by Roseanna White | Apr 25, 2013 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
Tuesday night/Wednesday was, let’s say, not great. When I went to bed at 11, I’d meant to set my alarm for 5:30 but forgot. I wanted to get up early to write, but I’d been waking up early on my own, so I figured I’d be fine.
At 1 a.m., a very distressed “Mommy!” woke me up. Poor Xoe (7) was sick. And proceeded to be sick every half hour, meaning that neither of us had the chance to go back to sleep. At about 3, I had the thought that, unlike the last time we had a sick kid in the middle of the night, there was nothing going on this Wednesday that I would have to plan around. We could just rest.
Thank you, Lord.
The pattern continued until, oh, 5:00. I fell back into bed that time staring at the clock and wondering if, unlike every other time, either of us would manage to get back to sleep before the nausea struck again. Oh, I prayed so. I prayed so with every fiber of my being, as I had been praying for the last two hours.
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Women Doing Laundry by Jahn Ekenaes
(Oh yes, thank you for washing machines!) |
Downstairs I heard the whir of the dryer. The chug of the washer. And it occurred to me that plenty of times over the past two years, one or the other of those machines had been not working improperly, either plain not going or not draining right. But tonight, both were behaving beautifully as they washed the sheets and towels and clothes soiled from upset bellies.
Thank you, Lord.
At 6:00 when I heard the bathroom door creak again, I realized I had actually slept for the first time since those two hours at the beginning of the night, and that Xoe had too.
Thank you, Lord.
Though my poor little dumpling understandably asked when she was going to stop and feel better, she smiled as I tucked her, yet again, into bed.
Thank you, Lord.
A mere half hour later, Rowyn woke up. Too chipper for his exhausted mama, waaaaaaaaay too bouncy. But chipper and happy and healthy.
Thank you, Lord.
By no means was this a great day. Certainly not the day I’d planned when I meant to set my alarm and wake up early to write. We weren’t out basking in the beautiful 75-degree sunshine like I would normally have wanted.
But you know, it’s just the flu. It passes quickly. We can deal with it. We have the blessing of being able to redo our schedule at the drop of a hat, thanks to homeschooling. I work from home, so I can just declare it a sick day if I have to. We can rest, we can recuperate, and we can so what needs doing. And oh, how much doable it all seems when I remember to take those moments between the yucks and exhaustion to
Thank you, Lord.
by Roseanna White | Apr 18, 2013 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
Anyone who knows me knows this title is not about my house. 😉
As I stood in front of my stove cooking dinner (mark it on your calendar!) the other night, with my head still in my novel (not rare enough to be noted, LOL), I got to thinking. I’d just written an out-of-the-blue line about my hero returning a borrowed fob. No big deal. Except that until that moment I didn’t know he had borrowed the fob…though I mentioned his pocket watch and its attaching chain in chapter 2. So back I went to the beginning, did a little tweak to the line, and voila. He pulled out his borrowed fob.
See? Neat and tidy.
This is the sort of thing I take great care with in my books. I don’t like any reference to be in vain, so I always make sure everything is woven all the way throughout. But, let’s face it, these small details will probably go unnoticed more often than not. Right? The cynical side of me might say, in moments of exhaustion, that they go unappreciated. But when someone
does catch these little carried-through threads, I hope it makes them go, “Aha! Nice!” Occasionally I’ll get a note from a critique partner or editor or reader letting me know they noticed something like this, and it makes me grin.
Yes, in fiction, all loose ends must be tied. All dangling threads snapped and pulled out. All lines and scenes and plots neatly ordered.
But in life?
Maybe because I focus so much on this sort of thing in my stories, I find myself looking for it in the real world too. Looking for those “Aha!” moments. Those times when it becomes glaringly clear why that thing happened a month or year or decade ago. I daresay I’m not alone in that–we all like to find reason in the seemingly-random, right? I usually call it looking for God’s hand. Which it is.
But as I stood there stirring my ground beef and thinking about watch fobs, it occurred to me that sometimes those threads are crucial…but so very small they really will likely go unnoticed. And if that happens in my books, which are crafted by small-visioned me, how often is that the case in life, where the omniscient God is the author? How many times do things never make sense to us, never even gain our notice…yet were crafted with such perfect care by Him?
Life, to our human eyes, is messy. Often ugly. Always beyond our total comprehension. But you know, I think if we could look at it through the Author’s eyes, we’d see where every thread is pulled through. Where every loose end is tied off. Where every tear we shed, where every dream we dream matters in our life story. I think, if we could see it in the right light, life would look a lot neater.
The reality is, we’re incapable of that. And that’s okay too. Because just like most people will never pause to think, “Wow, she wove the watch fob back in two hundred pages later!”, it’s not necessary that we notice every time God makes sense of things. It’s enough to know He does. To be able to see the big ones. It’s okay to wonder about the ones we never see reemerge.
Because He’s got it all under control. And sometimes I can just hear Him whisper, “Just hold on. You’ll understand in another few chapters…”
by Roseanna White | Apr 17, 2013 | Uncategorized
Last Wednesday I talked about it . . . today I’m showing it to you! =)
I’ve since learned some fun background on it too. First, the designer is the same one who designed Love Finds You in Annapolis, MD. =) This is Garborg Design–and I got a message saying the model is the designer’s cousin. Fun! I love learning that the models I gasp over are related to someone or another. Makes it so much more personal. I usually assume cover models are just hired models, so learning they’re friends and relatives of the designers or members of a publishing house always makes me grin in delight. And this beautiful Ms. Garborg (or whatever her name may be, LOL) is so lovely, and such a good Marietta. I couldn’t be happier. =)
I also got a note from the costume designer, saying how glad she was I liked the ensemble. Naturally, I had to gush in response, because ohmygoodness. The more I stare at this dress (which is a lot, LOL), the more I love it in all its details.
And so we can see all the covers of the series together… (there will be a second novella between 2 and 3 too, though we have no cover yet *grins*)
by Roseanna White | Apr 11, 2013 | Uncategorized
Persuaded
by Julie Coleman
The supply of wine had been depleted.
Not one drop left. And the party was still going strong.
Mary shuddered at the embarrassment the
oversight would bring on the hosts. She instinctively turned to her
son to relate the news. He would know what to do. But Jesus seemed
impervious to the problem. “Woman, what does this have to do with
me?” he queried. “My hour has not yet come.”
Unfazed, Mary turned to the servants.
“Do whatever he says,” she simply told them. And Jesus turned the
water into wine.
This story has its puzzling moments.
But one big question towers over the rest: why would Jesus refuse to
help, even going so far as to state his reason for not helping, then
turn around and do the miracle anyway?
There were other times Jesus refused to
perform miracles. We are told in Mark 6 that in his
hometown of Nazareth, Jesus “could do no miracle there except that
he lay his hands on a few sick people and healed them.” Why? “He
wondered at their unbelief.” Several times, religious leaders and
then Pilate asked him to perform. Jesus flatly refused, for they were
merely “seeking a sign from heaven to test him” (Mark 8:12). They
had not asked in faith. The miracles were not meant to create faith;
they served merely to confirm it.
Faith is a necessary component to any
request we make of God. Jesus would not perform a miracle without it.
When two blind men asked for healing,
Jesus asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”
When they affirmed their trust, Jesus gave them their sight (Matthew
9:29). He asked a father to confirm his belief before ousting a demon
that controlled his son. Why? “All things are possible to him who
believes” (Mark 9:23). In these and many other cases, belief
in Jesus’ mercy and power was required before
Jesus would help them.
When faith is expressed, God responds.
Mary’s instructions to the servants
at the wedding of Cana were brim-full of faith. Whatever he
says, do it. She trusted Jesus would do the right thing. Jesus
responded by turning water into the finest of wines.
The Greek verb pisteuo, translated
as believe, trust, or to have faith often carries
the qualifying connotation of being persuaded or convinced. The Greek
lexicon defines it as “to cause to come to a particular point of
view or course of action.” Trust results from what one has found to
be true. Mary knew Jesus as only a mother can know her child. He
lived in unfailing obedience to his heavenly Father. What she had
observed of him in the past persuaded her to trust him now.
When God brought the Israelites out of
Egypt, he demonstrated his power and faithfulness to them over and
over, first with the plagues, then the crossing of the Red Sea,
provision of water and manna, and the dramatic giving of the Law. In
short, he was teaching them to trust him. But the months they spent
in the desert experiencing his faithfulness apparently weren’t
enough for the message to sink into this “stiff-necked” people.
They balked at entering the Promised Land, refusing to trust God for
his provision.
God ironically gave them what they
wanted. They would never go in. But their children would. So God
spent the next 40 years proving to the new generation just how
trust-worthy he was, teaching them the truth of his goodness and
power. And when it came time to go into the land, they were ready to
follow him anywhere. Truth is foundational to trust.
Trust doesn’t come
naturally to us. So God brings along hardship, times when we struggle
to perceive his presence or guidance, times when everything seems
hopeless or overwhelming. We hate those times and dread their
appearance into our lives. But he will use them to give us a deeper
understanding of just how faithful he is. We will emerge from the
darkness with a better capacity to trust him. And the conduit of
trust opens the way for his blessing and mercy.
“I thank God for the mountains,
and
I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought
me through.
For if I’d never had a problem,
I wouldn’t know
God could solve them,
I’d never know what faith in God could
do.” –Andrae Crouch
Julie Coleman is an author and
speaker who focuses on Biblical study and women’s ministries. Julie’s
new book, Unexpected Love: God’s Heart Revealed in Jesus’
Conversations with Women, was recently released by Thomas
Nelson Publishers. You can learn more about Julie at
www.unexpectedgod.com.
by Roseanna White | Apr 4, 2013 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
My parents always read to me as a kid. I started writing when I was, oh, six or seven. It took another year or two for me to love reading (myself) other stories as much as I loved creating my own, but I definitely came down with that bug something fierce. And after college, I decided I should take up writing reviews. At the time there was a lack of reviews from the Christian perspective, and I wanted to fill the gap.
It wasn’t long until I was a member of ACFW and reviewing the books of a lot of other authors from the organization. And because of that, I had faces to put to the names and titles. I knew there were people behind the books, I knew the people, sometimes (a little). And I knew too that I was a writer, and that was always in the back of the my mind. I wanted my reviews to be honest, but I also wanted them to be fair and Godly. I wanted to never, ever write a review that was not one I would be hurt to receive.
When I first had books out there in the world to be reviewed, I was pretty blessed. All my first reviews were positive. And often not just positive but glowing. Left and right I had folks saying how my biblicals changed their lives, their understanding, I heard “best book” or “favorite book” a few times. Which gave me the confidence to say that I was actually looking forward to my first negative review, because it would make me more a “real” writer.
Yeah. Silly me, LOL.
In the years since then, I’ve gotten my fair share of bad reviews. I’ve let them bog me down sometimes, and other times I’ve shaken them off. When they’re really well thought-out negative reviews, I learn and grow from them. I thought I’d gotten pretty good at dealing with the negative, focusing on the positive. But recently, I’ve come to a decision that, for me, is pretty big.
I’m done reading reviews of my books. Finished.
Ciao, bye-bye. Other writers I love and respect have arrived at this place long before me, and I never quite got it. But with the release of
Ring of Secrets, I do. All of a sudden, reviews are depressing me, even the good ones. I can’t really explain the reason, just the result. I want readers to find and read and love my book, I want to be approachable, I welcome and love notes from them. But I’m to the point where I’m leaving that up to them. If they want me to know their thoughts, they can email or find me on Facebook–and I LOVE THAT!–but leaving a review on Amazon is for the other readers. Not for me anymore. If someone sends me their review, I’ll read it, because they want to share. If my editor forwards me one, awesome. I’ll assume it’s something she wants me to read. But I’m done with seeking them out.
For me, this is a matter of putting aside pride and refocusing. After years and years of reading my reviews, this is a new decision, one I’m still thinking through. I don’t want to be hung up, anymore, on what people are saying about me. I don’t want to be writing just for praise. I’m writing to praise. I’m writing to share the stories the Lord has put on my heart. I’m writing to minister.
I’m certainly not saying authors who read their reviews are not doing this–not at all!! Just speaking for my own tendencies. As my heart and mind continue this journey of publication, it’s easy to for me to get too competitive, too glory-hungry, too focused on me. It’s easy to take offense. And I need to guard my heart against that. I need to stay focused on God, on the readers, on the stories. Not on the praise or the criticism.
Where do you come down on reviews? As readers? As writers? What do you think their purpose is, and how do they effect you personally?
by Roseanna White | Apr 3, 2013 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
I am by no means an expert of historical fashion–I leave that to wonderful folks like Rachel Wilder, who my family fondly refers to as “Louisiana Rachel,” and who I have recruited to read my manuscripts and find any errors in how I refer to cravats vs. ties, waistcoats and vests and chemises and panniers and hoops and crinolines and…and..and…
I can’t tell you where the seams were in sleeves in a random year in the 19th century. I can’t tell you exactly when hoops turned to bell-shapes and what fabrics were most common when, and what colors were popular–not without looking it up, anyway. But at this point I’ve researched the fashion of enough eras, from 1770s through the 1920s, that I’m beginning to recognize things before I see a year attached to them. And that’s pretty cool. =)
One of my recent realizations of this was with a book I was reading for WhiteFire. There was no date at the beginning of the book to tell us when it was taking place, and our other editor asked. I said something like, “Based on the fashion described, it has to be 1890s.” I went and checked in the proposal she’d sent earlier, and voila! 1890! I felt so proud, LOL.
This is a pretty handy (and necessary) skill for a historical writer to have attained, and it’s a fun one to learn! It’s also the point where I can recognize a few designers, believe it or not. Every time I see a late 19th-century gown that I just adore, I know it’s from the House of Worth. Haven’t been wrong yet, LOL.
So while we’ve looked at a lot of fashion here as I’m in one era or another, today we’re going to just take a quick tour through the ages that I’ve studied. =)
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| 1770s |
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| 1780s |
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| 1790s |
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| 1810s |
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| 1830s |
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| Early 1860s |
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| Late 1860s (House of Worth!!) |
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| 1890s (also Worth – drool) |
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| 1905 |
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| 1911 |
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| 1920s |
And you know what all these beautiful dresses make me wish? That we still wore such lovely creations on a day-to-day basis! I daresay Charles Frederick Worth would be none too impressed with the trend of yoga pants, LOL. 😉
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.