by Roseanna White | Jun 14, 2010 | Uncategorized
Backstory–one of the thing we authors are taught is that backstory can be a major drag. All that history between your characters? Their shady pasts? Yeah . . . don’t dump it all in during the first three chapters. Spread it out, space it out, drop the readers into the middle. Right?
As a rule, this is a fabulous rule. (Duh.) But it can be tricky with characters who’ve known each other forever. On one of my loops we’ve been discussing which is more interesting, a hero and a heroine who have known each other for years, or ones who meet in the first chapter or so.
Me, I like both, but I admit there’s something I adore about an H&H that already have a relationship that gets newly nudged into love. Maybe it’s because I’ve known my hubby since we were in middle school. Maybe because it eliminates the concern of “Wow, I just had people meet, fall in love, and get engaged in the course of a few months. That’s so a bad idea in the real world!”
In the contemporaries I’m shopping right now, I’ve got various forms of this. I’ve got the two who had summer fling nine years before and are tossed together again after that near-decade of silence–she’s loved him all along, he’s about to embark on his second marriage since then.
I’ve got the friends-from-the-cradle that have been in love which each other all their lives but managed to screw it up until they both came to the Lord. Then the hero more or less hunts her down in rural Missouri and determines not to leave until she gives him one last chance.
I’ve got the colleagues who have sat beside each other for years, but the hero never noticed the heroine until one rainy day when she finally got his attention by being her usual sweet, helpful self.
Of course, then there’s the ones who actually meet–he rescues her, she chooses to trust him when she’d never trusted a man before, and I’m having a lot of fun (I say as if I’ve taken the time to work on this lately) developing a solid relationship that has no history at all.
So what’s your favorite? The stories of sparks flying between two people who meet for the first time within the pages, or the ones where there’s a rich tapestry of history behind them that you get to watch burst into flames? =)
by Roseanna White | Jun 11, 2010 | Uncategorized
Today I’m excited to welcome Jill Elizabeth Nelson to my blog! I got to know Jill way-back-when (in like 2006) after reading her debut novel
Reluctant Burglar. She helped me launch a series of promotional games that entertained us all for a while, and now I’m excited to promote her latest novel,
Calculated Revenge!
Jill has offered a copy of Calculated Revenge to one lucky reader, so as usual, leave your comment and an email address below!
~*~
About Jill
My first a
nd only marriage is still going strong after 27 years. We have four kids who’ve pretty much flown the coop. Yet the chickadees keep coming back to roost. Puzzling phenomenon. We must not give them enough incentive to stay away.
By day I masquerade as secretary to the CEO of a health care corporation and as housing manager for a senior apartment complex. By night I throw off my mask of conformity and turn into a wild and crazy writer who can hardly wait to jot down all the cool things my characters are telling me, so I can share them with my readers.
Did I say I hear voices? Alas, I’ve been like this most of my life. At least since sixth grade, when I penned—er, penciled—my first mystery novel. No trace of that youthful manuscript exists today, and the world is grateful.
My writer’s journey has taken me in many different directions. I’ve walked the roads of journalist, columnist, essayist, poet, story teller and book reviewer. My current path is the one I’ve coveted all along—novelist. My Guide and Mentor in all my travels is my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory!
~*~
What’s your latest book?
Calculated Revenge released in April from Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense. Here’s a teaser:
It’s been eighteen years since Laney Thompson’s sister was abducted and killed, but Laney’s pain and haunting guilt has never faded. Now the murderer is back, taunting Laney with mementos of her sister and threatening Laney’s young daughter. School principal Noah Ryder is her best hope for protecting her daughter—if she can convince the former investigator to take the case. As the threats escalate and clues lead to shocking secrets from the past, Laney’s survival—and that of her daughter—depends on the rusty gifts and skills Noah wants only to forget.
Oo! Sounds so good! And I can’t even win it–shucks. 😉 What’s your favorite part of the story?
I love when Noah finally realizes that Laney’s in love with him and Laney realizes at the same time that Noah loves her. They’ve both spent a great deal of time and effort to hide their feelings from one another, and now at a highly inopportune time, they have to deal with the stunning revelation of mutual devotion where they thought their feelings were unrequited.
Ah, the big Reveal. Siiiiiggggghhhhh. Is there a theme to this book?
I hope the reader sees the theme of forgiveness front and center. The depth of forgiveness required from my characters is cavernous, but not nearly the scope of what Jesus did for us. I hope the reader grasps that comparison and is helped to come to terms with the need to forgive others in their own life. The corrupting power of hatred and bitterness is the flip side to that forgiveness coin. I hope the reader takes the example played out in the story as a jolt of awareness–a spear to the gut, if you will, as to what could happen in their own soul if they don’t let go of hurts and grudges, even those that seem just and deserved. If God gave us what was just and deserved, instead of His unmerited grace and favor, we’d all just be greasy spots on the road. His example must be our lifestyle if we are to enjoy peace and freedom in our hearts.
Amen! What novel have you read and enjoyed recently?
I recently read a book called Murder in the Choir by Joel B. Reed that thoroughly entertained me and dealt well with racism. I wouldn’t necessarily categorize the book among “inspirational fiction,” but it was a decent PG-13, which is pretty wholesome for what’s out there in the secular mystery/suspense category. Amazingly enough, Reed is a self-published author from a small town near my own. I was thoroughly impressed by this man’s writing skills. This is not usually the case with self-published novels, so he’s the rare bird. Readers can look him at http://www.whiteturtlebooks.com.
I love finding those unexpectedly awesome writers! Do you remember where you were when you got your first call about a book contract?
I was at the Christian Writers Group conference in Ohio in 2005. Before I left for the conference my agent had let me know that my proposal for Reluctant Burglar would be going before the publication board, and that I should hear one way or another by the end of the week. Needless to say, I was a tad distracted during the conference, and I was naughty. I took my cell phone everywhere with me—turned on! Finally, just at dessert time during the awards banquet it went off. Talk about someone’s heart leaping into their throat! (I can now testify this can truly happen.) I zipped out of the banquet room and into the hallway to hear the news. My agent was very deadpan and recommended that I sit down. Now my heart was in my toes. Then she yelled in my ear, “They’re offering you a three book contract!” My heart went into orbit around the moon! When I shared the news with my fellow conferees, there was mighty shouting and rejoicing. Many unpublished writers at the conference said that being a part of my “moment” gave them hope that theirs would truly come. What a sweet side-effect of that first Big Call.
Awwww! That is such an awesome story! (And anyone who hasn’t read Jill’s To Catch a Thief Series, DO THAT!) Any upcoming releases we should keep our eye out for?
Legacy of Lies releases from Steeple Hill in October. It’s about a cop’s widow who moves to a small town to help her grandmother run her sewing business. All plans are sidetracked when she discovers the bones of an infant buried in her grandparent’s back yard. Is her legacy one of murder and lies? In order to discover the truth that will either condemn or redeem her family name, she must team up with the last man on the planet she’d care to feel attraction for—another cop.
And readers, Jill will be back with us in October to talk about this one! Where else can readers find you or your writing online?
My web site contains excerpts, links to buy, my speaking schedule, a monthly contest to win an autographed copy of my latest release, and an opportunity to sign up for my quarterly newsletter. Pop on by at http://www.jillelizabethnelson.com. I also have a readers’ group on Facebook. We chat about all sorts of things, book-wise. I’m also on Twitter and Shoutlife. Oh, and I have a blog on my web site, too. I give away lots of books there that are not my own. Here are links to these spots:
Blog: http://www.jillelizabethnelson.com/artisticblogger.html
Jill Elizabeth Nelson Reader’s Group on Facebook
Twitter
Shoutlife: http://www.shoutlife.com/jillelizabethnelson
~*~
Thanks so much for visiting, Jill! Readers, you can purchase her book on Amazon or CrossPurposes.
Void where prohibited. Entry into the contest is considered verification of eligibility based on your local laws. Contest ends 6/17/10. Winner will have two weeks to claim book.
by Roseanna White | Jun 10, 2010 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
I’m writing a book right now that’s way more spiritually charged, spiritually involved than I imagined it would be. There are a lot of beyond-your-vision battles raging, and that means a lot of Roseanna praying before writing–I so don’t want to get this stuff wrong!
And then this weekend, we had the honor of hosting visitors (a couple and a good friend of theirs) from Ohio who offered to do a faith building and healing service at our church. These people . . . they are so genuine. So humble. They just want to teach what they’ve learned and be the instruments of the Lord. And boy, did I need a good dose of the Spirit.
Ever since a revival swept through our town two years ago, I’ve been keenly aware of how different I am when in touch with the Spirit versus when I let life get in the way. And lately . . . life has been seriously in the way. Which made me not really enjoy the details of my life. My kids were getting on my nerves, I was constantly exhausted, and I couldn’t seem to find the quiet time I needed with God. So I went to this service knowing exactly what I needed from it.
After a while my wonderful hubby took the kids down to the nursery, which let me really listen, really feel. The teaching time ended, and the prayer began. I wasn’t sure how it was going to work. Should I just charge to the front and say, “Pray with me please so I can get the kids home to bed?” No, they asked for someone with a specific issue . . . so I just closed my eyes, prayed, privately and determined to soak up the Spirit–not too hard, since he was saturating the room. And, I’ll admit it, thought, “Well, Lord, you might just have to send one of them back to me if this isn’t enough.”
Then the husband of the couple came over to me. He’d walked by several times, but this time he crouched down and asked, “Can I pray with you? I’m sensing you’re not here for healing but that you have something you need prayer for.”
!!!! I nodded as tears surged (I’m not a cry-er, FYI) and asked if he would pray for rejuvenation. That’s all I said–rejuvenation. But you could see the light go on inside him. He took my hands and prayed for rejuvenation, for rest, for exactly what I needed. And told me I needed to take the time to pray for that every morning, and pray every night for my rest to be sufficient.
Um, yes teacher.
Seriously, ever since then . . . there’s a calm inside where irritation had been. There’s Joy again. And I am so, so grateful that the Spirit always knows exactly what we need and meets us there. There have been times over the years when he swept over me in my dreams and I wake up like this. This time, he came while his servants were here and used them to bless me.
Now I’m praying that my words (mostly thinking of those spiritually-charged chapters I’m writing) can somehow be used to bless others. There is so much to all this stuff, so much I can never quite get a hold on.
How awesome to know I don’t have to get a hold of it all–I just have to hold his hand. He’ll show me how to handle the rest.
by Roseanna White | Jun 9, 2010 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
We’ve all heard that saying, right? “Winning isn’t everything.” All well and good when you’re talking about a contest or a game of kickball, but . . . in war? Um, I kinda thought it was. So Xerxes, what were you thinking?
Here’s the setup. Ol’ Kingy burned Athens to the ground–easy to do since no one was left in the city to defend it–after finally winning at Thermopylae. Sent word of victory home to Susa, where everyone was so excited they strew myrtle in the streets and declared a holiday. This was the set-out goal of the war, you see. Burn Athens.
Check.
Then some brilliant adviser said, “Let’s pursue these cowards to their hiding place. Look, we’ve got it on good authority they’re in a weakly held spot. If we go over here like our informant said . . .”
Um, their “informant” was actually one of the leading voices of Athens. A very tricky one apparently, whose “intel” was followed by the Persians. Yeah. Brilliant. Xerxes and his army headed to the island of Salamas, where all the Greeks had fled. Put it under siege. Had a battle.
Lost.
Now. Everyone, the Greeks included thought, “Aw, crap, there’s his fleet, finally showing up–he’s going to take a few days, regroup, and give us a pounding like we’ve never had before.”
Instead, Xerxes says, “Yeah, I’m going home. Cousin, keep some men here and keep fighting, but I’m out of here.”
There was some logic behind this. Winter was coming, and Xerxes didn’t want his army stuck in Europe for it–they’d likely have starved. Moreover, those wily Greeks may have snuck around and destroyed the bridge he’d used to get into Europe to begin with, and if the army was stuck there, they could be routed and defeated. So yeah, retreat may have been the logistically sound option, and since he’d done what he came to do with Athens . . .
Of course, I have my own theories about what really propelled him home, but you’ll just have to read Jewel of Persia to get them. 😉
by Roseanna White | Jun 8, 2010 | Uncategorized
I have a book, sitting ready and waiting for me to read. It’s right beside me. Cover taunting me with its promise. The title–
Resurrection in May. The author–Lisa Samson.
It’s gonna be good. Stellar. Fabulantastic. I know this, because (a) it’s by Lisa Samson and (b) my mother’s already read it and said it was every inch as good as The Passion of Mary-Margaret, which ranks as one of the Best Ever Books I’ve read.
I so want to read this. Want to tell y’all how awesome it is. But since it’s unlikely I’ll be into it enough by Tuesday morning to speak with any knowledge about it (I’m typing this on Monday afternoon) I’m instead going to make sure each and every one of you know exactly how spectacular an author Lisa Samson is.
I was hooked when I read the blurb of The Passion of Mary-Margaret, the first book I’d seen by this author, though certainly not her first book. And the book itself–oh my. I’m putting my review below, but first–oh my.
It’s with me still, over a year after I first read it. It comes up nearly every time I talk to one of my friends who also read it. My mother claims no book has ever moved her, touched her on a level like this one. It’s that amazing. So yes, I’m itching, breath bated, to pick up Resurrection in May, and you can bet your buttons I’ll be telling you all about it next week. For now, I give you my official review of The Passion of Mary-Margaret, as posted at the Christian Review of Books.
~*~
Mary-Margaret Fischer was born in disgrace and spent a lot of years haunted by it. More or less raised in a convent school, she knew all her life that she’d follow in her mother’s footsteps and enter the religious order. That determination, her soul-deep longing to dedicate herself to Christ, was always what stood between her and Jude Keller, the lighthouse keeper’s son. He was a wild boy, always seeking out trouble . . . and when he left their hometown on the Eastern Shore and headed for Baltimore, he found it in spades.
Though apart for years as Mary-Margaret follows her calling and Jude follows his lusts, when she sees him again, her heart cries out at his pain. Jude has done things that horrify her, has walked a path she’d rather turn her eyes away from . . . so why is Jesus telling her to make him her life’s work? He wouldn’t seriously ask her to give up her dreams to follow Him for the sake of this broken, diseased man . . . would He?
The Passion of Mary-Margaret is a book that will shake you to your core. Written as a memoir of an aging religious sister, it combines Mary-Margaret’s present story with a circuitous, shocking past. Visions of Jesus, a quest for the father that had raped her mother, trouble from the KKK . . . these elements and more weave a story that will open your eyes and burrow deep into your heart.
It took me a few chapters to get into the way the story’s told, but once the present events started getting interesting, I stopped wanting to flip to the parts that were memory and read both parts with equal intrigue. I picked up this book because it’s not very often you see a book in the Christian market with Catholics—Catholic religious sisters, no less—as the main characters, and I wanted to see how Lisa Samson pulled it off. The answer? Masterfully written, fully involving, and one of the richest, most complex books I’ve ever read. It kept me up at night and redefined my thinking, but what’s more, it helped me better understand my own relationship with Christ.
The Passion of Mary-Margaret is a book to be talked about, and Lisa Samson is an author to follow.
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.