June 2007

I’ve decided to add a new feature to my weblog – highlighting guest authors to give you a glimpse at their latest books. This is different than Spotlight – it will be a periodic guest blog on my home page by the author’s themselves – no questions on my part. :)

Today I’ve asked my friend, author Tamera Alexander to tell us about her new release Remembered. I recently received my copy and since I loved the first two books in the series, I can’t wait to read it!

First – a bit about Tamera:

Tamera Alexander is the bestselling author of Rekindled, Revealed, and Remembered, the three-part Fountain Creek Chronicles historical series with Bethany House Publishers. Rekindled, a CBA bestseller, has won critical acclaim and was chosen as one of Library Journal’s Top 5 Picks for Christian Fiction 2006. Rekindled and Revealed triple-finaled in the 2007 RITA® Awards sponsored by Romance Writers of America-Rekindled and Revealed for Best Inspirational Novel, and Rekindled for Best First Novel.

Tamera frequently speaks to women’s groups, sings on the praise team, enjoys mentoring other writers, and also served as the conference coordinator for the 2004 American Christian Romance Writers National Conference in Denver, Colorado. She and her husband make their home in Tennessee with their two college-age children, and a seven-pound Silky named Jack. Tamera is currently working on her fourth novel, part of another three-book historical series with Bethany House which is set in the Colorado Territory.

Now – here’s Tammy!

Thanks so much, Jill, for allowing me to guest blog today! I’ve enjoyed your Spotlight on Authors and the insights your posts offer into the craft of writing and into the more personal side of the writer themselves.

My third book, Remembered, has just released and each book seems to be getting harder to write. For some reason, I thought they would get easier but no! I’ve been asked recently how I came up with the Fountain Creek series, and did I already have all three stories in mind or did they come later?

Rekindled, book 1 in the series, was inspired by the remnant of a dream. When I awakened all I could remember was a man coming home on horseback. He’d been gone for a long time and was apprehensive about his return. When he passed through town he saw a burial and wondered whose it was. When everyone left, he went over and knelt by the grave, read the name on the wooden cross, and it was his! That was the inspiration for Rekindled. Revealed is the story of two characters from Rekindled that really captured my heart.

My motivation behind Remembered was a trip to Paris that my husband and I took in May 2006. I “met” Veronique Girard (figuratively, of course) in a cemetery in northern Paris, and as Joe and I strolled the old cobbled walkway of Cemetery Montmartre, this young woman (the daughter of a French Fur Trapper from the 1840s) came alive for me. And….the first scene in Remembered is set in that very cemetery.

I see stories in most everything around me — news headlines, snatches of conversations I may overhear, scriptures that hit me in a new and fresh way, and in music. Just the other day I heard a new song from a favorite artist of mine (Alison Krauss) and it prompted me to thinking about a subplot that I could write into the book I’m working on now. You just never know where story ideas will spring from!

An idea for a new series came to me during a hike the other evening. I love to walk and now that we live in Tennessee there are beautiful rolling, wooded hills all around us. So every chance I get I head out and explore my new surroundings. Just a few nights ago my husband and I happened upon a pre-Civil War family burial place not far from our house, nestled beneath a massive 200-year-old Poplar Tree. (I love visiting graveyards!)

I’ve already visited the genealogy section of our local library and have discovered that one of the men buried there was a Revolutionary War solider. The surrounding land was granted to the original owner of this land for Revolutionary War Services, and Andrew Jackson also attended this man’s funeral! Can’t you just see a story unfolding!

Here’s a peek at Remembered, Book 3 in Fountain Creek Chronicles:
Though loss is often marked in a single moment, letting go of someone you love can take a lifetime…

His grief finally healed, Jack Brennan is moving on with life. After years of guiding families west, he is now working as a freighter to the mining towns surrounding Willow Springs. What he doesn’t count on is an unexpected traveling companion on his trips up into the mountains, and how one woman’s search will cause havoc with his plans… and his life.

Jill here – just for the record, I really liked Jack Brennan from Book 2 – and I’m itching for a good love story! As soon as my mom finishes reading it… :)

Visit Tamera’s website and her blog for more insights from an amazing author!

Thanks Tammy!

Happy reading ~

I know the old song (I think it was sung by Richard & Karen Carpenter) says, “Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.” But today was a very rainy day and it’s Wednesday and I’m not down at all.

Actually, we needed the rain around here if the brown lawns had anything to say about it. I hadn’t planned to get caught in it twice, but managed to half drench myself anyway. When you put lotion on your feet and they get wet, they will slide in your flip flops and make driving a challenge. :)

We’re getting ready to do a lot of painting on a house we hope to soon put on the market. Not our house – we’re doing this for a relative. The house is in need of a lot of TLC right now, and we’ve got some young helpers with more energy than we have willing to help. So we picked out the colors and bought the paint today. I’m almost ready to get started with them! Almost. :)

This afternoon was a pleasant writing time as I watched the rain and typed on the laptop. The words were coming fast, and I’m excited to say that I’m 1/3 of the way through the first draft! Thirty thousand words finished! Woo hoo! It feels good.

I’m aiming to do something different with this book – trying to write a suspense that is character-driven. The trouble I have is that I get to know my characters as I write, so I’ll probably end up with changes and rewrites when I finish. I follow my outline pretty closely to get the first draft down. Then I get to go back and tweak. It was a good day to get into the story because I had the house to myself. I noticed that I need more uninterrupted quiet these days to focus and put myself there. This rainy Wednesday was good for that. Wish I could order a rainy day once a week. :)

The day finished with a trip to a baby store. A sweet friend of mine is having a baby soon and another friend and I went shopping together for her. I can’t wait to see what she thinks of what we got. :) I’m going to love being a grandmother someday. (Not too soon though.)

And now I’m home listening to more thunder outside (at least I think that’s what I’m hearing), remembering how when the kids were small we used to tell them that thunder was God talking. Actually, I don’t think that assessment is far off. The Bible does tell us that God’s voice thunders from heaven. (The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. 2 Samuel 22:14) I wonder if the thunder that accompanies a storm isn’t a good indication of His voice. And if His voice is that big…well, we do serve a great God!

Who makes the rainy days and Wednesdays and sunny days and Mondays…and doesn’t ever let us down.

It’s been a good day!

There is a famous saying that goes like this:

“Only one life ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Only one life…I remember back to the days of my childhood when a birthday would come, and I couldn’t wait to grow up fast enough! When I was 13, I wanted to be 16. When I was 16, I wanted to be 18. Someone once warned me about wishing my life away. I quickly learned to enjoy each moment, even through the difficult times, to cherish the days we have with those we love.

There was a song I used to listen to that captured this same idea. I think it was by Bill & Gloria Gaither. It went something like this:

“We have this moment, to hold in our hands,
And to touch, as it slips through our fingers like sand.
Yesterday’s gone, and tomorrow may never come.
We have this moment today.”

Some of us have many moments, years and years of moments. Others have very few.

We attended a graduation party today where we found out a family had lost their oldest son to some kind of heart problem. The man was 30 years old.

Another friend lost a cousin to a car accident last week – a young man probably in his twenties.

And yesterday, we found out my father-in-law is dying. He is almost 96.

Two men had their lives cut short – too young to die. One has lived a long, full life.

And yet, they each had one life. One life to live as they saw fit. One life to choose what to do with the time that had been given to them. One life to make life-changing decisions about the next life.

I was watching a show the other night called Inside the Actors’ Studio. At the end of the interview, the interviewer asked this question: “If there is a heaven, what do you want to hear God say to you when you get to the pearly gates?”

Interesting question for people who aren’t even sure they believe God or heaven exists. And if both God and heaven (and hell) do exist, it seems to me we would want to know what they’re really like. A better question to ask the God who owns the heavens is, “What must I do to be allowed into heaven when I die?”

After all, why should God let us in at all? If heaven exists, God made it. And if He made it, He gets to decide who He allows in. And the best part is, He wrote a book telling us the answer to that question. All we have to do is read it and ask Him to show us. The way is free, yet costly — impossible, but simple. Understanding it all takes a truly seeking heart.

Of course, the answers that were given on Inside the Actors’ Studio did not reflect any such thing. One answer was more along the lines of, “If God exists, he’s got a lot of explaining to do.”

And that answer shows a lot of arrogance aimed at someone and something they don’t know and haven’t taken time to understand. But they could…in this one life God has given to them…if they took their decision about the next life seriously.

Only one life ’twill soon be past…
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

And it will last…forever and ever and ever.

Last summer my two oldest boys made a short film which won the Audience Award for best film at the Emagine Theater in Novi. The film is titled Subject 74. They’ve finally completed a website where the film can be viewed online.

So if you like science fiction and have about 14 minutes, click on over to watch. It’s pretty cool, if I do say so myself. Look for yours truly in the credits for catering services. I had nothing to do with writing this script or directing this film – Jeff and Chris get the credit for that. Randy and I kept the crew fed. Randy had a small part in the film as did our son, Ryan. And everyone helped with cleanup. :)

If you like the film, you can post a comment on their forum.

Happy viewing!

Last night I wondered if Father’s Day would find my dad back in the hospital. He gave us a scare when his blood sugar dipped pretty low. Of course, we didn’t know that was the reason for his symptoms. But they were serious enough that I ended up calling paramedics for my mom. Then I put my jeans back on (I was dressed for bed) and got ready to head to the hospital. Thank the Lord for paramedics who knew what to do. They gave my dad some orange juice, which brought his sugar levels back to normal.

So Father’s Day turned out much happier for all of us than it might have. My dad got to come over and have apple and strawberry pie. (I made one of each, so naturally, he had to try a little of both.) :) My family is a pie loving family – a dessert we simply don’t pass up. :) I’m so glad Daddy got to come over today – he even drove the car and was back to his normal self.

My husband Randy enjoyed his day as well, though he is still recovering from out-patient surgery. We barbecued steaks – tried a new seasoning that was great – and later watched a movie.

The movie, Facing the Giants, while some might think it was good, was a bit disappointing. The Christian message almost promoted a prosperity gospel, as though if you surrender everything to the Lord, suddenly your life will be perfect and all the stuff that was going wrong will turn around and come out right.

The idea was that “nothing is impossible with God.” I agree. That’s Biblical. God can do whatever He wants, and we should live our lives to His glory and praise Him whether we win or lose. The problem I had with the movie was that after they surrendered to the Lord, they didn’t lose. Oh, they lost one game and there was some suggested losses, but in the end, everything wrapped up into a neat package of success.

Spoiler coming:
In the movie the coach’s job is threatened, his team is losing, he’s got a bad smell in his house, his car is falling apart, and he is infertile (and his wife wants a baby.) After he studies God’s Word and prays, surrendering all to the Lord, little by little, he finds new purpose and gets his team to work harder and they start winning. He finds a dead animal in his house causing the smell, someone gives him a new truck, his team wins the state championship, and his wife gets pregnant. God can do anything, and in this case He fixed all this guy’s problems. Two years later they’ve got one kid and one on the way and two state championship trophies on the shelf. So their life became perfect and stayed that way?
End of spoiler

Christian writers want to make a difference in the world, they want their books to bring glory to God and point others to Him. I suspect that is the goal of Christian film makers as well, but frankly, I’ve seen very few Christian films that have reached the level of craft that their secular counterparts have done. And let’s face it – if you could remove the language and a few suggestive scenes – there are quite a few good secular movies out there with good story and even a decent underlying message.

What I fear is happening among Christian films today is that they are stronger on message than they are on story. Is that the purpose of Christian films? To preach or to provide alternatives to immoral entertainment?

There is a place for preaching, but I’m not sure a movie is place for it – or a novel for that matter. Show a story that deals with themes of forgiveness and redemption, like the book of Ruth in the Old Testament, or the prodigal son, and you’ll show the message of salvation without being preachy.

But give us a story with a heavy-handed message that shows problems wrapped up too neatly, are too predictable, don’t display characters as real enough and you’ll be giving readers a false view of Christianity. I believe we do a disservice to unbelievers when we suggest that all they have to do is pray a prayer and their life will be perfect.

Will our lives change dramatically if we surrender them to Christ? Absolutely! We will be forever changed if we confess our sins and turn our lives over to Jesus and live to obey Him. But Jesus promised persecution and suffering in this life. He said, “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

He did promise the abundant life here on earth, but that doesn’t mean we’ll never face trials and everything will go right as long as we’re right with Him.

I think Facing the Giants had the right idea when they presented the audience with the need to trust God and not give up. But the execution of the story left me feeling like the message was not entirely Biblically realistic because it left off the stuff that could still go wrong in life. Maybe we were just supposed to know that.

I’m not one to usually review books or movies and publicly point out flaws. I know a lot of Christians liked this movie, and I don’t want to discourage those who made it. But as a writer, I saw a lot of flaws. Predictability, cliched dialogue, lack of creativity, but mostly, I was a bit troubled by the prosperity/success message.

The “surrender all to Christ no matter what” message is right on and was there in the dialogue, but the actions/blessings that followed the message with everything neatly “fixed” showed that surrender equaled success.

And unfortunately, actions speak louder than words.

I love creativity. Over the years I’ve toyed with a variety of crafts searching for one that couldn’t bore me. I’ve cross-stitched, painted ceramics, painted sweatshirts, sewed, crocheted, knitted, scrap-booked, made Christmas ornaments, tried new recipes…and the list goes on.

When I started writing, I cut my writing teeth on poetry, then added my own music, however elementary, then graduated to trying my hand at fiction. At last – I found an area of a craft that so intrigues me, so challenges me that I never get bored. And I never stop loving what I do.

But as I was reading in the book of Jeremiah today, I came upon a verse that made me pause. God told the prophet to tell His people Israel -

“do not provoke me to anger with what your hands have made.” Jeremiah 25:6b

Of course, he was referring to idols made of stone or wood, objects that people bowed down to and worshiped, or offered sacrifices to, including their own children in some cases. Something God Almighty had never asked them to do. But the people had forgotten what the Lord their God had required of them – to seek justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly with Him.

Instead, they got all wrapped up in creating a new way to worship, with gods they could see – images that could not see or speak or feel. These images might have made them happy or given them a temporary sense of joy during their love feasts or immoral orgies. They got to do whatever they wanted with these gods, to gratify every fleshly desire, because they had made these gods and the rules to go with them. They were worshiping what their hands had made.

And that got me thinking…God made us creative people. He, being Creator God, crafted us in His image, so naturally, we are going to have at least some desire to create in return. It’s part of being human. And that’s good.

But there is a balance between creating for the joy it gives us and the glory it brings Him and creating things that will bring us glory and recognition. When we love what we do, the work of our hands, that can be a good thing because no one wants to hate his work. But we must also keep in mind that worship and glory belongs to God alone. The creature is called to honor the Creator – not the thing created.

If I allowed my writing, the thing I love to do, to get in the way of something else He has called me to do – to care for those around me, to love my husband and children, to minister to those in need – then the balance has shifted off center. I am in danger of worshiping the work of my hands instead of the God who made those hands in the first place.

Something to keep in mind every time I sit down to write.