by Roseanna White | Sep 23, 2010 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
You know one thing I love about the Bible? You can’t open it up without finding God’s promises and encouragement. You can’t read about despair without hope chasing on its heels.
As everyone returned from the ACFW conference this week, I was smacked with a few moments of jealousy. I decided not to go this year based on prayer, and I know I made the right decision. We took a family vacation instead, and a glorious week at the beach (with absolutely perfect weather) for the four of us and both sets of parents was less expensive than conference would have been for me. And it was awesome.
But still, when I heard everyone else talking about the wonderful people they got to meet, the connections they made . . . well, I had to put myself in time out. I took my Bible out to the swing and let God give me a talking to. Asked him to remind me that he knew what I needed and was working on getting me there.
I asked him to give me an appropriate Bible passage, and opened up to II Kings 3. This is just after Elisha receives the spirit of Elijah–the kings of Judah, Israel, and Edom are all going to war against Moab, but there isn’t any water for their soldiers. They call on Elisha, asking him to beseech God for water. He replies in 3:18:
“And this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.”
Okay–so not only will God provide what I need, what I ask for, he’ll give me complete victory. Something I know, but a reminder I needed.
This was Tuesday. On Wednesday I turned to Isaiah 27:2-4:
In that day sing to her,
“A vineyard of red wine!
I, the Lord, keep it,
I water it every moment;
Lest any hurt it,
I keep it night and day.
Fury is not in me.
Who would set briers and thorns
Against me in battle?
I would go through them.
I would burn them together. . . .”
This was awesome too. As soon as I read it, that lightbulb went on. I have my dreams, yes–but they’re not mine, they’re the Lord’s. He’s the keeper of that garden of dreams. He sends the water (water again!) that nourishes them, he watches over the tender sprouts to make sure no one tramples them. I might fear the thorns and briers–but he doesn’t. Why should he? Trouble is nothing to God.
I’m just praising the Lord today for his promises. For the way he always reminds me of them when I’m tempted to wallow in my forgetfulness. For always sending the water to nourish my soul.
by Roseanna White | Sep 22, 2010 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
Okay, gotta get away from Ancient Persia for a while before I go cuckoo-bananas. =) So today we’re taking a brief trip back to the 1880s and into the world of spiritualism. Familiar with the movement? If so, you’ll know how weird it is. If not–boy are you in for an eye-opener! 😉
So, three years ago or so we were watching the history channel, and there was a special on about spiritualism–a movement whose goal was to reconcile the religion strictly taught in Victorian society with the scientific development suddenly running rampant. People thought it would be fun to try to use science to prove the spiritual world–an interesting concept, sure–and went about it in a way that soooooo had me shaking my head.
In England, where the movement really gained steam, spiritualism was a fashionable hobby for the new upper-middle class. People would get together for tea party seances and sit around munching their biscuits while they tried to call the dead into the midst. They would parade the children (the children!!!) out to serve as mediums. They would conduct different experiments involving moving furniture and knocking.
Now, when I saw this, my first thought was exactly what the critics of spiritualism in the day said: this is just silly nonsense.
Then it hit me–it wasn’t just silly nonsense, it was downright dangerous. People who had no clue about the spiritual world were opening doors and inviting who-knew-what into their lives. And no one cautioned them that they were doing this, they either thought it fun or ridiculous.
A couple days after watching this, my dad gave a sermon on Daniel that made a story idea click in my little head. A Victorian-era Daniel story, where the character isn’t facing the magicians of the Babylonian empire, but rather this new brand of magicians in the spiritualism movement. Someone who has actually seen the spiritual world and so knows its true colors–someone better at their games than they, yet who wants nothing to do with them . . .
I’ve got several intimidatingly large tomes on the subject waiting to be read, waiting for the perfect time for me to sit down and write Revealer of Secrets. Who knows–maybe it’ll be soon. =)
by Roseanna White | Sep 21, 2010 | Uncategorized
Have I ever mentioned that I love Trish Perry? If not, it’s an oversight I can’t suffer any longer. I LOVE TRISH PERRY! Why, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you.
1.) She has a fabulous sense of humor–I’m talking make-you-laugh-out-loud while reading one of her books–that usually finds its outlets through characters you just want to sit down and chat (and chuckle) with.
2.) Her stories always deliver sweet romance along with the funny moments. And . . .
3.) She manages both the hilarity and the romance along with a beautiful spiritual message.
When Trish’s latest release, The Perfect Blend, arrived in the mail minutes before I left for vacation last week, you can bet I squeezed it into my briefcase (though there was really no room . . .) I didn’t open it until this weekend, but still. My fingers were itching for it. Here’s a bit about the story:
Steph Vandergrift is in desperate need of divine distraction. She’s just arrived in Middleburg, Virginia, a picturesque little town that she’s supposed to be making her own today after eloping with a local attorney. But when her fiance leaves her at the would-be alter, she’s left to try not to fall to pieces on the very lovely sidewalk outside his office. Why, again, did she have to sever all ties with her life back in Baltimore?
A kind British tea-shop owner spots her and rushes to the rescue, ushering her into Millicent’s Tea Shop and solving her problems with a fantabulous scone and a listening ear. Before she knows it, Steph has offered to fill in for Milly’s absent waitress, and the resident Mr. Cutie Pants has already made an appearance, guaranteeing that Steph has made a fool of herself. Not that it matters–she’s so not in the market for another man right now.
Yet . . . the more she gets to know Kendall (a.k.a Cutie Pants) and his amazing sense of humor, the more she wonders if maybe, when she is ready to date again . . . but then her ex-fiance shows back up and tries to win her back. How’s a girl to know which version of spice will help her make the perfect blend for her life?
I confess–I’m not finished yet. And already I have laughed, snickered, chuckled, and grinned my way through this story. It’s not that the story itself is hilarious–it’s the characters. You know how you laugh at those clever, wonderful lines on a TV show? It’s the same way in Trish’s books. The characters themselves are funny. And endearing, and sigh-worthy, and oh-so-relatable.
The cast of secondary characters are a hoot too, from the ready-to-listen Milly to the can’t-be-tamed sisters Liz and Christy.
In short, if you like adorable towns complete with tea shops and dreamy inn-owners, fun romance, faith, and good friends, then you don’t want to miss The Perfect Blend. And if you don’t want to miss The Perfect Blend, then you’d better come back on Friday, when I’m interviewing Trish and giving away a copy!
*This book was provided free of charge from the publisher for review purposes.
by Roseanna White | Sep 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
And the winner of Martha Rogers’
Finding Becky is . . .
Maureen! (alekee02@ . . .)
Congrats, Maureen! I just sent you an email.
by Roseanna White | Sep 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
I confess it–I love a good hero. I like being in their heads for a while, I like seeing their thoughts. Generally speaking, I like their reactions. My hubby and I joke that my emotions are more like a man’s than a woman’s (and he frequently praises the Lord that I somehow escaped the moodswings that plague so many women), and more than once I’ve growled at a heroine for being so . . . so . . . blastedly girlish in her response to something, when I wanted her to suck it up and take it like a woman.
Maybe that’s why I enjoy crafting my heroes, tucking little pieces of the men I know and love into their characters. Yes, my hubby sees a bit of himself in some of my awesome guys. My dad probably would too, if he read my unpublished manuscripts. Though of course, there are always some things uniquely their own.
I love creating heroes that earn sighs from my critique partners, and I know I’ve gotten it right if Carole emails something to the effect of, “If I weren’t happily married to a real man, I’d be giving your heroine some competition for him.” =)
One of my favorite heroes thus far is in my contemporary, Seized. He’s got the alpha-thing going in that he’s in peak physical position–kinda necessary, since he’s a SEAL. But he’s not the leader of his group–he’s the tech guy. He’s of especially strong spirit, his relationship with the Lord one I aspire to. He prays over everything, and has so well learned to listen to the Lord that his entire team has learned to trust whatever God tells him to do or not do. Of course, he’s going to be a little challenged toward the end of the book when God’s telling him to put the woman he loves in harm’s way without any guarantees that she’ll come back to him.
Which brings me to one of my favorite, but trickiest heroic attributes. See, Smith (my hero) hasn’t been involved with a woman for the last eight years, ever since some torture-training drew him so close to the Lord. What will come out throughout the story is that God has actually put blinders on him so that the next woman he really notices is THE woman–and it isn’t an at-first-sight thing with her, he doesn’t get struck by it until she accepts Christ. Then bam! He falls hard.
Now, personally I think this is going to be a lot of fun. I do admit to some concern that Smith will be too perfect, or the blinded-to-all-others thing might not be realistic. (Hence the backstory concerning the woman he was a little too involved with in college and her determination to come back into his life now and dredge up the past.)
What are some of your favorite characteristics in a hero? Do you like the strong, silent types? The just-waiting-to-be-reformed bad boys? The geeky ones who come into their own over the course of the story? Do share!
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. Having successfully launched two homeschool grads, she now spends her time writing fiction, 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, as well as a fantasy series and contemporary mysteries and romances. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.