by Roseanna White | May 3, 2016 | Thoughtful Thursdays
My Monday started out pretty normal–I was editing Giver of Wonders, which made me two minutes late to get our homeschool day started. Had a load of laundry in. As soon as morning classes were done, I ran to get dressed, get the garbage down to the end of the driveway, and then switched out the laundry.
Only after that did I bother slipping over to my computer. There was a message flashing for my attention on Facebook, from a writing friend (she will remain anonymous for the protection of her cat, tee hee hee). It said:
Congratulations on your Christy nomination for The Lost Heiress!!!!!!!! Dani Pettrey just shared this and I scared my cat squealing so loud…
My oh-so-eloquent reply:
My WHAT?!
I soon saw for myself.
Needless to say, I got very little accomplished after that. I answered a lot of messages and comments and emails.
And I had plenty of time to think.
I’ve blogged before about contests and the twisty paths to our dreams. I wrote the post in 2012, and it’s mostly held true for me. I’ve had to keep a constant rein on my emotions when it comes to contests, because I’m a competitive person given to pride, and I do NOT want to ever make winning an award my goal in my writing life. In 2012 I stated that God hadn’t called me to give up contests.
Here’s how that’s progressed.
First, He made it clear it was something I shouldn’t put my money into, as I had other places that needed it more. I only entered when my publisher offered to pay for it.
Next, He made it clear that I could only enter this one particular book one year, for this one particular reason.
This year, He said, Do you really need that?
And I said, “No. I don’t. I’m done entering contests. If ever you want me to have anything to do with another one, Lord, it’ll have to be one that someone else nominates me for.”
You see, I’d asked my agent about them, and she gave me her wise experience–that they don’t boost sales; they’re largely just bragging rights. And lemme just tell you, I do NOT need to slip into bragging, LOL. I know how cranky I get when finalist lists are published, even when I didn’t enter the contest. (No, that’s not pretty. Which is why I grant myself exactly two seconds to be not-pretty about it, confess my not-pretty to my best friend who understands completely, and then congratulate the finalists and move on. I really am happy for my friends who final–really, really, really. It always just takes me a second to remember that I’m not pursuing that, because it makes me not-pretty.)
So here I am on the Tuesday following the announcement of the Christy Award nominations. I have that beautiful meme with the award seal and my book beside some other truly fabulous books. And I reread my post from 2012, and I think, “How do I feel about contests today?”
Well, in some ways no different at all. The fact remains that even if I win, it’s not going to change anything. Books aren’t going to fly off shelves. My old mini van isn’t going to morph into a limousine. My kids certainly aren’t going to stop asking me to make their lunch or scowling at me when I tell them to do their schoolwork. My life won’t change in the slightest, except that, if I won, I would get to put Award-winning author of The Lost Heiress before my name.
But a few new thoughts have surfaced.
First and foremost, I am so honored that my publisher entered my book. Pubs don’t tell authors who they enter and who they don’t, for obvious reasons. So as an author, we can’t even know if we’re under consideration until that list comes out, and then we only know if we’re on it. Not being on it could mean we just didn’t make the cut, or it could mean our publisher didn’t submit it.
Bethany House submitted it. They invested money and faith in me. That . . . that right there means so much. It humbles me. And it makes me smile. I’m so incredibly blessed to be working for this company, to be on my second series with them.
Next thought–I love this industry. Not because of the companies or the awards or the anything–I love the people. Because within minutes, Tamera Alexander had emailed me and Jody Hedlund and Elizabeth Camden to congratulate us all, encourage us all, and say what an honor it is to be on the list with us.
Insert Roseanna laughing, because we all know that if anyone’s honored to be on the list with anyone else… 😉 Seriously, these ladies rank as some of my favorite authors. And even more so now, as we exchanged a few emails. There was no sense of competition. Just a comradeship. A sense of “We’re in this together, and let’s celebrate getting this far together!”
What a beautiful thing. What beautiful people.
Am I happy? Sure. It’s an amazing surprise to get on a Monday morning. But that’s all it is. A happy surprise. An afternoon with an extra piece of chocolate and a lot of comment-answering to gobble up my time. It doesn’t change my book. It doesn’t change me. We’re both still what we were before that list came out. And my goal is still, always, to write to win hearts, not awards. To follow His call.
I’m probing deep inside now, making sure that I really, honestly don’t care if I win or lose. Because in the past, I haven’t been quite okay. Mostly okay. But there’s always been a pang. And I guess we’ll see if that pang is still there when the winner is announced in June. But right now…right now I feel free of that. I’m just grateful. Just honored. And just as certain as ever that it doesn’t matter. Not the award or the potential for it.
But there is something that matters in all this.
There is Bethany House, who believe in me. There are readers who were judges, who saw value in a story into which I poured 20 years of my heart. There are Tammy and Jody and Dorothy, who are amazing women I get to sit beside at this virtual table. There are friends and readers who took the time to get in touch with me yesterday to offer their congratulations.
And there is, always, my Lord. Who shows me that as with everything else in life, the real reward is in the people. The relationships. Never in the gold seal.
by Roseanna White | May 2, 2016 | Word of the Week
Last week after hearing someone from New Zealand refer to themselves as a Kiwi, my hubby got curious as to where that word came from. So I obligingly looked it up. 😉
Apparently the first thing to earn the name was the bird native to New Zealand. It’s an imitative word, so imagine these little, flightless birds saying, “ki-wi. Ki-wi.” (Which makes total sense.) It had been a Maori word for who knows how long, adopted into English in 1835.
During Word War I, New Zealand soldiers began to be called kiwis, and from there it branched out to include all NZers.
Now, in America we associate kiwi with a very delicious little fruit. 😉 This is very new! They began to be imported to the US from NZ in 1966, and so we called them “kiwi fruit” because “kiwi” described where they came from. In New Zealand, they obviously don’t call them that–they call them, instead, “Chinese gooseberries.” (That right there rates a big ol’ “REALLY? Who knew?”) (UPDATE–I’ve heard from a few New Zealanders who say they do call the fruit kiwi. So I’m going to assume that it was once called Chinese gooseberry, but not anymore. Or else Etymonline is lying to me.) 😉
Happy Monday, everyone!
by Roseanna White | Apr 29, 2016 | Uncategorized
It’s time to announce winners!
First, for the set of books I was offering as a bonus giveaway for the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt, the winner is:
Clare Farrelly
And the winner of Rowena’s Comfort Giveaway, including books, scarf, necklace, and goodies, is:
Teresa Osborne
Emails have been sent to both of you, so check your inboxes. Happy Friday!
by Roseanna White | Apr 28, 2016 | Thoughtful Thursdays
I got up this morning and realized it was Thursday. Time to get thoughtful. I opened my blog. Drew up a clean post. And sat. Staring. Waiting for inspiration to strike. Sometimes I know days or weeks in advance what I want to write about on Thursdays. Sometimes I even have my posts written on Sundays.
Today . . . not so much. =)
So I opened up my next project–editing Giver of Wonders, which will release November 1. And I started to read.
In chapter 2, a single line jumped out at me.
“Forgive me, my love.” But his tone asked for
indulgence, not forgiveness.
I know I wrote those words, but I frankly didn’t remember them. As I read them, though . . . it’s a commentary, isn’t it, on our culture today? It’s a commentary, too often, on our churches. On our very lives.
I decided to hop over to the dictionary to see what the technical differences are.
INDULGENCE:
1. the act or practice of indulging;
gratification of desire.
4. a catering to someone’s mood or whim; humoring:
6.
Roman Catholic Church. a partial remission of the temporal punishment, especially purgatorial atonement, that is still due for a sin or sins after absolution.
FORGIVENESS:
the state or act of:
1. to grant pardon for or remission of (an offense, debt, etc.); absolve.
2. to give up all claim on account of; remit (a debt, obligation, etc.).
3. to grant pardon to (a person).
4. to cease to feel resentment against:
5.
to cancel an indebtedness or liability of
Some of the same words are used in those definitions, it’s true. But there are some vital differences, aren’t there? Indulgence is giving in to a person; forgiveness is giving up the account of their wrong.
Indulgence is saying “It’s okay that you sin.” or “It’s not a sin.”
Forgiveness is saying, “You sinned. But the account has been paid.”
We live in a very “tolerant” society, which means one that makes an art of indulgence. Funny, isn’t it, how that renders forgiveness, too often, powerless? Because if people have been told all their lives that it’s okay, that it’s not wrong, that we’re entitled to live our lives as we see fit so long as we don’t hurt anyone else . . . then how can they value the forgiveness of those sins they’ve been taught aren’t sins?
One of the greatest gifts ever given to man–cheapened. Our society has filled up on the junk food of indulgence, and now we don’t have the stomach for the real feast: forgiveness. We’ve embraced the look of a shirt with stains rather than taking the time and putting out the effort to scrub them clean.
Just one little line from a scene I added in at the last minute when wrapping up my first draft–but I’m going to be pondering that one . . . and wondering where, in my life, in my world, I’m substituting indulgence when really I ought to be doing the hard work and forgiving–or seeking forgiveness.
by Roseanna White | Apr 27, 2016 | Remember When Wednesdays
Well, the Scavenger Hunt is over, I’m home from my writing retreat, so now it’s back to usual blogging. 😉
Unlike my previous writing retreats, this one didn’t involve going to a cabin in the mountains or meeting up my best friend (sadly) there or in her neck of the woods. This time, I was simply making use of my parents’ house 10 miles away from home while they were on vacation (and messaging said best friend regularly so I could pretend she was there). I still slept in my own bed at night, was there to tuck my kiddos in and feed everyone breakfast in the morning. I still went to knitting class and doctors’ appointments.
But it was no less successful.
At the start of my retreat last week, I had 94,000 words written in The Name Thief. (Which for some books is finished. I realize that, LOL. But for me . . . no.) I had 15 scenes left to write, some of which required hefty amounts of research.
At the close of day 1, I’d written 12,000 words. Pretty darn good, and I took a nice chunk out of the scene list. I’d spent a portion of my day researching the royal family of England and all their various branches who were, in 1914, ruling other European nations as well. (Seriously, folks, they were all cousins! All of them–Russian czar, German kaiser, English king, you name it. First cousins all.)
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The necessities of my writing morning.
Coffee. Notes reminding me of things like character’s father’s name.
Glasses. Laptop. |
On Day 2, I wrote 13,500 words–this was my long day in terms of hours. With no obligations out in the world, I was at my parents’ from about 9:30 in the morning until nearly 7:30 that night. My grandmother, who has an apartment on my parents’ property, had to check on me to make sure I was still alive. 😉 (I had found the caramel pretzel Klondike bars in their freezer. I was awesome.)
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| The one I had didn’t have that many pretzel pieces–this is my official complaint. 😉 |
Best of all, at the close of my business day on Tuesday, I knew the end was very close. I would be able to finish up with just a few hours’ work on Wednesday. That is such a happy feeling!
On Wednesday, my day was interrupted pretty substantially by a doctor’s appointment I’d already rescheduled once so didn’t feel I should ditch again, LOL. One of those that took forever as I sat in the office just waiting to be seen. I had considered bringing my laptop with me (after sitting in a parking lot and typing on Monday morning as I waited for a store to open, LOL), but decided not to. I regretted that. 😉 But then, it forced me to think through my ending very carefully, at my leisure, instead of just charging through as I normally do, so maybe it was a good thing.
And then, Wednesday afternoon, I got there–The End. Woot!
Thursday, since I was still officially “off” my other duties, I wrote my synopsis for the book, while it was still fresh. And, you know, did the dishes. That sort of thing.
This week, I’ve been reading through it, integrating some threads better, fixing mistakes, and adding quotes to the start of each chapter. And still so, so happy to have this wrapped up!
So, to wrap up, a few fun things I learned last week:
- If you pick a lock to open it, you can pick it to relock it as well.
(No, Mom, I didn’t pick your locks. You gave me a key, remember?)
- Electro-magnetic security alarms have been in use since 1850! Who knew?
- Prince Edward (son of King George V) had a nickname. Guesses on what it was? No . . . nope . . . guess again. David. (The last of his gazillion middle names)
- Prince Edward, after taking the crown after his father’s death in the 30s, was only king for a year–at which point he abdicated to his younger brother so he could marry his mistress, a divorcee of whom the church (and the government) did not approve.
- Writing retreats rock, wherever they are. 😉
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.