Holy or Mundane?

Ben ‘Mortified” Morton AKA Morton Benning

If you’ve been a believer for a while you’ve probably encountered the idea that there is Christian music and also secular music, there are Christian films and there are secular films, and there are Christian books and secular books.

What I see here is a false dichotomy that western believers can be all-too-ready to accept, and in so doing, divide our writers into those who write Christian books (explicitly about Christian faith or having overt Christian-faith-associated themes), and those who are Christians who write secular books who have apparently crossed over into the secular world and are doing something somehow less worthy. That is, unless they try to covertly sneak their faith as an undercurrent of the work as a kind of guerilla evangelistic mission - to steal past those watchful dragons, as CS Lewis put it. This approach has the potential to be a little (or perhaps extremely) disingenuous.

Now I’m not here to say we ought not to write overtly Christian books, I absolutely am in favour of writing books that deal explicitly with Christian themes and faith issues. I am also not going to say that we can’t write for the general market and include undercurrents of faith-related themes. I’ve done (or perhaps attempted) precisely that myself. And I also am perfectly happy to advocate for Christian writers who want to write a book that doesn’t have any apparent Christian-faith themes (though I’d be surprised to see an instance of a person’s established Christian faith and worldview not having at least a subtle influence on their writing).

The problem I want to address is that the dichotomy is false. 

As a writer for Relevant Magazine’s Website reminds us, ‘the word secular means "without God," and there is no place on this planet that God cannot operate.’ 

Plato taught that the spiritual was higher and purer and the physical was a lower or lesser copy of the spiritual reality. This found its way into the teachings of the Gnostics. Paul wrote his letter, 1 Timothy, partly to address gnostic heresies that were showing up in the church. They held that the physical and the spiritual were two separate realms that did not belong together, and that worldly things were evil, and spiritual things were good. They could not allow that the divine Son of God could inhabit a worldly (and therefore evil) body. 

The early Church Fathers, particularly Clement of Alexandria and Irenaeus, argued strongly against Gnosticism’s dualism and false dichotomies. Though the ideas have been soundly refuted, their shadow remains in the minds of believers. 

German Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant is one who is noted for dividing reality into, the phenomenal (empirical) and the noumenal (spiritual or moral), but there have been many others who have suggested a dichotomy like this as a model of reality. This idea is particularly persistent.

The more modern version typically holds that spiritual things (and endeavours) are good, and non-spiritual (or secular) ones are less-good; that being a preacher is a holy calling and being a plumber is not; that writing explicitly Christian books is a good and noble thing for a writer to do, and writing a book for a secular audience with subtle and/or potentially negligible spiritual themes is more like a guilty pleasure that might need to be excused for some reason.

If you look at what the bible actually teaches about what is spiritual, you find a very different picture. From the beginning, in Genesis 1, God creates the world and declares every part of it good. And God tells Paul in the New Testament not to call unclean what Gad called clean (Acts 10:15). And most believers have heard that all things are permissible, but not all are beneficial (1 Cor 10:23). What is important is the heart attitude. The biblical position is that everything is (or is potentially) sacred if done with a heart that wants to honour God by doing what he designed us to do. The bible teaches us that the important thing to remember is whatever you do, make it an example of the best of your ability and dedicate it to God as an offering (Col 3:17, 1 Cor 10:31). 

1 Corinthians teaches us that the meat sacrificed to idols is not anything special. Meat is just meat, an idol is just a sculpture, and eating is just eating - except when it concerns shipwrecking the conscience of another believer. You can eat whatever you like and honour God by doing it - right up until you encounter someone who is unnecessarily concerned that idol-befouled-food might harm your spirit, and then you need to choose to use your freedom in Christ to stop eating it to care for your less-mature spiritual sibling. That being the case, can I suggest that maybe you can write whatever you like and honour God in doing it - so long as your heart is turned toward God and you are loving toward your fellow-believers in doing it?

For my part, God created me to be creative like him. And like him, I create all manner of things I think ought to exist, and not all of them need to have a cross carved into them in order to be a worthy offering.

Some stuff I read while thinking about this subject...

The Institute for Faith Work and Economics - H Whelchel 3.10.16 

How can the Church be salt and light today - early church’s attitude to non-sacred work.

The Institute for Faith Work and Economics - H Whelchel 17.10.16 

Historical Influences of the Secular Sacred Divide

Relevant - Anonymous 20.04.06

The Sacred-Secular Dichotomy

Peace Catalyst International - Rick Love 06.06.11

Seeing God in All Things: Why the Sacred-Secular Dichotomy is Heresy

Business as Mission - Mike Baer 19.01.18

Breaking Down the Sacred-Secular Divide

Patheos Philosophical Fragments - 03.08.11 Timothy Dalrymple

When Christ is Lord, Nothing is Secular

Crosswalk.com - Cindi McMenamin 19/12/19

Is Anything Really Secular or Christian?

Focus on the Family Canada - Subby Szterszky 2018

Is there such a thing as secular?

Ben Morton AKA Morton Benning is an author, illustrator, editor, publisher and occasional lecturer in speculative fiction, as well as a fiction-writing coach who runs his own assisted publication business called Immortalise [helping writers become authors]. He is the author of Playing God, and The Tale of Alathimble Spaide and Other Such Nonsense (Stone Table Books) and creator of Morton’s Anglish Fictionary (Immortalise) and largely responsible for encouraging a lot of creative people to attempt things they weren’t sure they could (or maybe should) do. He and his lovely wife are members of Christies Beach Baptist Church and have three adorable girls.

It's a 2020 Kind of Day.

 Apparently 2020 has become an adjective. I know it kinda already was. You know, perfect vision and all that, but now it has a whole new meaning. I’m not going to try and define it for you, I’ll let the lexicographers do that for me when they add it to next years updated edition of the dictionary. But I have to say it. The old meaning has now joined the archaic words of the old century and a new meaning for the word/phrase is emerging. 

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Have you ever read the dictionary from start to finish? I know two people who have accomplished this, though I’m starting to wonder which version they read. Have they kept up with the new additions?

Over 2000 words, senses and subentries were added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2018 and over 650 in 2019. Some of these blow your mind - xoxo, Jedi mind trick? I mean, seriously? Come on. Jedi mind trick is now in the english dictionary? Just take a moment to think about how language is changing. People are always creating new ways of how to communicate to each other; they want to use new words and phrases to express themselves in a unique way.

I just read an article about two AI robots creating their own language to communicate to each other without any influence from its creators. That’s astounding and relatively frightening, but that’s also a very big hole I don’t want to fall into discussing right now, lol.

So, how has the evolution of language affected the way we write? If you’ve read the likes of Jane Austin, J. R. R. Tolkien or even C. S. Lewis, the language they used is distinct to their time period. They were true storytellers, rarely showing the story and each having a unique, but similar melody and tone to the structure of their sentences. They breathed intelligence and depth into each page.

As books have become more accessible, the need to cater to all ages has helped drive the use of language and how we apply it to our writing. The words we use in a children’s book are very different to that of adult fiction, which in kind is very different to young adult. Where third person, past tense was the norm, we are now seeing first person, past tense; first person, present tense and even third person, present tense.

If you’re like me, you’ve thought first person, present tense is just too awkward to read or even write, but you have that little niggle to want to experiment and challenge yourself; just to see if you can pull it off and create an incredible story.

With the changes in language, the dialogue of the characters in young adult books has also adjusted and become fluid in its variety. I’ve read of so many authors getting their teenage children to read their manuscripts so the dialogue is up to date with how they communicate to their friends, right down to each word or phrase. Cool or rad are probably so outdated to describe something you think is … well, cool, but without knowing what words kids are using these days, my own young adult stories may be seen as old fashion and not even worth reading. 

I think it’s important for us as writers to be up to date with the new phrases of the 21st Century, especially if we’re writing contemporary fiction, but I think its also as important in young adult fiction as well as fantasy and science fiction so the characters relate to the current generation. But I also love the idea of using those old archaic words that no one uses anymore. You know, the ones that really roll off the tongue like discombobulate, flabbergast, fandangle, magnanimous or superfulous. We really need to bring some of these words back.

What other changes has language had on the way we write? What’s your favourite word in the english language? Let me know by posting a comment below.

K.A. Hart is a born and bred Territorian who moved to Queensland and had no choice but to stay after her assimilation into Toowoomba's infamous, collective known as Quirky Quills.

Since then, K.A. Hart has had two short stories published. Stone Bearer, appears in Glimpses of Light and Tedious Tresses, in the As Time Goes By Mixed Blessings anthology. She is currently working on a fantasy novel.

 

God spoke first!

 

MoorePerspective-blogger

 

 

Julia Archer

 

Our Bible begins with God communicating. ‘God said….and God said….and God said.’

            Scripture is both communication and a record of God communicating.

            And what creative, diverse communication it is!

            As Psalm nineteen says, ‘The heavens declare the glory of God

                                                    …The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy…

            God speaks audibly from a burning bush, from a mountain blazing with fire, and out of the mouth of a donkey.

            God’s Spirit inspires David to write poetry and music.

            God sends angels to speak to men and women.

            He speaks in dreams to Joseph the son of Jacob, and Joseph the husband of Mary.

            He gives visions to Daniel, Ezekiel, Amos and John the Apostle.

            We read, ‘The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of …The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of … The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of …The word of the Lord that cam

e to Micah … The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of …’

            ‘Son of’, and sometimes ‘in the reign of’ particular kings. The prophets were real men, with real parents, at a definite place and time. A word for that place and time and for all who have lived since. God’s word, revealing his character, his concern for our right worship and right living.

 

PostmillennialWorldView

 

            How did the word of the Lord come to them? It doesn’t say! I can’t help wishing it did. But God was certainly determined to get his message across, over and over.

            He told Ezekiel to make a little model of the city of Jerusalem, and set up a toy besieging army around it!

            Hebrews opens by telling us that in the past God spoke to his people through the prophets, ‘but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.’

            Jesus spoke in a human voice, and family men with a living to make, dropped everything to follow him and depend on the kindness of strangers.

            Jesus spoke, and the blind saw, lepers were healed, the storm subsided, demons fled, the dead were raised, sinners knelt at his feet, and the nation was divided into those who believed in him, even worshipped him, and those who planned his murder.

            Jesus spoke and a kingdom was launched. From his lips we have the good Samaritan, the father who welcomed the prodigal son, and the shepherd who rescued the lost sheep.

            From his lips we know the meaning of his death, and the promise of his return.

            And to each generation since, the Father has sent the Spirit to communicate God’s love for the world, and communicate the meaning of scripture.

 

knowjesusnow-WordPress.com

 

            As Christian writers, we are communicators. As God’s communication with us takes many forms, so does our writing.

            When we are discouraged – and we all are sometimes – we can turn to God and ask for help in what we are trying to say. We can ask, ‘Is this what I actually should be writing?’ Is this is how I should say it? Is this how I should try to get it to the right audience?

            Life stories, dramas, prayers, liturgy, sermons, fiction (think the parables!), poetry, proverbs, family sagas, courtroom drama, mystery, romance, travel and adventure (Luke’s account of Paul’s journeys), it is hard to think of any area of writing suitable for a Christian author that does not appear in Scripture.                  There’s humour, too. Imagine, seriously, the man with a great piece of timber in his eye trying to pick a bit of sawdust from his friend’s eye.

 

on-writing-history

 

            That God places such value on communicating should inspire us not just to continue writing, but to persistently seek to live closer to him, so that we first hear from him, before we try to write.

            He has plenty to say!

            I must leave to Jesus the last word on our listening to God’s communication.

            ‘Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."’ Mark 4:9

 

 

123RF.com

 

2020, The Novel.

 

2020 The Novel

The plot gets more and more intriguing. If it’s a good book you are desperate to find out what happens – but at the same time you don’t want the book to finish.

You flip the page to start a new chapter. A sudden turn catches you unaware. You are shocked! The good guys start to play nasty and you wonder - maybe the good guys will end up being the baddies? What was hidden is starting to be revealed – just a corner lifted so you can get a glimpse and it sickens you. You slam the book shut and find something else to do while composing a long negative review in your mind. How dare the author turn the narrative on its head?

But soon you sneak back and pick up the book because you must know what happens.

You turn the pages at speed, caught in the unexpected dreadful revelations only to reach the end of the book with the story still up in the air. ‘To be continued,’ it states.

Welcome to 2020 😃

The year began with such promise. The year of 2020 vision. ‘The old has gone. The new has come,’ as the prophet Isaiah stated. Both of those promises have proven to be true. But we don’t like what we are seeing and the new isn’t what we were expecting. Instead of reading the book, we find ourselves caught in a narrative which is rushing onward at speed, but we can’t see the end. And like the Israelites we long to go back to where we were at the beginning of the year, to do a rewrite. 

Yet I think we are starting to understand that life as we knew it will not return. The new thing is being birthed.

There are two plans for the world’s future. Those opposing sides are caught in a dreadful war in the heavenlies as well as on earth. Like any war, people are puppets and dispensable in the eyes of evil men and women.

 

But maybe this is a write-your-own ending story?

Do we have a choice? Yes, absolutely Yes!

We can bow to fear or we can trust in the Lord. We can curl up into a ball or we can rise up and pray. We can feel sorry for ourselves, or we can look for someone to assist and pour out the love of God on them. We can acquiesce, saying 'Who am I'? Or we can decree and declare the truth of scripture and oppose the enemy’s plan.

It is time to read Psalm 2. Here is a couple of selected verses.

Why do the nations conspire
and the people plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together.....

The One enthroned in heaven laughs:

the Lord scoffs at them.

He rebukes them in His anger

And terrifies them in His wrath.

 In the book of 2020, the Lord God Almighty is still in control. He does have a plan and it is for our good. As we wait for next chapters of the book to be revealed, can I encourage you to keep your eyes fixed on ‘the Author and Finisher of our Faith’?

Jo Wanmer wrote this from her sunny office in the north of Brisbane, God's own country! She trusts her thoughts encourage you and bless you. Together may we rise up as an army of God in prayer and watch as He resolves the issues.

Should the Pandemic Shape the Settings of Our Novels?

Photos courtesy of Pille-Riin Priske on Unsplash

One of the dilemmas authors face if we write contemporary fiction or begin our speculative stories in a present-day setting, is whether or not we should refer to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

I’m developing a couple of novels at the moment. I’ve been working forever on a way-too-complex time travel romantic thriller and I’ve recently started playing with an idea for a contemporary, amateur sleuth mystery series. My plan is to do the back-end work on both and run with whichever idea takes over. My problem is that both stories begin in the ‘present day’. 

Do I acknowledge the pandemic or not?

There are different thoughts on this. 

I read on one forum that Amazon was taking down books that were focused on Covid-19. I tried to find evidence of this on Amazon's website but I couldn't find any prohibitions. In the early days of the pandemic Amazon was flooded with a wide range of dubious products claiming to cure the virus, which they subsequently took down from sale. They have also removed some nonfiction books of dubious merit, some of which have been reinstated. 

I honestly don't see how they could object to the pandemic acting as a backdrop to contemporary fiction but their bots do odd things at times. Mind you, I recently had a seasoned reviewer friend say they had a review removed from Amazon and the only reason they could think of was that they mentioned the lockdown in the review. 

Bottom line: If you have a book in mind and you are not sure if the theme is okay then I'd contact Amazon directly and check.

A stronger reason to avoid referencing the pandemic in our fiction is because people often want to escape life's problems when they read. I think it would depend on the reader and the level of realism they crave, but lighter reads have done well since the pandemic began.

I think that my friends who write fantasy are in a good position as they don't have to choose. Werewolves don't get Covid... although they could conceivably get parvo. Hey, there's a plot idea! 

But I digress. After thinking this through I decided to leave out any mention of Covid from my books. It seemed much simpler to ignore the mess the world was in and have fun in my writing bubble. 

But then I saw this two-star review posted on another forum. 

It makes me giggle – and groan – every time I read it.

My favourite line: 

The author apparently wrote the book before the pandemic and made the assumption that summer 2020 would be just like other summers…

I mean really, what a terrible author. I know many writers are brilliant creative people but this one missed it, right? If they wrote a book in 2018 or 2019 why wouldn’t they know life would be totally disrupted in 2020? Fancy not being able to predict that a global pandemic would disrupt the world at some future date. Epic fail!

In truth this is both hilarious and sad. Funny that someone would blame an author for not being able to predict the future, and disappointing that this two-star rating could affect the author’s ability to sell their book in the future.

Crazy, huh?

Did you see that 19 people thought the review was helpful?

All groans aside, it did make me realise that some people can’t see past the current world circumstances. The impact of Covid-19 on the psyche of some folk is so profound that they can’t embrace an imaginary world that doesn’t acknowledge the virus. 

The question is, what do we do about this?

• When we are writing new books

• When we’ve already written a book that refers specifically to 2020

• When we get an irrational review like this

If we have a work in progress we might: 

• Continue to set the book in the present but include a forward note explaining why we left Covid-19 out of the story

• Set the book in a specific year – say 2019

• Do nothing - refuse to waste our energy on the minority that might not ‘get’ our work

If we’ve already published a book that mentions 2020, we could try similar things:

• Rewrite the whole book (Noooooo!)

• Change the dates in the book to less contentious ones 

• Including a forward note as above

• However most traditional publishers would be unlikely to re-format books and put out a second edition unless there was a very good reason

• Do nothing

If we get a review that shows *cough* a lack of insight like this one, all the conventional wisdom says: Do. Not. Reply. I guess it’s an opportunity to further develop the thick skin we need as authors (as if we don’t have enough of those opportunities 😆). 

So back to my novels. I think I’m going to stick with my original plan to exclude the pandemic from my stories. The forward note idea sounds good to me, but I’d love to hear what you think. Is this a good plan?

How are you approaching writing contemporary settings in 2020?

Have you ever received a crazy review like this? I'd love to hear what it said 😎. 

What would you do if you received a review like this? 

Susan J Bruce, aka Sue Jeffrey, spent her childhood reading, drawing, and collecting stray animals. Now she’s grown up, she does the same kinds of things. Susan has worked for many years as a veterinarian, and writes stories of suspense, love and overcoming for all ages - usually with animal cameos. Susan also loves to paint animals. Susan won the ‘Short’ section of the inaugural Stories of Life writing competition and won the 'Unpublished Manuscript' section of the 2018 Caleb prize. Susan is the editor of 'If They Could Talk: Bible Stories Told By the Animals' (Morning Star Publishing) and her stories and poems have appeared in multiple anthologies. Her e-book, 'Ruthless The Killer: A Short Story' is available on Amazon.com. You can check out some of Susan’s art work on her website https://www.susanjbruce.com/animal-art .

Behind the Scenes: Scattered by Nola Lorraine

 Today we go 'behind the scenes' as Jeanette (Jenny) O'Hagan interviews Nola Lorraine (aka Nola Passmore) about her upcoming release of her debut novel, Scattered.

Jenny: Congratulations on your upcoming release, Nola. What inspired you to write your debut novel ‘Scattered’?

 

Nola: Thanks Jenny. The novel has been a long time coming. I first got the idea when my husband Tim and I visited the Canadian Maritimes in 2012. I heard about Sable Island, which is famous for its colony of wild horses. It’s about 300 km from Halifax and is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic because more than 350 ships have been wrecked on its shores. Then when we went to Prince Edward Island, we came across a sign dedicated to John Willoughby, a volunteer at Avonlea Village who had helped many descendants of the British Home Children reunite with their families. I’d never heard of the Home Children, but I later discovered they were part of a migrant program that sent poor and orphaned children from Britain to Canada from the 1860s through to about 1930. The seeds of my novel had been planted. My heroine Maggie is on her way to Halifax to search for her brother and sister who had mistakenly been sent to Canada, but she’s shipwrecked on Sable Island and develops a special relationship with one of the horses. It took several years to get the rest of the plot in place, but I had my beginning.

 

 

Jenny: Tell us about the main character, Maggie. What drives her? What keeps her going despite the obstacles in her way?

 

Nola: Maggie is a 19-year-old Englishwoman who had been working abroad when her mother died. She has already lost her father and a brother, so when she discovers her two younger siblings have been sent to Canada, she’s desperate to find them. For a long time, I thought her love of family was enough to drive her search. As I got to know her better, I learned that there were also some deeper issues of abandonment that she had to deal with before she could move forward. A lot of obstacles are thrown at her, but her faith keeps her going, as well as the love and support of a dashing newspaper reporter and her new Canadian friends. If she has a flaw, it’s that she can be impulsive in her desire to speed things up, and that sometimes causes her problems.

 

Jenny: You’ve written an impressive number of poetry, short fiction and non-fiction pieces. How is writing a novel different?

 

There are some obvious things of course, like the length and complexity. However, I think one of the main things is the perseverance you need to complete a novel. I set myself a difficult task by writing an historical novel set in 1882 in a different country. I knew it would involve research, so I started by reading books on Sable Island and the Home Children. However, I was amazed at how many little things I had to find out to make it authentic. For example, it’s wasn’t enough to know that the telephone was introduced into Canada in 1880. I had to know what types of people would have had some of the earliest phones and how long it took for phonelines to be laid in different areas. The research was never-ending. Then there were the rewrites, some of which involved taking out huge chunks of the plot and totally rethinking some scenes and chapters. If I’d known how much work would be involved, I may not have started. But I have a very supportive husband and writing group who kept me going. I also prayed a lot about the trickier aspects and there were many times when I felt God gave me insights as to how to proceed.

 

Jenny: What do you know now about the craft and business of writing that you didn’t when you started?

 

Nola: This book has been a seven-year journey, so I now know about a hundred things I didn’t know before – LOL. I think one of the biggest ones is that it’s so important to have a good plot before you start tinkering with the prose too much. When I started, I had a general idea of where the story was headed, but it changed so much as I went along. Some of my most beautiful, gut-wrenching scenes ended up on the cutting-room floor because they didn’t fit the evolving plot. A lot of craft books and workshops will teach you the ‘how-to’ of creative writing (e.g., show-don’t-tell; snappy dialogue; good imagery), and all of that is important. However, if you don’t have a good story, you could end up with beautifully written rubbish. So my advice would be to work hard on your story, then polish it up.

 

You also really need to be thinking about marketing well before you finish your book. I highly recommend Iola Goulton’s Kick-Start Your Author Platform (https://christianediting.co.nz/kick-start/ ) online course. It’s a great way to get you started.

 

Jenny: Now you’ve finished your first novel, what plans do you have for the next one?

 

Nola: I’m in the early stages of plotting the second novel. It will be set in 1896 in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and features one of the characters who was a child in the first novel. I can’t say more due to spoilers. (Wink wink!) I’m also working on a small devotional book and have been blogging some of the material for that on my website.

 

Thanks for chatting with me today, Jenny. It’s been fun.

Jenny: Thanks for giving us a peek behind the scenes, Nola. I'm looking forward to reading Scattered and the sequel. 

Nola Lorraine (aka Nola Passmore) has had more than 150 short pieces published, including poetry, devotions, inspirational articles, true stories, short fiction and academic articles. Her debut novel Scattered is being published by Breath of Fresh Air Press (https://www.breathoffreshairpress.com/) and is due for release on 20 October 2020. She also co-edited the Glimpses of Light charity anthology with Jeanette O’Hagan. 

When she’s not engrossed in her own writing, she’s helping other writers through The Write Flourish, a freelance editing business she runs with her husband Tim. She is passionate about faith and social justice issues, and loves weaving words of courage and hope. She would love to connect with you through her website and social media platforms.

 

Author Website:          https://www.nolalorraine.com.au

Editing Website:             https://www.thewriteflourish.com.au

Facebook:                   https://www.facebook.com/nolalorraine

Twitter:                       https://twitter.com/nolalorraine1

Pinterest:                     https://www.pinterest.com.au/nolalorraine1

 

Scattered is currently available for pre-order from Amazon, Koorong, Breath of Fresh Air Press and Book Depository.

 

The Schemes of an Edwardian Coquette: Planning Your Main Female Character

Rita Stella Galieh

Planning your main female character

It’s always a good idea to know your protagonist’s strengths and weaknesses, both male and female. I have always planned likeable characters. Of course they have flaws and make stupid mistakes, but just enough to make the reader cheer them through difficult situations.

This time I thought I’d like the challenge of writing a novel about a character very much like Scarlett O’Hara, the Southern Belle lead from Gone With The Wind. The girl is a selfish, hardhearted schemer through and through. But she is INTERESTING! And she keeps you waiting to see what her comeuppance will be. And that’s right throughout the story.

If you’re writing a Christian Romance, a HEA (happy ever after) ending is expected. Now with such an unlikable girl, that presents a major challenge. Regency author, Carolyn Miller has such a flawed secondary character in one novel then follows up with the same girl being the lead in her next. This is a clever way of tackling the problem.

Just for a fun exercise I’ve written the following cameo (which I won’t be using) with some questions to see what some of you romance writers might come up with.

The Schemes of an Edwardian Coquette.

According to my Papa I am spoiled. He doesn’t understand. Just because I attended an elite college for young ladies and have my own personal maid, he expects gratitude. But he’s so wealthy it’s likely it doesn’t even a cause dent in his bank account.

I know I am like Mama. When I accompany her shopping, I always end up with one new outfit to her three. That is, including all the accessories Ladies must set themselves apart from commoners by their wardrobes and I agree. I shouldn’t ever like to look like a maid or a shop girl. Though some do have a flair in making the best of their wages. No one could ever believe our clothes are shop bought. Our designer, Pierre, has a special knack with fresh creations. I mean just imagine coming across another lady wearing the same apparel!

Tomorrow I am to join a house party and meet our crowd at the Beaumont’s. Their grounds are large enough for a full sized croquet court. Their lawns are so smooth and even the balls go straight for the hoops when hit with our mallets. I adore this game as I always attract help from young gentlemen showing me how to correctly hit the ball. It’s rather exciting to have young men in such proximity, I can catch a whiff of their shaving cream. And I know this irritates the other girls as I never fail to garner attention from Rupert, Edwin, Alasdair and Albert. Of course none of them quite meet my expectations as Mama says I must catch a wealthy man if I am to continue living the way in which I am accustomed. But I will never marry a domineering man like Papa. I shall only choose one who adores the ground I walk on and shall allow me everything my heart desires. Most of all he should possess his own flashy new roadster and be able to drive it himself. I should love the see the looks on my friends’ faces as we drive by with my scarf trailing in the breeze.

I am quite accomplished. I play pianoforte, I am told I possess a nice soprano voice, I employ pathos and humour in my recitations, and I can converse with ease no matter the gender So when I am presented before our new Queen Alexandra next year, I shall be a great success. Mama says it will be here that I should find my future husband as this is where fine society gentlemen eye all the possibilities. I have practised my eyelash flutters and thanks to Mama’s advice, I can sum up an immediate blush by thinking of my dance partner in his pyjamas. Of course I practise my fan signals of which most young men are familiar. Oh yes, I will be very well prepared for my Coming Out.

QUESTIONS:

• If you were writing this, how would you plan to change this little egotist’s outlook, ie. to change her from an unlikable to a nice girl?

• Maybe something happens to shake up her comfortable life?

• Maybe she comes across an attractive man who will question her outlook?

There are many possibilities and I’d be interested to see what you come up with in a sentence or two. And if this gets your muse working, you may very well begin your own Romance whether it be historical or contemporary.

Indie Publisher, Rita Stella Galieh, has written a trilogy of historical romance novels & has also contributed to several US anthologies. She is now completing a second Historical Romance series set in the Edwardian Era. She can be found on Facebook and www.ritastellagalieh.com  

Rita studied art at the National Art School then joined the family ceramics studio. After their marriage, she and her husband attended Emmaus Bible College, and lived in the US for two years. She has co-presented Vantage Point, an Australia-wide five minute Christian FM radio program. She enjoys giving her fun-filled presentations of Etiquette of the Victorian Era in costume but if her next series gets published she’ll need to change her presentation.

Everything can change in a heartbeat...

Victoriana Series: Signed Sealed Delivered; The Tie That Binds; A Parcel of Promises.

Omega Writers | Four Ways to Consider Feedback

By Iola Goulton

Omega Writers have recently announced the finalists in the 2020 CALEB Award. The finalists had a week to revise their entries based on the first-round feedback, and submit their full manuscript. These are now with the final-round judges, and we will announce the winners in October.

Those who didn't final will also receive the feedback on their entries in the next two days. (If you don't, please contact me at caleb [at] omegawriters [dot] org, just in case your email provider has decided to mark the message as spam.)

I got a few questions when I sent the feedback to the finalists, so thought I'd use today's post to address contest feedback, based on my experience as a contest entrant, judge, and organiser, and my background as a fiction editor.

Feedback isn't always consistent. Most contests have multiple first-round judges, and those judges aren't always going to agree with each other. Some feedback will make sense. Some won't. How do you decide which feedback to use and which to ignore?

Here are four questions to ask:

1. Is the feedback consistent?

If three out of three judges commented on an issue, it's probably something to consider changing. If one judge out of three commented, then it might be something you can ignore.

2. Is the feedback about an error of fact?

Did you write "Jesus's" and the judge corrected it to "Jesus'" (or vice versa)? Did they change your punctuation, or correct a fact? If so, they might be right ... but they might not. If the judge cited a source for their change, then check the source and make the change if appropriate.

However, most judges don't cite sources: they're judges, not editors. In this case, check for yourself in the appropriate dictionary or style guide. Hire an editor. But don't stress too much about these kinds of mistakes. An agent or publisher will overlook minor style errors if you have a compelling plot and interesting characters.

3. Is the feedback expressing an opinion on writing craft?

This is a little more subjective. Has the judge misunderstood your writing? Is that because you didn't make something clear? If so, how can you revise your writing so a future agent or publisher or reader won't misunderstand?

Or is there an issue of writing craft you need to work on? For example, some novels are written in omniscient point of view. But it's hard to write omniscient well—it often reads more like third person with headhopping.

4. Is the feedback addressing a fundamental plot or character issue?

Plot and character are the fundamentals of a great story. Readers (and judges) need to understand what your main character wants and why. If we don't understand those fundamentals, we're not going to buy into the central conflict of the story, the "why".

For example, does it make sense that your cash-strapped main character gives up a good paycheck in a job she loves to live with her in-laws and homeschool while her husband runs the family farm? Not to me ... unless you can give a compelling reason for the character to give up a well-paying job that will provide much-needed cash for the family coffers. For example, maybe the closest hospital is a two-hour drive from the farm. That would work. But there needs to be an obvious and compelling reason.

But it might be that the judge simply didn't "get" your character or their situation. In that case, it's fine to ignore the feedback. At the end of the day, it's your story and you have to follow your own vision.

Above all, don't let the feedback discourage you. Judges give feedback to help, so accept the feedback on that basis.

And if you want some more tips on dealing with feedback from a writing contest (or agent or editor), then click here to check out my post at Australasian Christian Writers.