know us from Adam? Okay, Mick Silva does know me; not well, but he knows something about me. Even so, is he going to trust that I will come back to him six months from now with said manuscript in hand even though I'm unproven in his eyes? Is he going to say, "That Pat is such a swell person. Yeah, sure, she'll do what she says she'll do. I trust her!" Ya think? I'm thinking he won't have his job very long if he's so darn gullible. I might be able to write the most compelling book proposal on the planet, but that doesn't mean I can write the book it's pitching. Does it? What am I missing here?

The problem, in my humble-and-open-to-being-totally-wrong opinion is that people get an idea in their head, one that works for them. Then they start pontificating. Actually, at first, they're probably just talking, telling people their experiences, but soon enough, it turns into their own personal gospel according to [fill in your name]. They make broader and broader statements about their particular idea until it takes on a life of its own. And it's at that point that they risk ticking off others ... as this gentleman did with me. Because the truth is that nothing works for everyone, that for every single documented case of a previously unknown fiction writer who soared to the top of the NYT Bestseller list right after she got her $500K advance (all thanks to an amazing book proposal) there are ten thousand writers whose book proposals got drop-kicked right off the hysterically laughing editors' desks.

So, what's the lesson? Tell people your ideas, definitely. We all need to hear things that may or may not help. Just keep a large helping of humility nearby while you're doing so. Admit that perhaps you might be wrong, that your idea may not be for everyone. Outside of the Gospel, few things really are.

C.S. Lewis's Attitude about Christian Fiction

2005-10-12T16:07:00.000-07:00

Clergy hope 'Lion, Witch, Wardrobe' a draw:

"Lewis' stepson Douglas Gresham, the film's co-producer, told the audience that Lewis didn't set out to write 'a Christian book.'''

But Lewis, whom Gresham referred to by his nickname, Jack, was profoundly influenced by his own religious beliefs. 'Jack didn't write a Christian book, but Jack was a man committed to his Christianity,' Gresham said. 'His fiction is informed by his deep Christian faith.''' (Emphasis added.)

Exactly!

New Writing Friend

2005-10-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

Along with my crit partner, Elleann, setting up her very own blog, she and I have recently acquired a new writing friend, Lisa. In one of those not-to-be-missed moments of "coincidence," the Lord brought us together and we've been humming along ever since, talking writing, critiquing each other, chatting about Lost, the FiF contest, and all sorts of crazy things. Although Lisa writes creative nonfiction rather than fiction, one of the most inspiring things she does (other than raise four daughters!), is write and submit pieces on a regular basis. Here's something she submitted to The Rose & Thorn, which has just been published. It's called The Wall and I recommend it!

Being an Older Female Novelist

2005-10-07T13:05:00.000-07:00

Cindarella at Sixty

"Getting things straight is a constant preoccupation for the novelist, making characters consistent, plot logical, blending facts with fiction so the joins don't show. It all takes practice. Duncker knew she wanted to be a writer from the age of 12, but when I grew up I just wanted to write well rather than "be a writer" and set about educating myself. My first published novel is the third or fourth full-length completed book, she tells. This echoes Quigley's experience: "I've got what I would call a couple of practice novels. Now I know for a fact they weren't publishable, though at the time I thought they were fantastic. And Hilary Mantel in Issue 17 advises twentysomethings wanting to write an autobiographical novel to wait until they are at least 40, while Salman Rushdie has suggested no one should attempt to write a novel before the age of 50"

When I was feeling a bit discouraged about an upcoming birthday and my still unpublished status at such an "advanced" age, my crit partner and good friend, Elleann, pointed me to this article in a British magazine called Mslexia. If you're the "wrong" side of forty, it'll be well worth your while.

And check out Elleann's new blog, BlogFish!

2005-10-05T22:30:00.000-07:00

Morgan, Gracie, and Noah-my darling three. :-)

Grace Marie

2005-09-14T23:59:00.000-07:00

Grace Marie, born 7:03 PM on September 13th--8 pounds, 21 inches, totally beautiful!

Request

2005-09-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

Morgan, Mommy, & Noah

My daughter is expecting her third child, a girl. She'll be induced tomorrow morning (Tuesday, September 13) at 9:00 AM (Pacific time). Your prayers would be appreciated! The baby does not yet have a name, but right now Charlotte and Paige are in the running. :-)

Breaking the Rules

2005-09-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

I spent the month of August reading books by Susan Howatch who is not only a favorite writer, but someone I'd like to pattern myself after ... in certain ways. After reading (and in some cases, rereading) the books from her Church of England series (Glittering Images, Glamorous Powers, Ultimate Prizes, Scandalous Risks, Mystical Paths, and Absolute Truths) plus the three books in her St. Benet series (The Wonder-Worker, The High Flyer, and The Heartbreaker), I can testify that good storytelling will always triumph over craft (see the post just preceding this one to get an idea what I'm talking about). Here is a list of rules that Howatch breaks:

* She uses many exclamation points
* She also uses CAPITALIZATIONS when she wants her characters to shout/or something to stand out.
* She occasionally uses more than one exclamation point.
* She starts many of her stories, which are always in first-person, with many pages of backstory (although, I admit, it's easier to get away with that in first-person).
* She lets her characters talk in long sections of dialogue that often have few tags and attributions.
* She lets her characters talk for pages and pages of dialogue as they tell their story, in a manner that could never be confused with the way two people would naturally speak.
* She inserts long speeches where a character expounds on this heresy, or that theological point of view. (Many of her characters are clergy.)
* She does not use commas in cases where serial commas ought to be in place. (I wonder if this isn't a British writing rule of some kind.)

And yet, what she does works. She writes huge books that are probably between 150-200K (and I think she wrote at least one that was even larger than that), yet they fascinate from the first page to the last. Even as a writer, I note, then utterly dismiss her "shortcomings" as nonsense because her stories are so enthralling. Her character studies are amazing and the way she combines Christian spirituality and psychology without at all compromising the former in favor of the latter is a wonder to behold. Yes, she's a well-established writer with a track record, so I cannot do what she can do in terms of rule breaking. Still, it's interesting.

Just remember though, fellow unpubbed writers: first you have to know the rules and then you can break them! (Sometime after you're published.)

Technique vs. Talent

2005-09-12T15:49:00.000-07:00

I saw this post by Mark Bertrand when it was first posted back in August on The Master's Artist. Recently, I was reminded of it and, since I think it speaks volumes, I'm posting the link here.

There is more to writing than technique. Arnold Bennett says as much in The Author's Craft (1914). I'm making a note of Bennett's observation so that I don't forget it. Hopefully I will learn from his mistakes and not fall into the error of elevating craft above all:

Be sure to read the whole thing.

Hurricane Katrina: Blog for Relief Day

2005-09-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

I'm sure I don't have to post any information about what's happened. Surely if you own a television, you know. I am asking each person who reads this blog to give something, no matter how small, to the Salvation Army, or any charity you desire. Don't think that your five dollars or jar filled with pennies can't help, because it can. If you can give more, consider doing so. And please, after you've given, continue to pray for all the people who've lost so much.

The Truth Laid Bear has a list of everyone who is participating in this Blog for Relief Day, here.

Glenn Reynold's of Instapundit fame as a roundup of places to donate here.

Here's Technorati's flood aid tag.

And check out Michelle Malkin's posts here for all the latest details.

Celebration of New Christian Fiction-August Addition

2005-08-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

Katy Popa hosts this month's Celebration here. Grab some iced tea and settle down to read some of these great posts!

Meeting on the Bridge of Words

2005-08-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

"... under the imaginary table that separates me from my readers, don't we secretly clasp each other's hands?" ~ Bruno Schulz

While I was reading Madeleine L'Engle's wonderful book, Walking on Water, I came across the following: "The author and the reader 'know' each other; they meet on the bridge of words." This strikes me as being very similar to the Schultz quote and says something that is universally understood about an author and her readers. Books are not like film (now much more the world's first choice when it comes to either entertainment or enlightenment). Yes, they can be interpreted by each individual film goer, but the experience, in my humble opinion, is not nearly as intimate as the experience shared by an author and her reader. Each reader comes to the work fresh, ready to make her interpretation, to have her moment with the author. It's as if author and reader sit together in a comfortable room, perhaps before a fireplace, and talk over tea or coffee. There's a quality about it--perhaps brought on by the fact that you read lying in bed or cozily in a favorite chair--that you don't find in film. Yes, both film goer and reader can be influenced by friends or formal critics, but the reader, in the end, has the ability to defy whatever criticism she's heard/read and embrace what she's reading totally without anyone standing between her and the author. No one walks out of the theatre, no one offers sarcastic comments. Yes, just as with film, she might talk with her friends and dredge up some points about the story she liked or didn't like. That's her public persona. But when she reads, it's just her and the author ... just her and me because, of course, even though I'm not yet published I identify strongly with that author. We communicate, writer and reader. Even if I'd been dead two hundred years, we'd still communicate, and all it would take is paper and ink. I would not need a special film festival held on my behalf or a famous film critic to hype my great work. I could be with that reader in the wink of an eye; all she'd have to do is take the book down from the shelf and turn to chapter one.

That, to me, is magical.

Faith in Fiction Short Story Contest

2005-08-05T16:17:00.000-07:00

Get busy!

f a i t h * i n * f i c t i o n: The Next Short Story Contest:

While all my short stories always end up being novels, I'm sure other people will want to enter Dave's second contest, so here are the rules!

1. 3000 words or less.
2. I have no definition for what a conversion story is, but we're talking about some Christian salvific experience. It also needs to be fiction, no autobiography or memoir.
3. Deadline will be Friday, September 30, 5:00pm central time. Earlier is appreciated.
4. I haven't talked with anybody about partnering on this one, but I'll try to track somebody down. Let me know if you have suggestions or contacts at online journals.
5. There will be prizes for the chosen finalists. They will be more symbolic than impressive. Unless someone wants to give me a grant.
6. But remember, these things get read and a book contract emerged out of the last group.

Adding Emphasis

2005-08-03T12:54:00.000-07:00

Chicago Manual of Style - Q&A

I saw this on the CMOS site today. Most writers I know use italics and quotation marks in these ways, yet look what they say about both! [I agree with not using exclamation and question marks together!] What do you think?

Q. To emphasize a word in the narrative (not dialog), is it acceptable to use italics or should I use "quotation marks"? Also, can a question mark and an exclamation point be combined (?!) to emphasize the question, i.e., "Are you calling me a liar?!?" Thanks!

A. Chicago style discourages the use of italics for emphasis and forbids multiple punctuation; both are rarely appropriate in scholarly writing. Quotation marks do not usually indicate emphasis. Rather, they indicate irony or double entendre, both of which are also discouraged in academic publishing. Even in fiction, such tricks may be taken as a sign of hack writing. Try to convey emphasis through phrasing, rather than with typographic bells and whistles. You will be surprised how much more quietly powerful writing can be with all the exclamation points removed. Try to reserve those marks for shouting. [Emphasis added.]

Self-published book on Jesus

2005-08-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

The Sun Herald | 07/31/2005 | Self-published book on Jesus takes off

In two years, David Gregory Smith's self-published book about a cynical, overworked man who dines with Jesus gained a loyal following. And it caught the attention of WaterBrook Press, the evangelical religious publishing division of Random House, which released the book on July 12.

"Dinner With a Perfect Stranger," as much a gospel lesson as a fictional narrative, seems to have stuck a chord with readers, said Smith, a Plano, Texas, resident who wrote the book under the pen name David Gregory.

Interesting, huh? Not that every self-published book will end up like this because that clearly is not the case.

Thrilled

2005-07-28T18:06:00.000-07:00

Anne Rice's new book, out in November

I'm taking a moment to be thrilled by a recent comment. It was in response to this post about the book pictured above. The person making the comment was Anne Rice.

I've always considered her to be a role model worth following as she writes beautifully. I'd read many of her books and was always inspired by her use of the language. But after I became a Christian, in my wrong-headedness, I thought reading someone like Anne, who writes about vampires and witches, was forbidden. So, I threw out all her books along with Stephen King's. Now I could shoot myself! How silly of me! Did I really think the books could harm me? Apparently, I thought something, but what it was, I'm not sure. :-)

So, I am thrilled not only that she left a comment, but what she said about the books she wrote. Here's part of it:

I think it was a hunger for meaning -- the idea that even if you couldn't believe in God, there was a meaning to all this. The vampires were metaphors for the outsider, for me, for feeling damned.

Isn't that what Jesus is all about? Coming for the lost, for those who feel damned? I felt that way at one time. Maybe that's why I relate to her.

Thank you, Anne. You made my day!

This is her website.

A CBA Author's Rant

2005-07-22T16:41:00.000-07:00

Peace!

A Life in Pages: Sometimes I get irked . . .:

"Good grief, if there's one place where we ought to be forebearing and gentle with each other, it's in the area of the arts! Taste is so subjective, and what may thrill me may leave you lukewarm."

*****

"I'm not irked--I'm hurt--when I read reviews or comments by other believers criticizing the work of other believers. Our mothers were right--if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Or if you must say something, let's try spurring each other to excellence, let's teach each other; let's keep lifting the bar and encouraging each other to offer nothing less than excellence to our Lord. Whether you write for the Christian market or the world at large, if you are a believer, then you should be offering the work of your hands and heart as a worthy sacrifice."

Angela Hunt has her say over on her blog, A Life in Pages. Let me make two comments right away: (1) She's entitled to her opinion and I support her right to air it 100%; (2) I've had so much trouble believing she said what she said it's taken me a few days to recover.

Okay, I lied. Three things: (3) I've read hundreds of CBA novels including some recent ones. Let's face it, when Ms. Hunt talks about "Christian books," she probably talking about CBA books. Why? Because people don't generally make comments about the literary value of Marilynne Roinson's Gilead, or the commercial value of Susan Howatch's Glittering Images, which are Christian fiction books. No, when people criticize the works of other believers, they are most likely talking about someone in the CBA, which is where Ms. Hunt is published. And this, she says, we ought to abstain from doing. Because we're believers. And believers in Christ ought to be nice to one another, shouldn't argue, should just do as their mother told them to do. Be nice.

Well, I'm all for nice. Don't get me wrong. There isn't anything more counter-productive than one person screaming at another. It just doesn't get anything solved. So, I agree with her that far. But as for critiquing one another? Well, I have to say I'm astounded. How does she expect CBA fiction (or any body of work) to grow if no one says anything about the quality currently being produced? In an even tempered way. How does she expect our craft to improve unless we challenge one another? And that we'd only do it privately, behind closed doors? Why? If we're working to change what is already a fine produce, why would we be ashamed to deal with it in an open and forthright manner? NOT a nasty one.

People in the arts, be they Christians or not, discuss their art and that of others. Sometimes they agree, sometimes they don't. But the free exchange of ideas seems to me to be a necessary component in the ongoing vitality of any artistic community. Yes, you could do it one-on-one, in private, but why is that necessary in any place other than, say, China? As long as we're civil, I don't see the problem. I realize that scripture tells us to be unified, but I don't think that means we're to keep our mouths tightly shut and never venture an opinion.

Are we not called to excellence in the gifts we've been given? And if so, how in heaven's name are we to achieve that if we can't talk openly among ourselves?

Mr. Difficult

2005-07-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

f a i t h * i n * f i c t i o n: Mr. Difficult

Dwelling for a moment on what he truly believes, Franzen admits to being caught between two divergent models of how fiction relates to its readers.

Status: Great novels are works of art. Those who create them, geniuses who deserve any and all credit due to them. Value exists separately from whether people enjoy a book or not.

Contract: The first purpose of writing is to connect. A novel deserves attention only as long as the author sustain's a readers interest.

Another great post by Dave. Read the whole thing!

July Celebration of New Christian Fiction

2005-07-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

Paula Moldenhauer is hosting this month's Celebration on her blog, GraceReign. Check it out here!

Authentic Characters

2005-07-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

"Art can only be Art by presenting an adequate outward symbol of some fact of the interior life." Margaret Fuller

Characters are at the core of what we do as writers. We can't simply prop up newly cut out people and walk them around the stage like children do with paper dolls. No, it's so much more than that. As Robert McKee said in his book Story, "...we explore the inscape of human nature, expressed in poetic code." We create characters who (as McKee also says) become metaphors for humanity. As we study and learn about them, they become so real to us it seems impossible that they could be mere figments of our imagination. The challenge, though, is taking what we know about them, and making them come alive to our readers. Not an easy task.

One trick in presenting the "outward symbol" is to put the character into a situation that tests his mettle. I've seen too many writers placidly walking their characters through chapters where nothing happens. They begin at Point A and end up at Point A1. Where is the challenge to the character? Without such a challenge, he doesn't have a chance to express his inward self, nor does that self have a change to grow. Conflict is at the heart of every bit of writing we do, and without it, our characters live their lives in "quiet desperation," never quite achieving whatever greatness might come to them were they required to face down a dragon, stand up to an abusive spouse, or ask for a raise from a recalcitrant boss.

Another tool of the craft, which is proffered so often many writers groan when they hear the phrase is, yes, show don't tell. The truth is, there's so much more to that advice than a character who bangs her fist on the table rather than the author using an expression like, "She was angry." That's elemental. The giants in the business do much more. You might, for instance, find a certain inconsistency in a first-person account of the protagonist's life. Hmm, she says this here, but then over here she's saying something quite different. What does that mean? Is she a liar or is she lying to herself? Is she a scatterbrain or very shrewd? Plus, whether it's first- or third-person, a good writer builds up a body of knowledge about the character within the pages of her story. You don't have to be told certain things when they happen because you already know how devastating they'll be to that character. That's showing at it's finest.

And finally, as you write, be authentic within yourself. Look at your own emotions and don't be afraid to follow the less desirable ones down some dark hallways. Life is not all sunny brightness and sometimes, even by the grace of God, people continue to struggle when every expectation is that they'd thrive. Examine your similar feelings even though the circumstances might be very different, and let your characters struggle with, or even embrace, such feelings. People are complex and their reactions in a given situation should be no less so. Deal with your own complexities and allow them in your characters. Your readers will recognize the authenticity of your characters if you provide them with the honesty of yourself.

Is the CBA Changing?

2005-07-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

After I found the commentary about Andy Crouch's speech on Mark Bertrand's site, I dug a little deeper. [I don't know about you, but even using an aggregator, I find it very hard to keep up with everyone's blogs especially since some people don't use any kind of rss feed.] Anyway, I found this fascinating piece, entitled The [Same Old] New Christian Fiction :

"What interests me more than the changes in the industry are the transformations afoot among its critics. (And here, I'm going to pick up my lance and tilt at another windmill. The CBA is too large and too set in its ways to listen to anything I have to say -- and its writers and readers seem to be a tad too defensive to take any criticism without a hurumph.) Mick Silva, for example, has apparently been pressured to drop his prophetic tone and adopt a kinder, gentler view of the Christian Booksellers Association, celebrating the fact that 'Christian fiction is much more diverse and interesting than first blush would suggest.' I myself have gone from advocating nationwide bonfires to sounding an irenic note, suggesting that writers might -- if they want to, if it's how they feel God leading, if it isn't too offensive to bring up the subject -- want to model themselves on better artists, might want to ask if there is something more to do in art than entertain and evangelize. Or not. Over the past year, I've tempered my tone considerably."

If you haven't already, read the whole thing. And don't forget the Comments section!

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt

2005-07-13T15:38:00.000-07:00

PublishersWeekly.com HTML Newsletter

Vampire chronicler Anne Rice is raising the stakes in her newest novel. Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt (Knopf, Nov.) is an autobiography of Jesus at age 7. Rice told BookLine the subject turnabout is no stretch for her fans--her books about vampires and witches have always explored good and evil. For research, she sank her teeth into extensive biblical scholarship. "If I can make vampires so real that people would call me up at home and ask about them, can I make them feel the presence of Jesus Christ?" she asked. Rice should find built-in interest in general bookstores, but will this new novel find acceptance in the CBA market? Knopf is working with WaterBrook, Random House's evangelical Christian imprint, to open the door into the evangelical network of stores, buyers and distributors. "We're going to lean on them a little bit," said Paul Bogaards, executive director of publicity at Knopf. WaterBrook will encourage key bookstores to host the author, sending them a letter to readers written by Rice. In the letter, the author, who has returned to the Catholic faith in which she was raised, explains her hope to make Jesus come alive through her story. Advertising and publicity will target both mainstream and faith-based media, including print magazines and online portals and blogs. Knopf aims big, with a first printing of 500,000.

The idea of Anne Rice writing a book about Jesus is fascinating. I haven't read one of her books in a long time, but I remember her as being a good writer and very, well ... sensual. Take that information along with the many vampire books she's written, and you get what? I'm not sure. Someone who hungers for the supernatural, or, dare I say it, the transcedent? I'm willing to withhold judgment and read her book, but I wonder how many Christians feel that way?

I am reminded of what the senior pastor at my old church liked to say: "If God used a donkey to deliver His message, He can use me." Or Anne Rice? She just might surprise some people!

More on Crouch's Speech at CBA

2005-07-11T23:53:00.000-07:00

Here's more information from J. Mark Bertrand's site on who Andy Crouch is and what he's done. I remember very well the Christianity Today article he wrote on what it was like to read all the Christy nominees when he was a judge. It was an eye-opener and convinced me to never write a novel about a small town.

Update: Also, check out the Faith in Fiction board, here. They are attempting to dissect Crouch's speech and everyone has an opinion.

Crouch said:

So I plead with you, as a reader, as a fellow follower of the Incarnate One, as someone who daily wonders how this gospel to which I am giving my life can possibly be true--I plead with you not to tell me stories which improve on the world. Instead, tell me stories about the world as it is, strange and real and full of grace

Personally, I think Andy Crouch was saying that "escapist" Christian fiction is fiction where everything ultimately works out. Characters in such fiction face problems, go through a dark time, and ultimately, thanks to the Lord, come out of the experience better people with a stronger faith in God. Which sounds good, at least on the surface. I think Crouch, though, believes a lot of such fiction is all surface, no depth, unrealistic in that crisis situations don't work according to a timetable, that they are often ugly, sloppy affairs, that people walk away from God never to return. It isn't nice and neat and tied up with a bow. It isn't a cure-all, nor Disneyland. It's life--a life where the grace of God is desperately needed.

Yet, just as some Christians hang out in church on Sundays and Wednesdays, shop in Christian bookstores, visit Christian friends, drink cofee in Christian coffee shops, and generally never dip their toe into secular water, so we perpetuate that Christian ghetto by reading escapist Christian literature. Some of us never dream that we might find profound insight into the mind of Christ by reading something different. As if God is limited somehow as to how He might minister to us.

Wonderful Speech at CBA

2005-07-11T23:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to the speech Andy Crouch delivered at CBA, which is now called ICRS. Make sure you read the whole thing!

Culture Makers | Instant Messages:

"But you are fiction writers. Perhaps one of you could introduce me to that one-legged man in Kampala. Tell me his story. Or if you can' t introduce me to him, introduce me to someone I never would have met, a sailor called Ishmael, an aging pastor named John Ames, a lover of poetry named Elizabeth Landis. Introduce me, if you must, to a whale. Someone or something unexpected and utterly true. Write to rescue me, rescue all of us, rescue even us Christian writers, from our addiction to our safe, sheltered, virtual stories. Rescue me from my instant messages. Deliver me out of this dream world, out of this endlessly diverting Holodeck of the self, into the real world, the world that is so terrible and so glorious and so full of grace that only imagination can make it whole."

Crit Group

2005-06-30T18:47:00.000-07:00

Chiaroscuro

Awhile back, I was looking for people interested in setting up a critique group, here. Along with a great crit partner, we posted some ideas for the kind of people we'd like to find for such a group. After it was up, I wondered if anyone would contact me or my friend, Linda. Well, a number of people did! And yesterday, we finished putting the new group together. We're very excited about it! The group is called Chiaroscuro--check it out!

Deborah Gyapong

2005-06-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

Awards - The Word Guild:

WOW! Congratulations to Deborah Gyapong of The Masters Artist! Way to go, Deborah! Oh, and she also won in the Short Story competition for a story entitled The Thong that was published by Infuze Magazine.

"The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award
Winner: Deborah Gyapong of Ottawa for a novel, The Defilers.
Given to encourage first-time Canadian authors to write fiction and non- fiction books expressing Christian faith in a clear, original and inspiring way. Open to writers who have not had a book published previously by a royalty-paying publisher. The winner receives a book publishing contract and an advance of $1,000 against future royalties. Sponsored by Castle Quay Books Canada (an imprint of Augsburg Fortress Publishers Canada) and Essence Publishing."

Celebration of New Christian Fiction V

2005-06-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

This month's Celebration is now up. Enjoy it! And thanks go out to Marcia Laycock for hosting it!

And if you're a writer interested in the new Christian fiction and you're also a blogger, join us! Leave a comment with your e-mail (don't include the "at" sign or you'll attract the bots) and I'll add you to the list for the July Celebration.

Writing from a Place of Faith

2005-06-19T16:41:00.000-07:00

"Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar." E.B. White

A wonderful writer, Mary DeMuth, said something recently on The Writers' View that I quote with her permission:

"Write from your passion. Be attentive to the whispers of the Holy Spirit. Be willing to walk through difficult places personally, holding the hand of Jesus, so that you have something to offer others. Beyond that, hone your craft. And let the pieces fall where they may."

If we write what's on our hearts, especially if it's something out of the mainstream of what's considered "normal," we risk exposure and ridicule whenever someone reads it. Face it, you cannot be a real writer unless someone reads your writing: family, friends, crit partners, or the strangers who become your readers. All of them read your words and then, guess what? They judge you. Are you foolish or wise? Saint or sinner? Proper or improper? You're baring your soul and some people won't understand you or your vision, some will have a knee-jerk reaction and label you different, strange, improper, or heretical.

As a writer, it's a risk we all take.

In my own case, the Lord led me to write about a gay Christian man in my current novel. Doing so has been an act of faith. He isn't a man coming to his senses because he finds himself with a deadly disease, which is the case in several CBA novels. Rather, the character is a successful film producer, a divorced father of two, and a devout Catholic who has also been gay since his teenage years. A man who loves God and has remained celibate as he's fought that part of himself that conflicts with his beliefs.

Even given such a characterization, this flew in the face of my evangelical background, so it became a huge act of faith to keep writing the story, to let this complex man live out his part of the tale without my interference. If I like this man (which I do), am I condoning his lifestyle? That, unfortunately, is what some people will say. Yet, the whole point of writing him has been to address the issue in a way that humanizes him so others could see him in a proper light. Gay people are people loved by God just as much as He loves me, or Billy Graham, or anyone else. Let's just agree on that one fact.

Did it work? Well, the jury is still out on that one especially since the novel is just coming to a first draft conclusion. And while this character is significant to the story, he is not the protagonist, so his impact may be lessened. He also "falls" in the novel ... he sins. It happens in almost every novel, but letting him fall might be the end of him for some. We'll see. I've had both negative and positive feedback. So, in the end, it remains an act of faith to write this, setting myself between zealots on either side of the issue when all I really mean to do is bring things back to basics: no one can begin or maintain a relationship with God if they are constantly reviled.

In the end, though, Mary has it right. I am writing from my passion. All I can do it lay it at the feet of Jesus, and see what comes of it. Like anything else, that risk is what makes it an act of faith in the first place.

African-American Christian Fiction

2005-06-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

Nashville City Paper:

I thought this was interesting in light of two things: (1) Dee Stewart made a fascinating comment on Mick Silva's post here about African-American CBA fiction; (2) I am writing about a gay man in my novel, and feel that it's an issue Christian fiction (not necessarily CBA fiction) should be exploring. [If I recall correctly, Lisa Samson has a gay man in her latest novel. I hope he's not dying of AIDS.:)] I'll have more to say about both issues, but for now, read this article. I'd love to read Murray's book!

Author Victoria Christopher Murray wasn't really conscious of operating in a new fiction genre when she began writing novels in 2000. She has now become an established best-selling writer in the area of African-American Christian fiction, which Murray said many publishing houses didn't even want to acknowledge or embrace a few short years ago. She will discuss her new book Grown Folks Business (Simon & Schuster) Saturday during a book signing at Alkebu-Lan Images Bookstore.

"I wanted to do books about real-life situations and characters, but from a spiritual perspective," Murray said.

Her latest novel explores a subject that has lately been heavily in the news, the issue of men who leave their wives for other men. But Murray's book is told from the standpoint of a devoted wife and mother that now must handle the emotional devastation of being abandoned by the man she thought she knew.

Christian Fiction

2005-06-16T22:30:00.000-07:00

Over on Mick Silva's blog, he's been interviewing Brandilyn Collins. She's made a passionate, knowledgeable, and quite extensive defense of Christian fiction, and even brought along some of her friends from ACFW to lend support. I have no quarrel with what she's saying, but something nagged at me as I read Part 1 and Part 2. I finally realized it was her defense of "Christian fiction" that bothered me. It is, of course, what she writes. But look at this comment from Dave Long. He made it in a Faith in Fiction post on November 17, 2003:

It's not going to change, but I think we are using the wrong terms in our discussions of Christian books and literature. Everybody says Christian Fiction when they are talking about books like Left Behind or Ted Dekker or Beverly Lewis, but they really should be saying CBA Fiction.

In my mind, Christian Fiction encompasses a far broader spectrum of writing and writers. Crime and Punishment is a Christian novel. Anne Lamott's Blue Shoe. Grisham's The Testament. These are all works of Christian fiction, but find themselves outside the category because, for the most part, they are not carried at Christian bookstores nationwide.

I'm betting that's what Brandilyn means when she's discussing Christian fiction--CBA fiction. According to The Complete Guide to Writing and Selling the Christian Novel by Penelope Stokes, CBA fiction comes with specific requirements as to worldview (which must be evangelical Christian) and other content (no foul language or misuse of the Lord's name, a minimal level of sexual involvement even with married characters, no graphic violence). As Brandilyn says, it's been changing and it certainly isn't what it used to be years ago, but there are still specific things you can and cannot do in CBA fiction. The consumers expect it (the legion of my former friends, the righteous-grannies-with-the-killer-attitude**) and they would be quick to complain if those specific areas changed.

However, those rules do not apply to all writers of Christian fiction. Such writers may restrict language, sex, or levels of violence, or they may not. They may write about Jesus, or His church, but even if they do, they probably don't proselytize because if they did, they would likely offend their secular readership. They may also choose to suffuse their novels with layers of Christian values rather than any direct religious reference. I'm talking about the likes of Anne Lamott, Leif Enger, Marilynne Robinson, Brett Lott, Jeff Berryman, Anne Tyler, and Susan Howatch, not to mention classics by such notables as J.R.R. Tolkien, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Flannery O'Connor, Leo Tolstoy, or Willa Cather. They are Christian writers. Some of them would be acceptable to the CBA, some would not. That's why "CBA fiction" makes it clearer what we're discussing.

I do not, however, expect this distinction to catch on. :-) I do think, however, that there's room in the vast publishing worlds of the CBA and ABA for all of us. Right?

**I am, in case you don't know it, a grandmother who used to do a lot of tsk-tsking whenever anyone pushed their toe over that line the least little bit.

Just a Minute

2005-06-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

Just a Minute

I like Michelle's way of thinking here, especially the last line! We should all be so level-headed!

Bret Lott

2005-06-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

A Jewel of a Writer - Christianity Today Magazine

A wonderful article!

And yet—if you've read Lott's novels, you might think, Hmmm. He's actually a lot less evangelistic or teachy or preachy than lots of "contemporary Christian fiction." Indeed, his novels aren't really overtly Christian at all.

"I'm a Christian who's a writer," Lott says. "I'm not a Christian writer, so to speak. If people are going to read my books, they're not going to encounter the traditional salvation scene. C.S. Lewis once said that we don't need more books about Christians; we need more books with Christian values built into them. That's what I'm trying to do in my fiction. I'm not trying to write Christian fiction that preaches to the choir. The choir already knows the drill."

Candyland

2005-06-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

Brian McLaren: An Open letter to songwriters

Great article and some of it applies to writers as well:

Sometimes I think we’re too happy: the only way to become happier is to become sadder, by feeling the pain of the chronically ill, the desperately poor, the mentally ill, the lonely, the aged and forgotten, the oppressed minority, the widow and orphan. This pain should find its way into song, and these songs should find their way into our churches. The bitter will make the sweet all the sweeter; without the bitter, the sweet can become cloying, and too many of our churches feel, I think, like Candyland. Is it too much to ask that we be more honest?

Rant--> Warning: Contains Attitude

2005-06-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

After an absence, Mick Silva returned to the Internet yesterday via his newly renamed blog, Your Writer's Group. When I read his account of what made him take his blog offline, I was sad--sad that his articulate-yet-civil arguments on the state of Christian fiction had been challenged by friends as well as Christian authors. It reminded me of how another person who works in the CBA had been slammed by Christians both amateur and professional for her/his strong-yet-tempered opinions on the same subjects. I'd witnessed that from the sidelines and been amazed by the divisiveness. I've also been the recipient of outrage and/or strong opinion that I'd write anything without making Christ the reason for my every word. In the minds of some, that is incomprehensible.

This feeling of sadness was exacerbated by a comment on my blog yesterday that led me to a rant on another blog. I admit I did not read the whole (long) thing, but the gist seemed to be that Marilynne Robinson was expected (by the blog's owner) to lead him/her to Christ through her writing. That she failed to write what would amount to a sermon that would bring this man or woman to the Lord was seen as her failure rather than that of the man/woman running the blog. Where personal responsibility fell in this argument I'll never know, but apparently, Marilynne will be standing next to this person on Judgment Day taking the heat too.

I don't read much CBA fiction anymore, but I not only support those who write it, I know from personal experience that most of those folks are fine, hardworking, selfless, dedicated people. I don't question their calling. I don't ask them to change the way they write or write for the ABA because that happens to be my preference. I accept that they fulfill a need and would not want that to change because I know many people who voraciously read their books.

That being said, I told Mick yesterday that his comments made me sad. Why? Because he was accused of being too strident, though I never experienced him as such. To me his writing was like summer rain on dry, scorched earth. Those of us who choose to write outside the CBA are (sometimes) trashed by our families, friends, and strangers because, as the writer of that blog said, we're Christians so we must write about Jesus. We cannot just write. We cannot attempt to improve our own writing, keep to ourselves, and be left alone by others. We are beaten up by folks who question our salvation, who lecture us on what our subject matter must be, who revile us because we allow cursing, drinking, drugs, prostitution, homosexuality, divorce, etc. into our writing. And if we suggest that, yes, for us, the writing within the CBA--some of it, not all of it--is not realistic to us or up to our expectations, well, we are soon set straight, sometimes with scripture references.

I'll be frank: the whole thing gives me a huge headache. We have Mick and Dave Long talking about these issues. We have a discussion board, although something happened to it and it now has very little of the discussions on it that it once did. Now Mick has been taken to task, Marilynne Robinson has been chastised, and I am wondering why I can't simply write and be judged on my merits as a writer rather than my theology or lack thereof. I am a writer doing what I believe God wants me to do. Why isn't that enough? No one will be forced to read my books. I promise.

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S GOOD AND HOLY...

2005-06-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

HELP, PLEASE, HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ursula stared at her reflection in the mirror, watching as the pupils of her emerald-green eyes widened with fear. Could it be true? She tossed her fiery-red hair, nostrils flaring, refusing to give way to the tears that teetered like sparkling diamonds at the corners of her large eyes--gorgeous eyes swept by incredibly long lashes. No, she wouldn't believe it. Never. She could not be one of only two writers left in what once had been a thriving, active critique group. No, no, a thousand times, no!

Okay, now that our example of bad writing is over (and we do admit that it was fun to write), perhaps we should get down to business? Although neither of us is named Ursula, we are the last two members of a once great, but now defunct fiction critique group and we're searching for a couple of new writing partners. Preferably people whose writing does not resemble the above.

Who are we? Pat lives in Southern California, and Linda is in South Africa at present. We started out writing within the framework of the CBA, but now believe that Ted Dekker got it right at Mount Hermon in 2004 when he said if the light of God is to shine through your writing, you must paint the dark with equally strong brushstrokes. We are fans of Christian writers who've chosen to write this way (most notably, Susan Howatch), but also support more CBA-focused writers like Randy Ingermanson, Brandilyn Collins, Fred Whittington, Karen Hancock et al.

Who are you? Anyone interested in joining us in this writing adventure would have to be serious about their writing, not easily offended by secular language or situations, comfortable with the whole "emergent Christian" thing, ready to classify themselves as either a Junior or Senior writer according to Randy Ingermanson's list as well as someone who would not be upset by a request for writing and critique samples. [We would, of course, provide the same for you.] We'd like to sit down for virtual tea and talk about writing, families, friends, and faith, get to know one another and see if we're a match. As "writers-who-are-Christians" rather than "Christian writers," we'll bring support, humor, strong editing and critique skills, as well as prayer support to the table.

If you're interested in becoming part of a serious, hard-working fiction crit group, if you're the kind of writer who likes hanging out at Dave Long or Mick Silva's blogs, if you agree with this statement, and if you think Lisa Samson, Jeff Berryman, Leif Enger, Ted Dekker, Marilynne Robinson, and other writers of "new" Christian fiction are cool, contact us at ploomis-at-adelphia-dot-net or lbennett-at-gmx-dot-net. Let's talk!

**And if you're into nonfiction instead of fiction, e-mail me too because I have a great person who'd like to start a nonfiction writers group (or a fiction/nonfiction mix, if that's what you do).**

Update: We have found an awesome group of writers thanks to this post! It's amazing to see the people who've come into our lives, wonderful folks with strong writing skills and the desire to refine those skills even more. Thank God for bringing such people our way! He knew just who to send!

To be a Real "Christian Writer"

2005-05-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

M y W r i t e r s G r o u p: Putting out the sun:

"Now I don't pretend to know, but I think too many Christian writers have written about God, thinking that this is what he's asking us to do when He calls us to write. But it's just a moot point. If you're a Christian and you wrote it, it's about Him. So stop shouting. It's not helping. Let your characters learn and live on the page and forget about what you think you have to do. I mean, who do we think we are? We think we can save anyone? It's the Holy Spirit who convicts of sin, who leads in salvation. It's Jesus who forgives and redeems. And it's God Himself who draws people and fills us with the love they need to see."

Whew! Mick is smokin'--read the whole article, please. He says so eloquently what I've been trying to say all along!

God, Inc.

2005-05-25T17:32:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! Finance - All Business - God, Inc.

This is a fascinating article and certainly no surprise. To a large extent, the interest in and growth of the emergent church comes out of a reaction to this attitude. And the same attitude, in my opinion, is reflected in the Christian publishing world (mimicking its larger ABA relative), which creates writers like me who do not want to be a part of such a huge business organization. Yes, yes, I can hear ya clearly: writing is a business. Granted. But does it have to be of such gargantuan proportions that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing and the writer is nothing except a cog in the whole process? Most writers complain that they get little support from their publisher and the sales department barely knows their name. Perhaps that's just the way business operates nowadays across the board, but that doesn't make it right. And it makes me want to look for a small press.

Celebration of New Christian Fiction IV

2005-05-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

This month's Celebration is now up at Chris Mikesell's site, So Much Stuff I Can't Recall. Check it out!

Christianity Today Book Awards 2005

2005-05-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

Christianity Today Book Awards 2005 - Christianity Today Magazine:

It's interesting that the two novels honored were not published by major Christian publishers like Zondervan or Tyndale and that both novels are very literary in nature.

Is this good news or not?

Bookmarks in MS Word

2005-05-22T15:39:00.000-07:00

Ray Rhamey has just re-published an old article on his blog Flogging the Quill that will revolunize my life. Every writer develops her own system for storing/saving her manuscript. I've always done mine by chapter because I've found one long, huge document to be unwieldly and impossible to navigate when you're looking for something specific. Easier, I reasoned, to search through one chapter than forty. That's before I read Ray's article on bookmarks in Microsoft Word. Yes, I'm sure some of you know all about this and are thinking, "Well, duh!" But even though I've been using Word for years, I had no idea. Check it out here.

2005-05-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

Reclusive 'Mockingbird' Author Appears - Yahoo! News

I'll be honest, I didn't even know Harper Lee was still alive. This article explains why. If I'd known she was going to be in town, I surely would've tried to catch a glimpse of her. Call me a Harper Lee groupie! To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my all-time favorite books. It's amazing, though, that she never published another book. I wonder why? Was it the notoriety? Or did she have too much pressure given how beloved the book is? I imagine that would be hard. As soon as book #2 hit the shelves, the comparisons would start. Well, maybe she said everything she had to say and just wanted to move on.

Faith in Writing

2005-05-21T16:05:00.000-07:00

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1

In her book Walking on Water Reflections on Faith and Art, Madeleine L'Engle says the following:

In a lecture at Wheaton I quoted the Anglican theologian, H.A. Williams, "The opposite of sin can only be faith, and never virtue."

The creative process has a lot to do with faith, and nothing to do with virtue, which may explain why so many artists are far from virtuous; are, indeed, great sinners. And yet, at the moment of creation, they must have complete faith, faith in their vision, faith in their work.

As I am now only one-and-one-half chapters from finishing my novel, I stopped to reflect on the truth of her words. It does take faith, doesn't it? In God, in His calling, in the specific world you are attempting to create, and in your God-given skills, your ability to carry the project through from beginning to end.

Too often, people start a novel with great enthusiasm, but falter somewhere along the line--usually, in the middle. They end up setting the book aside and feel terrible that they did. I'm not sure there's a sure cure for that, a magic formula that'll make you finish what you start. It may just be every writer has some "practice" books that never get done. Or the original idea just wasn't strong enough to carry a novel. Or it wasn't organized enough to plant some great plot points in the middle that'll pull the reader (and the author) along.

Whatever the reason, finishing a book takes faith. You keep going because you believe in your vision and, even more importantly, you believe that God is walking that road with you just as He walks every other road in your life. Whenever I hit a rough patch in my writing where it seems like nothing is working and my forward motion is gone, I step back. I think, I pray, I log off the computer and go to bed. I talk to other people too, especially my crit partners. Inevitably, a light comes on and I'm shown the way to go. Then, picking up my backpack and walking stick, I can resume the book's journey (and mine) excited and refreshed. That, I think, is what faith in writing is all about. At least, it is for me!

Religious Books

2005-05-16T11:55:00.000-07:00

This quote is from Publishers Marketplace daily newsletter, Publishers Lunch:

Religious book sales were the other big gainer, rising 11 percent, to $1.95 billion, helped by a rise in unit sales of 8.5 percent, to 221 million units.

The statistic is from the Book Industry Study Group's (BISG) annual statistical overview of the entire book business, BOOK INDUSTRY TRENDS.

My "Real" Age

2005-05-15T16:32:00.000-07:00

After the last post, I couldn't help this!

You Are 25 Years Old

25

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.

13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.

20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!

40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

The Best Age to Write a Best-Seller

2005-05-14T18:27:00.000-07:00

CrossoverFiction.com - The Best Age to Write a Best-Seller

This makes me so happy!

Haunt your major characters

2005-05-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

Flogging the Quill: Haunt your major characters for stronger storytelling

Another great post from Ray Rhamey. I'm happy to say that the protagonist in my novel, Waylaid (which is two chapters from being finished!) is, indeed, haunted. In fact, long before Ray's post on this, I wrote this tagline (with a lot of help from my crit partner, Linda Bennett!):

Haunted by shadowy images from his past, a troubled young man takes refuge in the arms of two improbable lovers.

So, I'm feeling like I'm at least on the right track.

Why I Will Never Be a Literary Writer

2005-05-13T17:17:00.000-07:00

I love beautiful language, really, I do. I'm reading Tender is the Night right now--how could I not? Read this:

Knotted at her throat she wore a lilac scarf that even in the achromatic sunshine cast its color up to her face and down around her moving feet in a lilac shadow.

or this...

When this died away on the summer air, she walked on, between kaleidoscopic peonies massed in pink clouds, black and brown tulips and fragile mauve-stemmed roses, transparent like sugar flowers in a confectioners window until, as if the scherzo of color could reach no further intensity, it broke off suddenly in mid-air, and moist steps went down to a level five feet below.

Both excerpts are wonderful. I wish I could write description like that, where a shadow can be lilac-colored, and flowers are sugar. My strength is in dialogue, though, so I always struggle with good description. I also, if truth be told, find that my eyes glaze over at too much of it. Or too much interior monologue/focus on the character's every thought. Although I'm not a person who likes action/suspense books, mysteries, or spy thrillers, I do enjoy a good plot in whatever I'm reading and I sometimes find that lacking in books labeled "literary." Take Walker Percy's novel, The Moviegoer. This came highly recommended by several writers I know and one editor who has a list posted on his blog, a list I've been attempting to read through. So, I bought a copy of the book. I've read well into it, but so far, nothing is happening, at least nothing that captures my interest. It's well written, it's interesting given the period in which it was written, but it has very little plot ... at least for me.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, who, for some reason, I did not read in school, has been a notable exception. I fully expected him to be like Walker Percy, but when I read The Great Gatsby, I was surprised to find there was a plot. It took awhile to get there, but it was well worth the wait. Maybe the Percy book is that way too, but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to finish it.

My conclusion? I'll never be a literary writer so it's good that I don't want to be. I am not attracted to the idea of writing in first person and while I enjoy deep character studies, I like them done within the context of a story that moves and propels the protagonist forward. I like to see the characters set into situations that stretch and challenge them. If they are sitting around musing about the state of the world or what color blue the lake is or how often they've been in love, well, I am bored. I do some of that in my own writing, but there's a plot, too, one that compels them to act. Which is just the way I want it.

Mermaid Chair

2005-05-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

JS Online: 'Mermaid Chair' an exploration of spirituality, sexuality

The story of a married woman (Jessie Sullivan) who returns to her childhood island home from Atlanta and falls in love with a monk has all the makings of a titillating tale. But "The Mermaid Chair" is the awakening of a sensitive woman and the quest of a man for spirituality and peace. It is, as Jessie says later in the novel, the notion of "a place inside open up, the secret place where I would carry him."

Sue Monk Kidd sounds like a fascinating writer. I'd like to read her first book, The Secret Life of Bees before I read this one. Anyone read either book?

I also like that it took her three-and-one-half years to write Bees. And that she says,"The best way to learn to write is to write." So many people seem to skip that part of the process.

Anne Rice

2005-05-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

Anne Rice Gets Biblical in Her Next Book - Yahoo! News

Vampires are usually her passion, but Anne Rice is getting biblical in her next book, due out in November from publisher Random House. "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt" will tell the story of Jesus' early years in his own words.

This sounds very interesting. I've read a couple of Rice's vampire books and it seems to me her biggest problem is going to be her current readers' expectations. Maybe she's trying to break out of the mold!

The New York Times > Books > Sunday Book Review > 'Plan B': Born Again, Again

2005-05-02T15:13:00.000-07:00

The New York Times > Books > Sunday Book Review > 'Plan B': Born Again, Again:

"Lamott makes almost everyone a little uncomfortable. Her secular friends and fans wish she would talk about Jesus a little less. Conservative Christian readers wish she wouldn't use language culled from bathroom stalls or refer to God as ''he or she.''

I love Anne Lamott. Yes, she makes me crazy too. I cringe at some of the things she says, but I think she's a wonderfully healthy part of my Christian walk and my writer's education. Why? Because I sometimes struggle with her same human struggles, things she's not afraid to mention like how imperfect she is as a mother, how her fears overcome her reason, how she sucks as a writer. Plus, she taught me that my number one reason for writing must be because I love it; I write because it gives me pleasure (and gives God pleasure too!), not because I have to be published. There's great peace in that. And through all of her crises and doubts, she clings to the Lord in such an honest, forthright way she always amazes me. How can she be a Christian? I think after she's made some remark I don't normally hear in my tidy, neat, evangelical world, but then again, what do I know? She's probably not the perfect role model, but then again, who is?

Supporting All Kinds of Art

2005-04-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

Art for Christ's Sake

While I may not agree with a couple isolated examples of grant dollars ill-spent, I refuse to let them define or abandon the vast, prolific body of creativity that every culture needs from her artists: We, as human beings, need to see people being like God.

I'll probably get into trouble for this since I'm sure many of you have heated opinions about men like Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano. Let me say, then, that I don't enjoy their work and the referenced article by Louie Weber makes clear that he doesn't either. Yet, I agree with his basic premise, that creativity is a God-given ability and to be creative is to emulate God. Sometimes, the artists doing the emulation go way out of bounds and produce art that goes beyond controversial to shocking and downright disgusting. But does that mean we shouldn't support the arts through an organization like the NEA? Or in general in our lives and our churches? In some (please note: some) evangelical churches, no fiction of any kind is allowed in the church bookstore much less anything else outside the rather kitschy Christian consumer items normally found (think Testamints). It seems a shame that we concede the world of artistic beauty and truth to people who likely know nothing about Jesus when we should be out there among them writing our books, painting our pictures, composing our music.

Celebration of New Christian Fiction III

2005-04-18T23:11:00.000-07:00

The Celebration is up for April!. Check here and enjoy some of your favorite bloggers plus a few new ones! And thank you Jeanne for doing the honors this month!

A Beautiful Approach

2005-04-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

The thing I most admire about Susan Howatch (other than the fact that she tells a great story every time she writes a novel) is her ability to expose her readers to markedly Christian concepts without preaching.

In The Heartbreaker, the protagonist is a breathtakingly handsome twenty-nine-year-old male prostitute. Gavin Blake is a heterosexual man who provides sex for upscale men in the heart of London, quite against his nature. How he ended up in such a degrading position is at the heart of this novel, but as it begins, Gavin is in extreme denial. He calls himself a "leisure worker" and believes he is not only at the top of his game, but well on his way to retiring from his chosen profession and living a life of ease with his "manager" (read: pimp) a woman named Elizabeth.

Through several God-engineered "coincidences," Gavin ends up in situations with Christian lay people as well as clergy and is slowly brought into an awareness that his circumstances are not only dismal and disturbing but potentially dangerous thanks to an odious individual who gives new meaning to the word evil. At a funeral for one of his clients (the only one who'd ever treated him like a human being) he studies a stained-glass window that depicts the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15:4-7. Gavin calls the man he sees in that picture, who tenderly holds a bedraggled sheep in his arms, The Bloke. This image and the idea of being rescued returns on several occasions as the novel continues, but each time it's brief and used to show how Gavin's thinking has shifted. Eventually, as his circumstances worsen and his awareness grows, Gavin begins to realize what's happened to him:

Sitting on a platform bench I sip from my Styrofoam cup and decide there's a certain ruthless inevitability about my disintegrating life, as if someone's methodically smashing it up with a hammer. I feel I'm being steered through a series of interlocking situations which are all leading to one Gotterdammerung-type conclusion-but no, "steered" isn't the word that describes what's happening to me, it's too gentle. I feel as if I've been lassoed and now I'm being dragged along the ground in a cloud of dust-but no, that's not right either. It conveys the idea of being captured but not the idea of being rescued. Someone's lassoed me, but with a lifebelt attached to a rope-yes, that's it. I was drowning in the sea but now the lifebelt's plopped over my head, the rope's snapped tight and a lifeguard on the distant beach is tugging me through the shark-infested waters to safety.
The rescuer's got to be The Bloke. He's not a shepherd any more. Shepherds are passé. He's a lifeguard like in Baywatch. Cool. Okay, haul away, mate, and give my love to Mary Magdalene, patron saint of prostitutes, who of course is standing by looking just like Pamela Anderson. Phwoar! Ultra-cool.

Howatch is able to present the Gospel to an audience of nonbelievers in a unique-yet-powerful way, one that almost anyone is able to understand, one that is completely non-threatening. At this point in the story, the reader is rooting for Gavin, cheering him on, and hoping he survives the next forty-eight hours. If The Bloke can help, they are all for it. And because this idea of Jesus as the rescuer has been presented in a thoroughly non-religious manner (i.e., without religiosity) but rather as part of a riveting story in which Gavin develops a relationship with The Bloke, just as with any other character, it works for secular readers. They don't feel as if someone has preached to them and presented the Five Spiritual Laws or the Four Steps to Salvation. That's the beauty of her approach: it plants the seed, a seed that others might nurture, a seed only the Lord can bring to fruition.

Sidebar: In case you're wondering: Susan Howatch was the inspiration behind my decision to write for the general market. Discovering her writing and this book in particular capped a number of other "coincidences" in my life including my inclusion in an international critique group, Dave Long's Faith in Fiction blog, Mount Hermon in 2004, Ted Dekker's speech there about light vs. darkness, Jeff Dunn's lecture on post-modernism, my introduction to the emergent church, and many more of my own God-engineered moments. It's been a wild ride!

Reading Blogs

2005-04-14T15:18:00.000-07:00

Stan Shinn has a great link on his blog, CrossoverFiction.com about aggregators and how well they work for those of us reading multiple blogs per day. If that describes you and you don't currently use an aggregator, don't miss the article! It'll make a huge difference in your surfing habits!

Writing Three Novels a Year

2005-04-14T13:58:00.000-07:00

From Christian Retailing:

Jerry Jenkins, co-author of the "Left Behind" series, has signed an exclusive publishing agreement with Tyndale House Publishers for 15 new contemporary novels in the next five to six years.
Although the subject matter is yet undefined, Jenkins will write two novels for each of the next two years and then three a year for the following few years. It is still to be determined if the books will be in a series format or stand-alone novels.

"This is one of the most important publishing deals we've signed," said Ron Beers, Tyndale senior vice president and publisher. "Jerry has a unique ability to communicate to both the Christian and general marketplace. His unique voice resonates with readers everywhere, and I can't wait to see his next big idea."

Jenkins said: "Tyndale House has become like family to me. I couldn't be more thrilled than to formalize my association with them for several more years."

I cannot imagine writing three books a year! Is this just me? Do other novelists think this would be easy even for someone who's written as many novels as Jerry Jenkins has?

Yikes.

Susan Howatch

2005-04-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

Touchstone Magazine 12.2 - An Interview with Susan Howatch

Without a doubt, my favorite contemporary author is Susan Howatch. She is the type of Christian writer I aspire to be. I realize that probably gets me into hot water with some Christians who'll say Howatch is a liberal Christian who mixes psychology with her theology, but that doesn't bother me. Not only is Howatch a wonderful writer whose characters and plotting are both spot on, she ministers the love of Christ to those who don't know Him in a way that shines above the rest. This particular interview was done awhile back because she talks about The High Flyer being her next book and it was published in 2001. Here is my favorite quote in this lengthy interview:

"I think it is extremely dangerous for any novelist to set out to evangelize, because you end up writing a Christian polemic. A novelists first duty is to write a story. A novelists second duty is to write a readable story, and without a readable story nothing is possible. You cant write a polemic for a lost generation. Thats not the way it works. It would be phony. If you get the story right, the Christian themes will emerge from the interaction of the people, and they can be completely understated."

This is the correct way, I think, to write in the general market yet still be true to your faith. You don't start out with the idea of evangelizing, you start with an idea. Then you write a great story. God's role in the story might be there for people to see (explicit), if it fits into your characters' lives, or it might not be that apparent. But in the end, since the heavens declare the glory of God, doesn't He always get glorified? As Howatch says, unless you are writing about something vile and there's no good reason for it, in the end, the reader is going to be exposed to the divine one way or another. First, though, that reader has to be given the emotional experience that will make her (or him) continue to read. Howatch does both superbly. Like I always say, when I grow up, I want to be Susan Howatch.

And if you've never read The Heartbreaker, I recommend it. However, be advised that it is not a CBA-type novel. Since it explores the world of a male "leisure worker," it can be very graphic, although it never crosses the line into titillation. But if you don't enjoy "bad" words, you probably would not enjoy this novel. Which is a shame because for my money, it is the best and most realistic portrayal of one man's journey to Christ I've ever read.

Gilead

2005-04-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

Entertainment - canada.com network:

Here's an article about Marilynne Robinson who just won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Gilead. I haven't read the book yet, but want to more than ever after reading this interview. The thing I liked best, among many things, is what she said about the process of writing books. It took her twenty-four years to write her second book.

Robinson, who moved here in 1989 to teach at the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa, is also unapologetic about the 24 years that passed between her highly acclaimed first novel, Housekeeping, and her latest.
With little pressure to appease her publisher, and no desire to write another novel just for the sake of it, Robinson took her time working on Gilead. And fans shouldn't expect another novel any time soon.
"I don't feel I'm under any pressure to write a book I'm not fully interested in,' says Robinson, whose next project will be a non-fiction book. 'I think you can tell when a novel is forced ... or written under the pressure of a deadline from a contract or publisher. I have never wanted to write that way."

As a writer, I love that approach, one that seems to suggest the art of writing is more important than churning out book after book. Of course, not everyone needs twenty-four years in which to complete a book, but it bothers me that many of the best-selling authors find themselves caught in their publisher's expectation that they produce at least a novel a year. And some produce more than that. Believe me, many of those books show it.

I'm not published, so I don't now how I'd feel if such a demand were laid upon me, but I hope I'd be able to find a way to do it that didn't compromise my writing. I've been working on my latest novel for a year now and I am nearing the end of the first draft. If it's finished this year, it'll probably be in October or beyond, but even that is uncertain.

Gmail

2005-04-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

I have been using Gmail for a while now and have to say I'm surprised at how much I like it. Since I begin using e-mail in 1996, I've always had a e-mail client such as Outlook or Outlook Express. The on-line interfaces I tried (like Yahoo's e-mail) were clumsy and slow by comparison. But I've always loved Google, so when they developed a program, I wanted an account. I'm happy to report that it has a cleaner and more readable interface than Yahoo, that it loads very quickly, only asks for password info once every two weeks, and that's it's much easier to navigate in.

So, if you'd like an invite, e-mail me at bookwritinmama - at - gmail.com--I'm sure you know to replace the "at" part with the actual sign? I don't want spiders harvesting the e-mail if at all possible!

What Would You Do?

2005-04-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

Flogging the Quill: March 21, 2005 - March 27, 2005

Ray Rhamey is in the middle of a fascinating editing project. He posted the first ten pages of a novel by a very brave writer named Mike. Usually, Ray follows such a post with his critique of the work, but this time he's done something a little different. He asked those of us who read his blog to provide our own critiques of Mike's work. The results have been fascinating. If you'd like an education on how very different we are as writers and how that affects our evaluation of someone's work, read Ray's first post here. You'll learn something, I promise you!

CrossoverFiction.com

2005-03-31T11:12:00.000-08:00

CrossoverFiction.com

Just discovered this blog and it looks great. I'm adding it to my news feed list. And if you don't know what a news feed list is, you ought to find out! Go to Bloglines and learn more. It's the best way to keep up with a number of different blogs without going crazy.

Note to Self

2005-03-29T13:41:00.000-08:00

OpinionJournal - Leisure & Arts

When you get your first book published, make sure your publisher sends a copy of it to Harriet Klausner!

Truth and Beauty

2005-03-21T12:55:00.000-08:00

Brian McLaren: An interview on Christian publishing and postmodernity

Just recently found this interview with Brian McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christian. I like what he says about modernity's focus on truth sometimes to the detriment of beauty. That resonates with me because in my own spiritual walk, I feel that lack of beauty. Although I grew up Catholic, when I became a Christian my church experiences were in the so-called "low church," a church without stained glass windows, priests in robes, ritual, or liturgy. There is absolutely nothing wrong with such a church and the foundational truths of my life were certainly laid down there, but after twelve years of it, I need something different. I'm not sure what, but I long for something that brings me face-to-face with God's beauty and the beauty of His creation.

I also noted in the interview that post-moderns enjoy story; they'd rather read the message within someone's journey than as part of a three-steps to [fill in the blank] kind of book. Which works wonderfully for me because I feel the same way and I happen to be a novelist!

Celebration II

2005-03-16T11:37:00.000-08:00

M y W r i t e r s G r o u p: The Celebration Continues...

Mick Silva over at My Writers Group is hosting this month's Celebration of New Christian Fiction. Don't miss it! There are some great articles!

Speculations on Donald Miller

2005-03-08T16:09:00.000-08:00

f a i t h * i n * f i c t i o n: What If Donald Miller Were Fictional?

Dave Long has a great post today on the fact that Donald Miller, a very unconventional Christian [see my earlier post about him], is being published by a CBA publisher. Miller appears to be the kind of Christian who'd send a lot of grannies screaming in the other direction, yet his book, Blue Like Jazz, has been a success. Of course, he's writing non-fiction, but I just checked the book on Amazon and he's ranked #148! So how come all the restrictions on fiction?

Update (4/4/05): Just saw this link to the first chapter of Blue Like Jazz. I read it and now I definitely have to go out and buy the book! Read for yourself.

Left Behind

2005-03-01T17:24:00.000-08:00

USATODAY.com - 'Left Behind' series: Like manna from heaven

"One of the fastest-growing categories in our stores is Christian fiction," says Terry Finley, executive vice president at Books-A-Million. "This is not a Southern phenomenon; at this point, it's a cultural phenomenon."

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I think it's wonderful that a Christian writer has had such a profound effect in a secular market. The article says that Jenkins/LaHaye joined J.K. Rowling, Tom Clancy, and John Grisham as being one of very few authors to have an initial two million books printed. Yikes!

On the other hand, although I think Jerry Jenkins is a wonderful human being and I respect the work Tim LaHaye has done, I don't think the books (at least the 8 or so I've read) are very good. They're not horrible, but neither are they compelling--at least not to me. They are very didactic, for one thing, and that makes me flinch. I know there's a place for that in some people's estimation, but in my fiction world, preaching is a big, glaring mistake ... and preach they do!

I'm also not sure I want to be lumped in with other writers under a religious heading given the fact that some people avoid that section of their local Borders or B & N like the plague. I'd rather be in another genre section, like romance, mystery, or, in my case, contemporary fiction. It seems more like a level playing field that way.

Story as River

2005-02-25T20:15:00.000-08:00

Flogging the Quill: Story as river

A great post by Ray Rhamey discussing the right way to begin a novel. And he mentions one of my heroes, Robert McKee, whose book Story taught me so much. If you want to understand the underlying structure inherent in any good story, I highly recommend it.

The Blog Book Tour

2005-02-24T10:41:00.000-08:00

Here's another great idea for Christian writers, especially those of us interested in the "pomergent" or edgy novel. M.J. Rose describes a virtual book tour done through blogs (Betting on Bloggers). And while I agree with what Kevin Smokler, who runs a Virtual Tour group says about niche marketing, it seems to me that the new Christian fiction is just that--very nichey (yes, I know--not a word, but we're being revolutionary here). Wouldn't it be cool to do something like that with one of us? Get behind a book when it's published and sponsor a tour? It's the wave of the future! And given the fact that audioblogging is becoming so popular, the ways this could be done seem endless. What if the author included a reading in his/her tour? Too cool!

The First Chapter

2005-02-22T21:13:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago, I "met" another writer re an on-line group. She needed the definition of what, exactly, Christian fiction is within the CBA. I had an answer and shared it with her. Well, we talked because she was thinking about going to Mount Hermon this year and I've been. One thing led to another and I ended up offering to critique her first chapter, which she planned to include in a proposal for MH. It was her first novel and she was hoping to find an agent.

I am not a published writer, but I think I have a solid grasp on what constitutes a good novel. Of course, everyone's taste is different, but I think there are certain things a first chapter needs and one of them is that it should grip you. Strongly. If it doesn't grab you by the throat and pull you into the story, it's not doing it's job. And by "you" I mean not only the reader, but the potential editor and agent who might review it. And, in my humble opinion, this author's work was not doing that job. It was more about giving the reader a lot of backstory, a technique I'm very familiar with and used in my first novel. Boy, did I ever! :-)

So, I told the author, as gently as possible, what I thought, both good and bad. She had some great characters and her grammar/punctuation was impeccable, her writing above average, but she wasn't grabbing anyone with the chapter. I told her, she thanked me, and I never heard from her again.

I say all of this because I was reminded of that episode today when I read Dave Long's post here. He is an acquisition editor at Bethany, so reading first chapters is his job. And he says almost the same thing, including this:

Read ten or so pages. Ten pages is enough to tell whether the nuts-and-bolts writing is impressive enough for me to keep reading. Rare are the books that are written in cliché and weak language for fifteen pages that suddenly turn into Joseph Heller.

If your first few pages aren't compelling, what chance is there that you'll be stunning on page one hundred?