De-Stressing and Re-Prioritizing

I've been a little overwhelmed lately, for good reasons.  Something's clicked in my brain regarding telling sentences, and third-person POV.  It's a great step up for my writing, and I am excited.  But it also means I have a lot of work to do on manuscripts in progress and others I considered finished.  I've tried juggling my new novel project, extensive edits, and blogging within my limited writing time, and it's only taken a week to realize I've bit off more than I can chew.

So . . . I've decided to go back to blogging once a week.  It's easy for me to resort to blog reading/writing when I don't feel like editing, and I need to hunker down get serious.  Plus my reading time is suffering, and I certainly can't allow that. ;-)

Book reviews are being lumped back into Tuesday posts, and I won't be doing my Sweet Saturday Samples for a season.  And everybody said, "Awwww!" *groan*  I've had fun playing around with scenes for "The Countess of Altamont", but for now I need to concentrate on my second draft of "The Way of Impressions".  The characters' personalities are starting to come together beautifully, and the scenes are getting tighter and stronger.  It's going to be good!

Pray for me, that God helps me to stay focused and motivated.  Until Tuesday, my friends.  :-)

Bookworm Thursday: What I'm Reading

I'm reading Redeeming Love for the first time. Shocking, I know.  Especially considering that I'm a fan of Francine Rivers.  Loved, loved, loved her Mark of the Lion Series. :-)  I'm halfway through RL, and I can see why it makes everyone's favorite book list.  It's not just a riveting story about a godly man marrying/loving a prostitute who has only known abuse her whole life, its a moving picture of how Christ loves us.  What's hitting me the most is the hero's pain.  We tend to see God as beyond emotions (hey, that sounds like a catchy title, doesn't it?--"Beyond Emotion"...hmmm) but the truth is, when His beloved creation rejects/betrays Him, His heart is truly broken.

Just in case you're missing out on this powerful, moving story like I was, allow me to tease you with the back cover blurb.

California's gold country, 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep.
Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside.
Then she meets Michael Hosea. A man who seeks his Father's heart in everything, Michael obeys Go's call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel's every bitter expectation, until despite her resistance, her frozen heart begins to thaw.
But with her unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband's pursuing love, terrified of the truth she no longer can deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael does...the One who will never let her go.

A powerful retelling of the book of Hosea, Redeeming Love is a life-changing story of God's unconditional, redemptive, all-consuming love.

Wanna Change the World?

Of course you do.  It's why you give up sleep to work on your novel manuscripts.  It's why you blog.  It's why you teach.

What if you had the opportunity to put a stop to legalized abortion?

Whoa.  That's big, Gwen.  Sure, I'd jump at the opportunity, but that's not going to happen.  I mean, our government is full of evil people with evil agendas -- there's no way they're going to have a sudden change of heart.  The end times are here.  This world is only going to become more and more depraved.

Our world is becoming more and more depraved, but that doesn't mean it's okay to wash our hands of it.  While we're still here, God wants us to pierce the darkness with our light.  God's heart is broken over the murder of so many innocent babies, and it's certainly not His will to allow legalized abortion to continue and prosper under Obamacare.  He wants to put a stop to it.  Why doesn't He?  I believe that God chooses to work with and through His people, not in spite of them, and He's waiting for us to partner with Him through prayer, fasting, and bold action.  Isn't that the example He's set for us in His Word?

Let me introduce you to an inspiring group of women taking a bold stand for life and truth in what is called the "Back To Life Movement".  This very day -- while you're reading this blog post -- they're walking from the largest abortion clinic in Houston,Texas, to the courthouse steps in Dallas where Row vs Wade was decided thirty-nine years ago.  Thirty-nine women, one for each year of legalized abortion.

What's that?  Big deal, its a walk?  Let me remind you of how the Israelites came into possession of the land God promised them.  They advanced in faith and fought the Canaanites.  They took the land, it wasn't handed to them on a silver platter.  Remember Jericho?  They marched around the city in obedience and faith, and then the walls came tumbling down.  The women of the Back To Life Movement are not too small and insignificant to tear down the strongholds of abortion in this country.  God hears them.  Their faith pleases Him, and He's going to act.

"Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him." Mark 11:23

"I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.  For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them." Matthew 18:19-20

"And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for." 1 John 5:14-15



 

You can be a part of this world changing walk by praying with them and for them, and supporting them.  At their website, http://backtolifemovement.com/get-involved/, they have a list of things they need.  Meals, transportation, hotel sponsorship, and funding to name a few.  Join me in rallying with them.  This may seem like a simple walk, but its not.  It's a tough, spiritual battle.  Let's fight!

P.S. Is anyone else excited about how this is taking place at the exact same time as the court hearings on Obamacare????

"Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

Sweet Saturday Sample

A whip cracked. Horse hooves clacked on the cobblestones. The cart moved away, and Charles lost his footing.

The rope tightened. Like a python around his throat, it squeezed without mercy, crushing his windpipe. Choking, he grasped at the rope, his body swaying back and forth. Back and forth. Time stopped.

“. . . him down!” The shout rose over the crowd’s wild cheers, accompanied by a horse’s neigh. “. . . papers signed . . . into my custody. . .”

“Comte de la . . .”

“Cut him . . . !”

Anxious voices and cheers jumbled and mixed, morphing into a roaring hum. His vision blurred, then faded. Evil. Darkness. It surrounded him. Taunting. Waiting.

The python's bruising grip relaxed. Charles' legs, chest and face smacked against the cobblestones, but he barely felt it. He opened his mouth, his face heating as he strained for air. His lungs wouldn't expand. Tears dripped down the sides of his face. The crowd booed. Voices argued above him.

“These papers have been signed by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and the bailli of Nord-Pas de Calais,” someone said in surprise. “Has this man been proven innocent?”

“Monsieur, it matters not whether he is innocent or guilty,” came a familiar baritone. “It is the will of the king’s administration that matters.”

Uncle? No doubt he came to gloat. Perhaps Father was there too, celebrating with him. Starting to intake air, Charles turned his face toward the voice, coughing and gasping.

Comte de la Motte-Piquet was decked out in a polished, spotless uniform that announced his rank as Lieuntant General of the Naval Armies. He looked down his nose at Charles with his usual condescending sneer, as if Charles was an annoying little bug he had but to squash with the heel of his boot. “Salut, Nephew. I should have let you die the death you deserve, but ironically, someone thinks you're useful. I’ve come to take you home.”

Charles growled weakly, unable to respond.

Bookworm Thursday: A Review of Surrender the Heart

Don't you just love it when you open a new book and the first sentence grabs your attention?

"I'd rather boil in oil than marry Noah Brenin."

Yep, this book had me at first sentence. :-)

Desperate for her dowry, Marianne accepts a marriage proposal from her childhood enemy, Noah.  Her dowry will buy the medicines that can save her mother's life and keep her little sister from poverty. Noah proposed marriage to Marianne to please his father and save the family merchant business, but he doesn't plan on actually marrying her.  He plans to make a small fortune in England and the Caribbean islands, therefore making his marriage to Marianne unnecessary and easy to back out of.

Their engagement party is a disaster.  Noah leaves early, determined to set sail for England that very evening.  Humiliated and angry, Marianne follows to speak with him, and through a series of unfortunate accidents, ends up trapped on Noah's ship and headed to England with him and his crew.  When no amount of pleading will convince Noah to take her back to Baltimore, Marianne resorts to sabotage, but her actions cost them all when they cross paths with an English frigate, and Noah's ship is helpless to run.

Toward the middle, I started to lose patience with the story.  It's not that the middle sags and there's nothing going on -- they're impressed aboard a British frigate!  I was just anxious for them to escape and impatient with the numerous scenes featuring Marianne with the British captain, and Noah up in the yard arms day after day.  It was probably my frame of mind while reading it, because it's written well, and balanced with enough action to keep going.  There is some interaction between Noah and Marianne on the HMS Undefeatable -- some very romantic scenes, actually.  My favorite was when Noah went to Marianne's cabin to comfort her during a fierce storm.

The characters are very life-like.  Marianne is plain and plump, and deathly afraid of the ocean due to the way her father committed suicide.  She believes that no man can ever love her, and nurses a distrust of everyone, including God.  Noah is trying to win his father's approval and atone for his part in his brother's tragic death.  Both of them face their deepest fears while impressed upon the British man-of-war, fears they'll need to overcome in order to survive.

My golly gosh, what an ending!  Be prepared to stay up until the wee hours of the morning through the last quarter of the book, holding your breath!  Tyndall masterfully took the war of 1812 and used it to remind me of the story of Gideon in a very powerful way.  Impossible odds.  Outnumbered.  But God is on their side.  Seriously, the ending was amazing.  Four and a half stars, and I'll definitely be picking up more of Tyndall's books in the future.

My favorite lines from the book: "I believe Mr. Garrick frightened my illness away."

"Perhaps we should employ him as surgeon instead of first lieutenant.  Then he could go about scaring everyone into perfect health."

The Math of Writing

I wanted to pass on a writing tip that is really helping me with my plot structures. It's simply this:

0%        25%        50%        75%        100%

Act I     Act II                     Act III

Hey, I'm not a fan of math either.  But whoever came up with this is brilliant.  Thinking in percentages and "acts" will tighten up those sagging middles, fill up plot holes and help sculpt your story.  Even pansters might benefit from this formula when editing.

You open the story, hopefully with compelling conflict.  Chapters fly by, and the reader is getting a sense of what the story is about. Think of it as Act 1. At the 25% mark, introduce the first plot point.  It should change the character's world, force them to make decisions/plans, and deepen the conflict.  This is a great place for a twist as Act II begins.

Act II will span from the 25% mark to the 75% mark, and is arguably the hardest part of the book to get right plotwise.  Basically, you want to show the protag's progress and complicate his/her situation.  At 50%, you're obviously halfway through.  That would be the place to thow in the monkey wrench, or second plot point.  Keep the reader hooked and guessing, but don't have the protag come home to find the dog wearing a tutu, sitting at the table and drinking tea with the cat.  While at 25%, you can take the story in just about any direction, at 50%, the twist should make sense to the story and increase the stakes.  This is the characters' point of no return.  Your's too.  :-)

 Artist “bnielsen”

http://openclipart.org/detail/101335/cartoon-monkey-with-wrench-by-bnielsen

75% ushers in Act III, and your third plot point or major set back. It looks like the antag is winning, and the protag's plight seems beyond hope -- or it should.  You want your reader worried that there is no way the book can end well (leaving room for hope, of course.)  The plot and subplots should be coming to a head, and if you're really crafty, the reader is starting to understand how those subplots fit into the main plot.  Then you have the scenes its all been leading up to -- the protag overcomes, etc., and the happy ending. 100% should leave everything tied up in a neat little bow with no loose threads.  Voila.  Bowing.  Roses are flying.  And the reader should be able to live the rest of their lives without reading book two.  Yes, I did just go there.

I hope I didn't confuse you.  Okay, I did.  Ignore me and try the formula anyway.  It's a great place to start, and it's changing the way I write and edit.


A big thank you to Loree from Loree Huebner ~ Between you, me and the gatepost, and Faye from labor not in vain for thinking of me while passing on the "I've Been Tagged" Questionnaire!  If you aren't following Loree and Faye's blogs yet, allow me to recommend them. Loree writes a terrific historical-themed blog featuring the Civil War time period, and I am so excited about her new contract with Seymour Agency!  Faye reviews the latest CBA releases and writes helpful and sincere book reviews.

I'm not going to participate in the questionnaire this time (forgive me), but if you would like to, I'm passing this questionnaire on to you.  You can find Loree's questions and Faye's questions in the links I provided above. :-)

Sweet Saturday Sample

Charles' bound hands rested on the edge of the cart that bounced him past the crowd lining the street. The wheels creaked and squeaked, working with jeering voices to create a symphony of torture. Something hit his head and back. Slime dripped down the side of his face, slapping him with the odor of rotten egg.

“Murderer!" An old woman spit as the cart jostled him past her. “Scum!"

Yes, murderer. Yes, scum. But he had loved her. Sweet Jeanne-Marie. Her bloody, lifeless body was in his arms again, a sickening metalic smell replacing the rotten egg. He could hear Louisa's scream, her sobs. All for that fool of an earl. Altamont should have died, not his Jeanne-Marie. He curled his fingers, making tight fists. People swarmed the public square, even lurking from shuttered windows on the second and third floor of buildings. Their voices merged into a collective hum.

The world had gathered to watch him die.

At least he'd be at peace. And yet, uncertainty gnawed at his gut, mocking everything he'd been taught to believe. Would the simple ceremony of last rites convince God to allow him entry into heaven? If so, no doubt he'd endure a long purgatory. If not . . . If not, then come what may. How could anything be more painful than knowing that the one person who mattered was dead? By his hand. It hit again, a cannon ball ripping through his soul. The shock and confusion twisting Jeanne-Marie's features in those desperate, last moments. Her body trembling, coughing blood as she strained to speak. "Suzanne. Suzanne."

The cart halted underneath the wood beams. A priest stepped forward, making the sign of the cross and chanting in Latin, while a Maréchaussée officer on horseback prepared the noose. A peddler wove his way among the spectators, shouting advertisements for fresh bread. A blast of hot wind sent the delicious aroma his way, along with the less tantalizing odors of unwashed bodies and human and animal waste. Would there be food in purgatory?

As the noose was placed over his head and cinched tightly around his neck, a little girl caught his eye. She was about the same age as the freckle-faced footboy he'd killed – about nine or ten years old. Stringy dark hair escaped her white bonnet and cascaded over her shoulders. Her dark, intelligent eyes stared back at him with the same pensive look he'd often seen . . . Charles blinked. She can't be. I'm seeing things. He shook his head, but the little girl remained, looking at him with that same, pensive expression.

The back of the cart released with a rickety crash.

“Monsieur de la Motte, you have been found guilty of the murder of Madame de Crébillon, and are therefore sentenced to hang by the neck until you are dead. May God have mercy on your soul."

Bookworm Thursday: A Review of Gallimore

Jessica Neale has shut down toward life and God since her husband's tragic death.  For her son's sake, she allows her mother to talk her into taking a therapeutic vacation in England, and while there visiting castle ruins, she finds herself sucked into to a medieval world complete with castles, knights, and Old English jargon.  Her arrival displaces Colwyn -- a knight on his way to battle -- and therefore puts him and the inhabitants of Gallimore Castle in a precarious situation with King Edward.  Much to Jess' and Colwyn's chagrin, they can't seem to get rid of each other. But oh, they try.

This was a beautiful, heart-wrenching story that wonderfully demonstrates the difficult but rewarding choice to show kindness and love to someone who doesn't deserve it.  Jess and Colwyn are such wounded, tortured souls.  I couldn't help but cheer them on with each step they took toward releasing their grief and choosing to love again.

I didn't really get into the book until the halfway mark -- not because of any fault with the pace or plot -- it was rather because I didn't like Colwyn at first.  I wanted to smack him over the side of his head a few times.  But by the middle of the book, I was biting my nails over his safety and how the book would end.  I was so hooked at that point that I stayed up until three in the morning, anxious to find out what would happen.  Griep gave it a beautiful, heart-warming ending -- it wasn't what I wanted for one of the characters, but after thinking about it, I realized that had it ended the way I wanted it to, that character would have been miserable.

Michelle Griep is a fantastic writer!  Her frequent use of the five senses and graphic descriptions immerse the reader into the story rather than distract from it.  No cardboard characters in this book.  They're so real you can reach out and touch them -- they do the wrong thing, they struggle with selfishness, and they ache to be loved.  Griep knows how to create a creepy villain that makes the hairs on your neck and arms stand on end.  And best of all, she can write humor and weave it perfectly into a story filled with tear-jerking emotion.  I'm giving it four stars, and waiting with bated breath for her next release. :-)  If you dig roguish knights, castles, evil villains, and a fast-paced, gripping story, you won't want to miss out on this great time travel romance.  The kindle edition is just $4.99 over at Amazon.

Oh, the Agony of Being Honest!

A quick note on the blogging schedule: Tuesdays will be my whatever day -- life, faith, research, writing, get-to-know-you stuff... you know, whatever.  I'm reserving Thursdays for book reviews, book promotions, or the opportunity to share my thoughts on what I'm currently reading.  On Saturdays, I will continue to offer a brief snapshot of my work. *Deep breath*  Posting three times a week looks a little bit daunting, but I do want to start reserving a particular day for books.  Besides, if I'll stop wasting so much time with email, facebook, etc., I think I can manage. ;-)

Getting that out of the way...honesty has been on my mind.  Honesty in book reviews.  (Couldn't resist a picture of Abe Lincoln.  Have you seen that Geico commerical???  Awesomeness.)

Photo by Gage Grove 91

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gagegroverocksallbeings/3788247280/

Honest book reviews are so valuable to the book browser.  As our world keeps changing with new technology, book reviews are starting to play a big part in a reader's decision to purchase.  Even I allow book reviews to influence me.  And while I follow a lot of book reviewers, the only ones I pay any attention to are the ones who aren't afraid to be critical in love.  Why?  Because I value honesty.

When I read reviews on Amazon or Goodreads, I skip the five star ones, and start with the four and three star reviews.  Four and three stars don't scare me away from purchasing a book.  Instead, they show me what I may or may not have an issue with.  Why do I skip the five star ratings?  Because I'm a bit skeptical, and tend to believe that most five star reviews are overly generous.  But I do pay attention to how many five star reviews a book has been given.

I got to thinking the other day.  Why do people gush about books that aren't the five-star, favorite-worthy masterpieces they say they are?  Maybe you know what I'm talking about.  You buy a copy of Book "A" based on all the rave reviews.  Alas, it doesn't meet your high expectations, and makes you feel like you just wasted twelve dollars.  You think about those book reviewers and wonder what they were thinking.  You wonder if they were friends and relatives of the author.  And you vow to never trust those book reviewers again.

Back to why people gush about a less than stellar product.  I think the root is fear.  We don't want to hurt the author's feelings.  We don't want to affect their sales negatively.  We want them to return the favor when its our turn, so we leave things off of our reviews.  But is that really helping the author?  Some would argue "yes".  Me?  I'm not sure.  Maybe its my "unpublished" mind-set, but lately I've been thinking that if criticism is left to those who buy the book and are disappointed with it -- not only will the bad reviews on Amazon increase -- the author will lose potential customers for life.  Am I wrong?

I know what you're thinking -- she's one to talk!  She posts nothing but five and four star reviews on her blog!  Guilty as charged.  Last November, I wrote a blog post about my hesitancy to post critical book reviews.  You can read it here.  Since then, I've become braver and concluded that my honesty --spoken in love, of course -- can only help an author, and build trust with those who read my blog.  I'm still thinking I'll refrain from reviewing books that I can only give one or two stars.  Those kind of reviews won't be helpful to anyone, unless it's an awful book that you want to warn your friends away from.

If your curious about how I rate the books I read, I'll tell you.  Five stars means I found nothing wrong with it, and really enjoyed it.  Even if the book isn't a favorite I would re-read over and over, I'll still give it five stars.  Four stars mean it's an excellent book, I enjoyed it overall, but something bothered me.  Something that took a bit of the enjoyment away from it.  Three stars mean there were several things that bothered me.  Maybe I was off and on about reading it, but interested enough to see what happened at the end.  Two stars mean I was very bored.  I usually don't even finish these books.  I have a hard time giving a one star rating.  Perhaps if the author has already entered eternity, and it was, well, just an awful book in every since of the word.

While I was still debating on actually posting this article, God led me to this verse.

"It is an honor to receive an honest reply." Proverbs 24:26

An honor.  So when it's appropriate to give a book four stars instead of five -- according to the Word of God -- you are honoring that author.  Wow.  What a different way to look at it!

Here's another thought.  An honest review is a customer magnet.  I know, because I'm one of those attracted to honest reviews.  By being honest about even one thing we didn't like about a book -- and nine times out of ten we will find something we didn't like -- we are sharing our opinion and inviting a potential customer to come to their own conclusion about it.

To Pinterest or Not to Pinterest?

When I discovered Pinterest, I was excited.  Pinterest's virtual bulletin boards offered me a neat way to organize pictures I stumbled upon while doing period research for my novels, and network at the same time.  It's a brilliant idea, and quickly becoming Facebook's rival in attracting social media traffic.

But last week, I read an article that scared me away from Pinterest.  In the article, a photographer/lawyer voices her concerns over Pinterest's possible copyright infringement, the frustration of artists who feel their copyrights are being violated, and how Pinterest is shifting any legal issues onto the Pinterest users.  You can read the article here.

Now, I don't know much about the "fair use" clause in copyright laws, so I don't know what to make of claims that Pinterest is violating an artist's copyright by using the full size and resolution of a photograph.  And of course Pinterest is going to protect themselves from lawsuits. 

This is what bothered me:

"You acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for all Member Content that you make available through the Site, Application and Services. Accordingly, you represent and warrant that: (i) you either are the sole and exclusive owner of all Member Content that you make available through the Site, Application and Services or you have all rights, licenses, consents and releases that are necessary to grant Cold Brew Labs the rights in such Member Content, as contemplated under these Terms; and (ii) neither the Member Content nor your posting, uploading, publication, submission or transmittal of the Member Content or Col Brew Labs' use of the Member Content (or any portion thereof) on, through or by means of the Site, Application and the Services will infringe, misappropriate or violate a third party's patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, moral rights or other proprietary or intellectual property rights, or rights of publicity or privacy, or result in the violation of any applicable law or regulation."

By agreeing to Pinterest's terms of use, you are claiming that you have full permission or license to pin, repin or upload every photo on your pinboards, and you are accepting full responsibility for any misuse of them. (So it doesn't really matter if you're careful to credit the artist and link back to their website. If you don't have a license to use that photo, you're leaving yourself wide open to attack.)

All those beautiful photos on Pinterest -- I doubt those who pinned  and repinned them took the time to contact the artist for permission.  And you're right, there are thousands -- maybe millions -- of Pinterest users.  The chances are slim to none that you'll cross an artist who's mad at the world and eager to sue.  Still.  As a poor writer using Pinterest to organize research pics found both inside and outside of Pinterest, I was uncomfortable with the risk and unwilling to spend time contacting each artist.  So I, too, deleted all of my pinboards (after recording the URLs of the pics I wanted to use in my research. ;-) 

I'm not trying to persuade you to delete your pinboards too.  I simply felt that I needed to present my understanding of the risk.  I'm hoping that Pinterest and artists will come up with a system that will make it easy to know what is and isn't okay to pin without having to go through the trouble of contacting each artist.  But in the meantime, I have one less temptation to waste time when I should be writing.