by Roseanna White | Aug 10, 2009 | Modern Mondays
Ever have one of those moments when you come up with something really original, figure you better check up on a few facts, and then learn that your originality isn’t so original after all?
Yeah. Who hasn’t been there, right? My mom has occasionally said something like, “They ought to invent such-and-such a thing . . .” and my dad points to a shelf and says, “Like that?”
We writers run into this fairly often. But I had an interesting example when I started my latest work-in-progress. I found an actual, real life analogue. One famous enough that I had to wonder if I already knew it, though I didn’t think I did.
See, I thought it would be fun to write about a mother/daughter team who writes an advice column. I figured that first I ought to, you know, actually read an advice column, lol. So I logged onto “Dear Abby.” Read the bio. And what did I learn?
Abigail Van Buren was for many years a mother/daughter advice team.
Sigh.
Not that I let this stop me, of course. I just let my characters observe that it worked for the “Dear Abby” folk. =) I read through a mountain of these lauded columns to get a feel for the advice industry, tweaked my premise slightly to better reflect how it works and what I wanted them to do with, and got down to business.
One of the biggies in my WIP is that my main character’s kinda young to be giving advice. Writing something with an issue like that forces me to really look around. To think about whose advice I take, whose I don’t. Does it have to do with age? Experience?
Not necessarily. I think some people are just born knowing how to advise. Seriously. I have friends whose advice I take above others, even when those others should know what they’re talking about. And as I wrote out a scene dealing with this yesterday, something struck me about the “why” of that.
Good advice, I think, isn’t a matter of telling someone what you would do. They’re not you. It’s a matter of taking you out of the equation and actually looking at their circumstances, their life. I mean, let’s face it. When someone quickly replies to my question with, “Well, I would do this,” I often think, Good for you. I wouldn’t. I don’t generally want an “I would.” I want a “You should.”
But it’s interesting–most of us simply can’t empathize that fully. Which is good for my characters, because it sets her apart;-)
This is on my mind today because I’m this close to finishing this manuscript. Always an exciting time. I should hammer it home this week (yay!), and then I’ll be concentrating on polishing up everything I want to take to the ACFW conference in September. Time’s a tickin’!
(And speaking of advice, I just got some this weekend. After cutting my finger on a really wicked blender blade, my mother said, “Why don’t you clean it out by pouring soap and hot water in and then turning it on? Then you never have to touch the blade.” To which I replied, “And why didn’t you teach me this a decade ago??” Advice I will definitely take from now on!)
by Roseanna White | Aug 7, 2009 | Author Interviews and Guest Posts
A few years ago, I replied to something on the ACFW loop about how I like a story with grit in it. You know, one that really digs deep into the heart and isn’t afraid to show the ugly along with the pretty. A woman named Nikki Arana replied to me privately, saying I may enjoy her upcoming release As I Have Loved You. She sent a digital press release, and I promptly emailed her publicist to get a copy. Not long after, I had devoured the book and was in awe of the author.
Nikki holds the distinction of being one of the few writers to make me cry. Not just almost cry, but actually cry. (I’m not a tearful person—ask anyone who knows me. Usually “almost” is all you get from me, and even that is a feat.) I wrote a review of the book and sent it to her and the publicist.
Nikki replied with a compliment to make my reviewer’s heart preen. She said I was the only reviewer thus far to truly get the story, to touch on all the major points. Now, at the time I had just expanded the Christian Review of Books to include author interviews, and I decided in a heartbeat that Nikki was a woman I wanted to talk to. We set up a time to chat on the phone later that week, and I did an interview whose transcript can be read here. Also wrote an article.
But what you won’t find in the interview is that Nikki Arana touched me as a writer just as her book touched me as a reader. I’d been working with authors for quite a while at the CRoB, but she was the first to ask me what I was working on. The first to speak encouragement to me as a novelist. And every time I want to try something new at the Review, she’s always willing and eager to serve as a guinea pig. (You’re such a good sport, Nikki!)
I’ve checked in with Nikki periodically to see what she’s been working on, and yet again this woman has awed me. While researching a novel about a Muslim who converted to Christianity, she got involved in ministering to those of Islamic faith. In an email that poured out her heart, her mission, and her goals, she made real to me a movement I’d never even paused to consider. The novel hasn’t yet found a contract that stuck, but I had the honor of reading the prologue and first chapter of this unpublished book, and I can tell you it’s powerful. I’ve come to realize that any words that flow from Nikki’s fingers are going to be touched by the Spirit.
Nikki’s now funneled her research into a nonfiction book, Through the Eyes of Christ. This book focuses on how Christians can talk to Muslims to open their eyes to the truths of our Savior. I haven’t yet had the privilege of reading it, but I will. I live in a small community where I’m not so sure I’ll be able to put the lessons to use, but I want to know. I want to understand.
And I trust Nikki. When she believes in something, I know it’s something the Lord has shown her. Given that I’ve never even met her, I think that speaks pretty strongly to the power of her vision and the force of her words.
If you’re looking for an awesome novel (or four) that has spiritual depth and heart-rending characters, definitely check out this award-winning author. And if you want to see someone with true vision, read about her work with Muslims on her website at www.NikkiArana.com and check out her new book, Through the Eyes of Christ.
by Roseanna White | Aug 6, 2009 | Thoughtful Thursdays
My daughter has this thing. Instead of, you know, looking to see where I am, she’ll call out, “Mommy! Where are you?”
Now, usually I’m about two feet away, just behind her. So I’m obligated to give a silly answer, right? I mean, I can’t just say, “Right here.” That’s way too obvious for someone with my caliber of wit (ha. ha ha ha.). So I’ve taken to saying, “On the moon.”
Depending on her mood, she might ignore me, she might laugh, she might insist, “No, you’re not!” she might then pretend that the woman in the living room is someone else and talk about her mommy, who is currently on the moon . . . or she might pretend like she’s on the moon with me.
That’s the most fun–to see the imagination come to life in my toddler. I’m constantly amazed by her recall and the things she’ll put together. And I get a little flutter in my heart when she tells me she’s going to write books someday too. Yeah, she’s only three–chances are pretty darn good her goals will change a few times, lol. But still.
Yesterday she sat down at my computer, asked me to give her a blank page, and just sat there typing. Most of it looked like this:
asdfahghasduoijangaehrlausdfoivasrueioransdghosdb8ibf fsiorutawlktj
With the occasional “xoe” thrown in. =) But it was so cool for me, because my little girl’s sitting there trying to do what I do, saying as she does it that she’s writing it for me.
It’s those little things that make it all worthwhile. That get my imagination going. Because you just never know what you might discover when you’re on the moon with your little girl.
~*~
FYI, I just redesigned my website. If you’re curious, or want more of my breathtaking wit (ahem), hop over to www.RoseannaMWhite.com. And feel free to leave a note in the guestbook so that I feel special;-)
by Roseanna White | Aug 5, 2009 | Remember When Wednesdays
In spite of my title, we’re going to go a few years earlier. The Mafia (and Chicago) changed a lot once Capone took over. Before that . . . well, it was still mean and nasty. But it had a surprising honor. So today I’m gonna give you a taste of Mafia history.
In Sicily, the government was corrupt. As in, so corrupt that people had to form organizations to protect themselves. That’s how the Mafia started, and that was often the only thing standing between the people and a “law” that would have taken everything from them. When people started emigrating from Sicily to the U.S., their distrust of government came with them (go figure), and so did their ideas to combat it.
Experts insist that the American Mafia is not the Sicilian Mafia. By that, they mean that there was never a central authority in Sicily that ran things in America. But. Those were in the Mafia in Sicily more often than not formed or joined a branch of it on this side of the pond too.
In turn-of-the-century America, everyone just assumed that if you were Italian, you must belong to a gang. Street gangs roamed the cities, usually preying on their own kind. The most prominent of these were the Black Hand and the Camorra. They were . . . er, not very organized. That’s were the Mafia differed. They earned that title of Organized Crime, boy, let me just tell you.
They lived by the rule of Omerta, which basically said that you could kill each other, but woe to anyone who turned another Sicilian in to the authorities. You just didn’t do it. And in those days, another thing you just never did was hit a guy’s family. Family was precious. You could kill the gangster, but his wife and kids had better remain untouched.
That tide started to change in the mid to late 20s . . . which is why I set my Little Italy Trilogy in the earlier half of the decade.
Come back next Wednesday for some more interesting Mafia tidbits!
by Roseanna White | Aug 4, 2009 | What We're Reading
First, let me say that I love Shar MacLaren. Her books are sweet and deep and awesome . . . just like her. =) I’ve emailed her a lot over the years, got to hug her at the ’07 ACFW conference, and (best of all, lol) have had my endorsements appear on or in nearly all of her books. Go, Shar!
Her latest is Maggie Rose, the second in the Daughters of Jacob Kane series. This one takes us to turn-of-the-century New York City, where middle daughter Maggie has gone to volunteer in an orphanage, Sheltering Arms. She knew it would be a lot of work, but she also knows it’s where God called her. What she didn’t expect was Luke Madison, an embittered newspaper reported assigned to write a story about the refuge. He’s the handsomest man she’s ever seen . . . but will anything break through that hardened heart?
Luke’s story is that he lost his aunt, his fiancee, and his fiancee’s mother in a terrible steamboat accident a few months earlier. Ever since then, he’s been burying himself in work, trying to investigate the accident and find those culpable. His boss finally has enough with him neglecting everything else and demands he take a leave of absense, under the guise of writing the article about Sheltering Arms. What Luke finds at the orphanage–aside from the very pretty Miss from Michigan, as he calls her–is a reason. A reason to fight, a reason to work, a reason to be.
They end up going west on one of the Orphan Trains, finding a dose of adventure . . . and of course, falling in love.
This is the second book I’ve read in the last month dealing with the Orphan Trains–amazing, since I think they’re the only two out, LOL. So I was somewhat familiar with the dilemmas of the day and found Shar’s take on it freash and hopeful, as I always do. One thing I really appreciate about her books is that while they have some suspense, it doesn’t overshadow the romance or the story. She never drags it out to make it not resolve until the last page.
Maggie Rose is another must-read from my good friend Shar. Pick it up for a taste of history, a dose of love, and a helping of adventure.
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.