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I was on my way to a small town at the bottom of New Zealand a couple of weeks ago when we flew over a flower farm. It looked magnificent from the air; ribbons of red, yellow and purple, flanked with green hills. It made me think that writing stories is a little like farming flowers.
Seeds given by God Seeds are the ideas that God plants in our minds. He gives us inspiration and the skill to let the ideas grow into something beautiful.
Roots of our Stories The roots of what we write are within us. The seed is planted in the soil of our beliefs, hopes and dreams and the words we write are influenced by who we are. The more surrendered we are to God, the more effective and rooted our words will be.
Roots Push up Stems If roots are nurtured and fed and watered, the natural outflow is a stem. This is the body of a story – the framework and skeleton that supports it.
Stems support Leaves As the stem matures, leaves start to bud and unfurl. This is equivalent to filling in the details of the story.
The Beauty is in the Flower A flower is the crowning glory of the plant. It’s beautiful and fragrant and attracts people to come and inhale its sweetness. These are the final touches we add to our story; the ability to use language in a manner that is refreshing and makes people want to read more.
These Flowers don’t wither after a Week Unlike natural flowers, our word flowers live on, week after week, year after year, until we have a flower farm of our own. The important thing is to share the flowers and spread the beauty and scent around. Whatever you decide to write this week, ask God to breathe His life into it and see it as a ravishing rose or pure white lily. Then take the flower and share it with someone who needs some inspiration.
As an editor, one of the most common problems I see in manuscripts is point-of-view. Do you struggle with it, too?
Monday, November 9th, editor and author extraordinaire Ramona Richards will begin teaching "Head Games: Exploring Point of View" in an online class offered by WIES Workshops.
This four-week writing class on point of view takes a close look at first person, omniscient third person, and limited third person (aka “deep”) points of view and what genres are best suited for each. Brief exercises and discussions will help also help participants decide which POV best suits their writing voice.
Ramona Richards, an award-winning editor, author, and speaker, has worked on more than 350 publications, including novels, short stories, and non-fiction. She’s been nominated for both Best Editor of the Year and Best Fiction Editor by the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, and frequently speaks on a variety of topics to writers and women’s groups. Her recent Steeple Hill novels, A Murder Among Friends, The Face of Deceit, and The Taking of Carly Bradford, each received 4 ½ stars from Romantic Times magazine. Her next novel, Field of Danger, will be released in December.
Congratulations to MARIA MORGAN, winner of last week's contest. Maria, look for your copy of Christmas Miracles to arrive soon!
Tim and I are reading through these stories now - restraining ourselves to one per day - and decided we'll need to buy stock in some tissue! Each story makes us cry tears of joy!
We serve such an awesome God! He alone is worthy of all our praise.
Reviewed by Phee Paradise A Slow Burn by Mary E. DeMuth
When you’re ready for a different kind of book, try A Slow Burn. While reading it, I felt like the world had shifted just a tiny bit and was not quite the reality I know. It’s not a murder mystery, although it takes place in the aftermath of the murder of a young girl and there are clues to the identity of the murderer. It’s not a romance, although there’s a man wooing a woman. It’s not supernatural, although several characters see visions. It’s not realism, although it describes the despair of drug use and hints at more darkness.
It is an honest story about God’s painful silence in the midst of grief and despair. The two main characters are an interesting contrast, tied by a common past but with different results. Both have suffered from a loveless childhood and both have tried to give up on life. But Emory, the mother of the murdered child, can’t find a way out. Hixon, who loves Emory, has been redeemed and tries to offer her the healing he has received. Emory rejects him at every turn because he represents Jesus to her.
The book is not without hope and healing, but it comes in an unexpected way. It is very well written, and the themes are strengthened by the slightly different style. It’s not an easy read, but it is thought provoking and worth the effort. I do recommend that you start with the first book in series, Daisy Chain.
Pros: Gripping characters and deep themes about God’s role when we suffer. It evokes strong emotions and challenges comfortable conceptions about love and faith.
Cons: The style is a little different, and while very well written, you may get tired of it before the end.
Mary E. DeMuth is an expert in Pioneer Parenting. She enables Christian parents to navigate our changing culture when their families left no good faith examples to follow.
Her parenting books include Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture (Harvest House, 2007), Building the Christian Family You Never Had (WaterBrook, 2006), and Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God (Harvest House, 2005).
Mary also inspires people to face their trials through her real-to-life novels, Watching The Tree Limbs (nominated for a Christy Award) and Wishing On Dandelions (NavPress, 2006).
Mary has spoken at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, the ACFW Conference, the Colorado Christian Writers Conference, and at various churches and church planting ministries. She's also taught in Germany, Austria, Monaco, Italy, France, and the United States. Mary and her husband, Patrick, reside in Texas with their three children. They recently returned from breaking new spiritual ground in Southern France, and planting a church.
ABOUT THE BOOK
She touched Daisy’s shoulder. So cold. So hard. So unlike Daisy.
Yet so much like herself it made Emory shudder.
Burying her grief, Emory Chance is determined to find her daughter Daisy’s murderer—a man she saw in a flicker of a vision. But when the investigation hits every dead end, her despair escalates. As questions surrounding Daisy’s death continue to mount, Emory’s safety is shattered by the pursuit of a stranger, and she can’t shake the sickening fear that her own choices contributed to Daisy’s disappearance. Will she ever experience the peace her heart longs for?
The second book in the Defiance, Texas Trilogy, this suspenseful novel is about courageous love, the burden of regret, and bonds that never break. It is about the beauty and the pain of telling the truth. Most of all, it is about the power of forgiveness and what remains when shame no longer holds us captive.
Reviewed by Phee Paradise Levi's Will by W. Dale Cramer
This is a wonderful story about a man whose long journey away from his roots takes him back to them in the end. We first see Will near the end of his life when he has gone back to his childhood home to bury his father. His troubled son comes with him. As they meet the people from Will’s youth and participate in the funeral rituals, Will remembers. Most of the book is the story of his life, told in the context of his Amish childhood.
The title of Levi’s Will reflects the story perfectly, with its multiple meanings. It is Will’s story, but the way he lives his life is influenced his father, Levi. Levi’s control and rigidity drive Will away from home, but not before teaching him a persistence that makes him constantly seek his father’s approval and forgiveness, even though they are estranged. Throughout his life, Will defines himself as his father’s son, but usually in a negative way. Levi was Old Order Amish, so Will abandons God. Levi was a pacifist, so Will joins the army. Levi was a harsh father, so Will abdicates his fathering of his own sons to their mother. On the other hand, Will works hard and loves his farm, because that is what Levi taught him.
After running away from home, Will has to find his way in the World. He makes some bad decisions, but also meets some people who love him. Because of them, he eventually faces the repercussions of his upbringing and his response to it. He not only has to forgive his father, but he has to learn to ask forgiveness from his wife and sons. It’s a hard lesson and he doesn’t fully learn it until the end.
I highly recommend this book, not only for the deep themes, but for the easy style and the wonderful characters. Will’s struggles happen within a great story and the resolution is very satisfying.
Pros: I want to say everything about the book, but I’ll be more specific. It’s a good story with flawed but likeable characters, a good setting and real themes.
Grow a Flower Farm of Words
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