SUNDAY EDITION

Coming Up This Week

Tuesday

Jeanette Windle

Wednesday

Ufuoma Daniella Ojo: The Journey So Far...

Thursday

Harry Kraus

Friday

Shirley M. Corder: Tricky Taps or Foxy Faucets

Saturday

LeAnne Hardy

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News

Ronie Kendig’s espionage thriller, Dead Reckoning, will release March 1, 2010 (TOMORROW!!!) through Abingdon Press. Congrats Ronie - we're celebrating with you!

Lisa Harris' thriller set in Africa, Blood Ransom, will release in April 2010 from Zondervan.

The Story of Sixteen Missing Pages

Hi, Ruth Ann here.

I own two copies of Could I Have This Dance? by fellow ICFW blogger, Harry Kraus. I won't part with either book, they're both keepers.

Two copies of the same book?

That's right, two copies.

I've read my second copy from cover to cover-it's one of those unputdownable books that I'll read again. And again.

So why not read one and give away the other?

Well to answer that, I'll have to tell you a story.

Last year I entered a competition-the prizes were several Christian novels by well known authors. When I received an email announcing that I was a winner, I requested Harry's book. I love books with a medical background and I knew Harry was a surgeon and writer who peopled his novels with doctors and other medical personnel. A week or two later Could I Have This Dance? arrived in the mail.

Late one evening I sat reading my prize. After several chapters I was engrossed in the story and couldn't wait to see what happened. I turned a page and-

the next one was blank.

As was the next.

And the next.

And the next.

Four pages without a word.

I sighed, but decided to continue reading and tried to work out what had happened in the missing part. Soon I was caught up in the story.

Then it happened again. Four more blank pages.

I flipped through the book and saw there were 4 sets of blank pages. Sixteen missing pages.

I stopped reading, there was no ways that I was going to miss out on so much of the story.

A few days later I showed my little granddaughter the book and said, "I'm sad because all these pages are empty. I don't know what happens on them."

 "Gran, just write your own words," said she.

 I guess she realized I didn't think much of that idea because she took one look at my face and made another suggestion.

"I'll draw pictures on them for you."

And so she did.

Here's one of her picture stories- the facial expressions say it all.

Now the first copy with its original illustrations drawn specially for me is one of my treasures.

The second copy? The organizers of the competition sent me a new book with all its pages present and correct. At long last I was able to read and enjoy the whole story.

If you would like to stand a chance of winning one of Harry's novels, pop back on the 25th March when Harry will be chatting about his new release, The Six-Liter Club, and giving away a copy of Salty Like Blood.

Ruth Ann Dell writes children's stories and international Christian fiction from her home in a sunny South African suburb. She is a member of several writing groups including the American Christian Fiction Writers and Writer's Ink. Her desire is to craft gripping stories to draw her readers into a closer relationship with God.

Ruth Ann and her husband have lived in several countries and are renovating a cottage in the heart of Ireland.

Find out more about Ruth Ann at www.ruthanndell.blogspot.com

interview with Gail Sattler

Good morning, Alice Valdal here. First I would like to announce the winner of the Welsh Revival Hymns cd is Narelle Atkins. Thanks Narelle for stopping by and leaving a comment.




Now, let me introduce my guest, fellow Canadian and multi-published author, Gail Sattler. Welcome Gail.

Gail: Thanks for having me on your blog. This is going to be fun, but of course the more the merrier. For everyone reading this, I invite questions and comments, please feel free to join in and don’t be shy.

A.V.: You're a musician as well as a writer. Do you find inspiration of your writing in your music?

Gail: No, actually I don't. My music and my writing are very separate. I do write songs, but they are just songs, not stories. I sometimes use music elements in my writing, but no more than I would use any other subject matter. In fact, I can't listen to music when I'm writing because instead of sitting back and enjoying the music, it becomes too distracting when I find myself analyzing and predicting the chord progressions.

A.V.: You are multi-published, with a new book coming in May. Tell us a bit about the beginning of your writing journey.

Gail: I've been writing since January 1996. I know this because I started writing when the company I worked for closed and I decided to stay home with my kids for a while. Not long after that I submitted a book to Heartsong Presents, where it sat for 1 week less a year, and then sold on the day of my 40th birthday in 1997. So I can say life begins at 40. Since then I have sold over 30 books and novellas.

A.V.: That is a wonderful story. So, was the road straight and broad once you found a publisher?
Gail: The road doesn't end at publication, really, because it's always changing, and every author should strive to always improve with every book. So as I continue along the road I try to keep learning, and to keep up on the advances and trends.

A.V.: I've often heard editors say don't jump on the band wagon of the latest thing because by the time your book is ready, your 'latest thing' will be old news. How do you use popular notions and keep them fresh during the long process required to get a book on the shelves?

Gail: Books change like television shows. Look at the shows that were popular in the 60's, Andy Griffith, for example. Watching that now, as time has marched on, we groan and wonder how people could have enjoyed that. As an author, I have to always keep up with the changes and improvements, and know what readers like to read. I refuse to get stuck in Mayberry. That said, you have to be very careful with that 'latest thing' and not jump into the middle or end of the same trend, but use an offshoot of it so you are similar but different. I think a way to do this is not to follow trends, but go parallel. Close, but with some signifcant differences. It's like when you shop for clothes on a budget. Don't buy the height of the current trend, because in a few months when it's no longer the current trend, you're stuck with it, and it's become old very fast, or even if it is popular for along time, the market quickly becomes saturated. Be a little different. Keep it trendy enough to be interesting and current, but not so trendy that it blends with the rest.

A.V.: I take your point, but must confess I still enjoy Mayberry. :)
How did you come to choose Heartsong for your first submission? Did you try anywhere else while you were waiting that long year less a week?

Gail: I had been writing for the secular market, and had made one submission, which came back with a very nice personalized rejection letter, with suggestions for improvement. I didn't know how valuable this was until much later in my writing career. But I'd been writing for about 6 months and I came across the guidelines for Heartsong Presents in a writers market guide at my local public library. The guidelines included one sentence that changed my writing life forever. Heartsong Presents wanted good fiction that was "not a sermon in novel form". In other words, they didn't want preachy, but just good Christian fiction. I figured I could do that, I wrote my first Inspirational romance, mailed it off, and the rest is history.

A.V.: Canada and the US are very close neighbours with a shared language and a common geography. However, there are differences. For example, we use the metric system, they use miles and pounds. We have a parliamentary government where the Prime Minister is the leader of the party with the most seats. Americans use an electoral college to elect their president, independently from the Congress. Do you have to guard against Canadianisms when writing for an American publisher?

Gail: As far as being Canadian in an American market, this does mean I have to be very aware of the readership that is buying my books. I've learned to write American.

A.V.: How? By reading? travelling? American friends?

Gail: All of the above. Mostly by paying attention to the differences that we usually pass off, because face it, Canadians are very exposed to American goods and attitudes. What does it mean, then to "write American"?There are many differences that I've had to adapt to. It's not just the spelling of colour or flavor (for Americans reading this, that's color and flavor), but the fact that Americans wear their shoes in the house (gasp!). I got an email from a reader after she read one of my early books, Piano Lessons, asking if my characters were Japanese, because Jed, my male protagonist, took his shoes off and left them on the mat when he went into Jillian's, the female protagonist's, home. I believe it is important to first earn your place in the marketplace and write for the readers who enjoy your writing. The publishers know their target market audience, and for the style and voice of books I write, that means Americans reading stories set on American soil.

A.V.: Do you think your books have international appeal as well? Do you try for a broader audience?

Gail: I always hope for a broader audience. Because I'm Canadian in an American marketplace I try to be generic when I don't have to be specific, and I hope that appeals to everyone, no matter where they are. It's like the film industry in Vancouver BC, where I live. I watch many shows on television that are set in major American cities. But in the background, I recognize many local buildings and settings and know that they just changed a few signs, the show or movie was really made here. I try to do the same with many of my settings.

A.V.: You've been published by a variety of publishers including Steeple Hill and Heartsong? How did you end up with Abingdon for your upcoming book?

Gail: I just got a story in my head, and submitted it to them because it felt like the right publisher for my story. I'm really thrilled with how the whole process has gone with Abingdon Press for The Narrow Path. The staff is a dream to work with, and the quality of the work they have done on the book is outstanding.

A.V.: That book is coming out in May and you'll be doing another interview here specifically about The Narrow Path. For now let's concentrate a bit on your background. You live in The Greater Vancouver Area. You've got the mountains on three sides, the broad Fraser River flowing by and the Pacific Ocean on your doorstep. (For anyone who watched the latest Olympics on television, you already have an impression of Gail's backyard. ) Does where you live affect your writing?

Vancouver - photo courtesy of NASA

Gail: Not really. Most of the time I write in my basement, so I'm not looking at the scenery. It's actually distracting. :) A really good photo is on the cover of my VANCOUVER book. In fact, I'd like to give away a copy of Vancouver

(See contest rules at bottome of this post.)

A.V.: Do you have an agent? How did you find her? Do you recommend an agent?

Gail : Yes, my agent is Tamela Hancock Murray of Hartline Literary agencies. Actually, she found me. Way back in the days before Tamela was an agent, she was a fellow Heartsong Author, and we even worked on a Barbour novella anthology together. We talked and emailed a lot, so it was a natural match. I would definitely recommend her.

A.V.: Have you ever attended the Write! Canada conference?

Gail: Yes. In fact, the one year I went, it was the first writer's conference I'd ever been to away from home. It was a great experience, and one I'll never forget. I'd recommend it to anyone.

A.V.: Do you still have children at home?

Gail: I still have two at home, although between school, work, girls, and cars, I hardly seem to see them. Yet the fridge still empties out pretty fast after shopping day.

A.V.: Tell me about the lizard.

Gail: He is a Bearded Dragon, and he actually makes a nice pet if you like pets that are inactive. He doesn't make any noise and he doesn't smell and he is actually very cuddly because he loves to press down into a person's body heat when he's lying on top of you. He does have active moments, although they aren't often. Often we put him on the living room carpet and forget about him and come back 2 hours later, and he hasn't moved. Other times we have to look for him, and he can get pretty flat, so he gets into amazing places although I do admit he is predictable and easy enough to find. In the summer he likes to go onto the grass, and he enjoys going through the sprinkler, but you can't call it running, he doesn't go very fast.

A.V.: Thanks, Gail. I've enjoyed our chat.

To enter the giveaway for Gail's book, Vancouver, please leave a comment with your e-addy spelled out . The giveaway is restricted to North American addresses only. Void where prohibited by law.

To learn more about Gail, visit http://www.gailsattler.com/
To learn more about me, visit http://alicevaldal.com/.

Stretching - M. Laycock

The Yukon autumn was sliding into winter as my friends and I sipped coffee and stared out the window of our warm log home at the heavy frost on the ground. The conversation turned to the subject of wood. Firewood. We all admitted our woodpiles weren’t quite as high as they could be. We all knew what minus 60 was like, that our stoves would deplete the store of fuel in no time.

Then Anne mentioned a local sawmill was giving away slab wood. The slabs were mostly bark with only an inch or two of wood, but they were dry and made great kindling. Enough of them would be a welcome and needed addition to the stock of wood in our yards. But we also knew our husbands’ jobs left no daylight hours to haul wood. It was Barb who said, “So it’s up to us.” I was the last to agree. I knew how heavy our chainsaw was, having run it once or twice. The idea of spending a whole day running it didn’t appeal to me. But my friends assured me we could do it. Barb rented the truck, Anne packed the lunch and I prayed.

A few days later I found myself staring at our saw as my husband sharpened the chain and explained how to avoid stalling it. For most of that night I considered how I might get out of this adventure, but the next day the first crack of light found me and my two friends stacking slabs on the deck of a five-ton truck. As the pile grew, we took turns climbing on top to trim the ends on the far side. My arms, already aching from tossing the slabs, shook as I leaned over and tried not to think of falling off with a roaring chainsaw in my hands. But the pile slowly grew until the three of us, dirty, exhausted, but smiling, stood back and surveyed the stack of wood, piled as high as it could go on the back of that truck.

The sun was setting and the temperature dropping as we drove home. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the look on our husbands’ faces when we arrived with that loaded truck. The knowledge that we had made a significant contribution to the comfort of our families that winter made all of us smile. The episode had been a stretch for me, but the accomplishment made me realize with the Lord’s help I was capable of more than I had thought. It felt good.

I once heard a challenging sermon about stretching. “It’s in stretching that faith grows,” the pastor said. “It’s in stretching that we learn to rely on God’s grace.”

Stretching your faith might mean letting go of something you’ve been worrying about. It might mean reconciling with someone who has offended you. It might just mean attending a Bible study group for the first time. It might mean writing a poem or an article even though you’re a fiction writer. It might mean starting that first novel, or hitting the send button to put your words out there for the world to read.

Maybe you’re thinking the same thoughts I did the night before my wood hauling expedition – “I don’t think I can do it.” Maybe you’re right, but God’s grace can do it through you. So pray. Then go ahead and stretch.
****

Marcia Laycock is a pastor's wife and mother of three grown daughters. She was the winner of The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone, and has published two devotional books, Spur of the Moment, and Focused Reflections. Visit her website - http://www.vinemarc.com/

A Feather on the Breath of God

“What can you possibly write that hasn’t already been written a million times over?”

That’s one of the criticisms my negative voice makes on a regular basis and sometimes it adds, with a devilish grin “…and with greater skill.” I am ready with my stock defence. “Nothing, but as Julia Cameron points out in The Artist’s Way, it needs saying again … and again and again and again.” Still, I needed convincing. Sir Isaac Newton paid me a visit. He'd just had his Eureka moment after he saw the apple fall - a vertical meeting a horizontal - and discovered gravity.

I’m up to my neck in horizontals and verticals and gravity at the moment. I’ve laid aside the revision of my novel while I try and verticalise a prostrate short story. I collect verticals in the form of feathers. I can’t pass by a fallen feather. I keep my collection in a glass and it lives on top of a bookcase.

We adopted a cat from the SPA (the official body in France for to the protection of animals). She'd been abandoned into a car park. When rescued, Keeksies was a teenager, but weighed in at just under 2lbs, about the same as a bag of sugar. Her toy, in the small cage in which she lived at the SPA, was a feather. Feathers are still her favourite form of delight. She is a night hunter. As I slumber, she sneeks along the top of the bookshelves and ransacks my feather collection.

On the day I met Newton I had pulled down the jar of feathers from the shelf and begun throwing them one by one for Keeksies’ amusement. (It’s one of the many ways I've found of avoiding writing). The feathers are all shapes, colours, sizes and have fallen from turtle doves, owls, wood pigeons, magpies, jays, blackbirds, hawks, seagulls … Some feathers I ‘know’ by the stories attached to them. Keeksies became crazed trying to catch them, leaping high into the air as they made their descent or pouncing as they hit the carpet. That’s when I had my own Eureka moment.

I noticed how not a single feather descended in the same way as another. Then that none ever fell to earth in the same way twice. As well as the manner, the speed of descent differed from feather to feather, even in two almost identical, white ones. The same feather never descended along the same trajectory twice, as its motion was also dictated by variables such as the force behind my throw and minute changes in air currents. This led me to ponder how there are no two creatures, nothing in nature, identical. Even ‘identical’ twins. while sharing the same DNA, have different fingerprints. And, not for the first time, in contemplating Nature, I marvelled at Creation.

I googled ‘feather’ on the Internet and marvelled even more when I learned of the sophistication of the structure of a feather, the multiplicity of its uses. Everybody has experienced the insulating qualities of down, but I didn’t know feathers could also be a bird’s own food supply. I was awestruck by a 40 million years old fossil of a feather. There was this degree of biological engineering 40 million years ago, in a single feather? If a simple feather is this complex, how much more is the human body and brain?

A phrase came to mind, from a saying attributed to 11th century visionary Hildegard of Bingen. “Underneath all the texts, all the sacred psalms and canticles, these watery varieties of sounds and silences, terrifying, mysterious, whirling and sometimes gestating and gentle must somehow be felt in the pulse, ebb, and flow of the music that sings in me. My new song must float like a feather on the breath of God.”

I have some CDs and a book including illustrations of Hildegard's visions. I hunted them out and as her music rose and fell with my thrown feathers, it came to me how it is so that there are a limited number of 'important' concepts, archetypal themes, that need expressing again and again, but that they would always be expressed uniquely by each individual writer. The forces that come to bear and their interplay, will always vary. Because of our individual uniqueness.

That other use for a feather did not escape my notice – as writing instrument. In my fancy a shivering plume scoops up thoughts from the atmosphere with its 'vane', filters them through its 'rachis' and by some miracle (I don't think it's by gravity) they become words on a sheet of paper. I think (though writing into a computer is more humane to geese), a computer will never replace the poesy of a quill pen.

Ann Isik
writing The Laurel Grove Mysteries
Book One: Flint and Feather
http://blog.annisik.org/

Traveling the World Without Leaving Your Home

By Nick Daniels

I have a confession to make: I've never been to London.

"So what?" you may ask. The deal is that my first novel is set in London and I once heard a literary agent say that he would never represent a novel that was set in a place that the author hadn't actually visited. Well, I made a mental note then not to work with this agent.

And it's not as if I refused to travel to England to do some research--I just couldn't afford it at the time I wrote the book. And even if I could, my novel was set in pre-Victorian London, so apart from the historical buildings still in place, the world of my novel wasn't there any more.

What were my options then? Here are some things that helped me:

• Read books and watch movies set in that time
• Read descriptions of the places and even look at recent pictures on the Internet
• Explore London maps from the 1830s and compare them with the current ones on Google maps
• Make things up
• Wish I had tried instead a contemporary novel set in my hometown

I was lucky to find one particular picture of The Strand, in front of Somerset House, of 1836 (the exact year and location of many of my scenes). Check it out:

Images like this one, film adaptations of Jane Austen's novels, Charles Dicken's vivid descriptions of the London of his day and practical guides like What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist-The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England and Voices From Dickens' London: First-Hand Accounts of Life in the Great Metropolitan allowed me to travel in time and place to the world of my story, making it so real in my head, that my readers won't know the truth until they read this post.

Writing international fiction may be a challenge, but the things I've learned, are worth the trip.

To my fellow writers, I ask, what about you? Have you visited all your settings or are you just mind-traveling like me?

And to my fellow readers, what places would you like to visit through a novel?

Nick Daniels' second novel is set in the Middle East, so he bought a large map and a travel guide with lots of pictures. Donations are welcome for his research trip to Israel.

SUNDAY EDITION

Coming Up This Week

Monday

Lee Franklin

Tuesday

Nick Daniels

Wednesday

Ann Isik: A Feather on the Breath of God

Thursday

Marcia Laycock: Stretching

Friday

Alice Valdal: Interview with Gail Sattler and book giveaway

Saturday

Ruth Ann Dell: The Story of the 16 Missing Pages

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Contest Giveaway Winners

Katie Hines is the winner Sean Young's book, Violent Sands (from Shirley’s post, February 8).

Suzie Johnson is the winner of Roseanna M. White’s A Stray Drop of Blood gift package (from Narelle’s post, February 11).

Susan J. Reinhardt is the winner of Linore Rose Burkard’s book, The Country House Courtship. (from Lisa’s post, February 12).

Congratulations to all our winners!

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News

Ronie Kendig’s espionage thriller, Dead Reckoning, will release March 1, 2010 through Abingdon Press. (Only 8 days to go – Ronie, we’re super excited for you!)

Lisa Harris' thriller set in Africa, Blood Ransom, will release in April 2010 from Zondervan.

Rita Galieh is giving away ten copies of her book, Fire in the Rock, to the first ten readers who comment on her Friday blog post and contact her via her personal website. For more information, please read Rita's February 19 blog post. Winners will be announced here soon.

The Beauty Of Language

At my wedding my Dad said in his speech that wherever I went, books went to. He told stories of my love of books dating from before I could walk, and bet Josh that I had a stack of books sitting by my bed to take on my honeymoon.

He was wrong.

There were so many they were stacked beside my bed and on the floor.

I took the opportunity over the last few weeks to read a lot of books I never would have ordinarily picked up. Sure there were a couple of chicklitty beach reads, but the majority were books that I chose from the Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2009 list. I wanted to see what it was that it took for a book to rise above all the others and make this list.

The answer, across all the genres and all the lengths and all the different POVs and styles was a no-brainer. The beauty of their language. These authors had an ability to twist words and create pictures in ways that had you mesmerised. In ways that made you read paragraphs, and then reread them again and again, because the mastery of their craft was something that demanded adoration.

In fact, in one particular book the beauty of the language was so overwhelming that I was three quarters of the way through and compeltely riveted before I realised very little was actually happening. One character was stuck in the back of Nebraska, another was on a long car journey and another was in an abandoned cabin, and pretty much everything was either backstory, or flashbacks or the characters thoughts on the situation they were in and/or the relationships that surrounded their situation.

In fact I could probably list in about eight bullet points, all of the key plot points, and you'd pretty much get a good overview of the story. But it would do absolutely no justice to the immensity of the talent it took to craft it.

It was kind of like being a varsity level runner and thinking that you weren't bad, not great, but okay in the grand scheme of things, and then suddenly watching the Olympics for the very first time.

And they were all like that, book after book after book. Sure maybe some themes I didn't really like, or some were darker than I would chose to read, and some styles resonated with me more than others, but every single one of them made me gape in wonder at their mastery of language.
If I could craft one paragraph the way these authors could I would be thrilled, and somehow they managed to do it for page after page for hundreds of pages.

For me there was one standout last year. Bonnie Grove's Talking To the Dead. We had the privilege of interviewing Bonnie on this blog a few weeks ago and all I can say is that, if you haven't read her debut novel then you absolutely must get your hands on it.

So tell me. What is one book that you read last year knocked you sideways with the magic of its words?

Kara is a bit distracted at the moment with her own fairytale romance to be writing much, but she figures that's okay since it's all technically research! She can be found chatting about writing, love, life and the trials of trying to buy a house at http://www.downundermusings.blogspot.com/

Judging a Book by its Cover

We don't do that, do we? Um, maybe. At least it's what first catches our eye. But I sure hope our reader friends take a look at the back cover, then get stuck into the first page or two. Even so, we tend to judge people by their appearance instead of getting to know them first.

Back to books. The cover of my book, FIRE in the ROCK has a lone chimney standing among ruins. I hope to get folk to wonder what happened there. And the following is my back cover copy:

At the turn of the 20th century, Australia, in a spirit of growing independence shrugs off many of its ties with the "Old Country". Some class distinctions linger, boundaries between men and women are clearly defined and social conventions strict, but with common decency and good manners valued highly people act kindly toward each other.

In this setting a well-meant deception finds a young woman involved in a desperate search to unearth crucial information. For the truth, preserved by its wary keepers, lies buried in the opal fields of the vast and thirsty Outback.

And realizing her future depends on the choice between two rivals of diverse faiths, she hesitates in the belief that those she cares for most always seem to be taken from her. But when it appears she has lost everything, she discovers that true love, like faith, does not depend on feelings alone.

I'd like to offer a copy of my book to the first ten of readers' comments. The winners can find me at this site, www.ritastellagalieh.com at contact & when you email don't forget your name and address.

Anne of Green Gables--International Icon

Sometimes we think we have to be familiar with the culture of a story in order to understand the story itself. How, then, can you explain the fascination of the entire world with Anne of Green Gables? This beloved novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery has been translated into more than a dozen languages including French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Korean and Japanese.

In fact, Japan has been obsessed with Anne since Hanako Muraoka translated Akage No An (Red-haired Anne) in 1952. Anne has been required reading in the Japanese school system ever since. More than ten thousand Japanese tourists travel to Prince Edward Island, Canada, every year to visit the museum in the village of Cavendish, the setting of Anne of Green Gables and its many sequels. Quite a number of Japanese couples even choose to get married in Anne-themed ceremonies.

Anne-with-an-e has been celebrated in a fifty-episode Japanese anime series in 1979 as well as numerous documentaries over the years. In 2008, both Canada and Japan commemorated the 100th anniversary of Anne's publication with postage stamps in her honor.

What makes Anne so popular in Japan? Girls certainly can't identify with her looks--green-eyed redheads are not common there. Nor is the culture remotely similar. People everywhere have gotten to know a piece of Prince Edward Island through Anne Shirley's eyes, walked with her in the White Way of Delight, and rowed with her on the Lake of Shining Waters even though we may not have any landscape in common. Somehow, the escapades of the beloved orphan, Anne Shirley, transcend culture.

How can this be? Because Lucy Maud Montgomery brought to life an orphan girl who only wanted to belong, an emotion common to all of us. We can identify with Anne in her trials because she speaks to basic human conditions.

This is the key to international fiction, in my mind. For a story to 'take off' and find readers everywhere, it needs to address what we all hold common.

Valerie Comer writes novels of romance, fantasy, and faith from a farm in Western Canada.

Deadlines – hate them or love them?

I’ve written seventeen books for publishers – well. . .almost, counting this last effort that still needs much editing, revision and those final couple of very important pages. Now I am realising just how fortunate I’ve been to only have had two real deadlines in all that time.
Fortunate? Hmm. . . Now I am close to finishing this manuscript, I am not too sure and would love some comments – perhaps from other writers especially what their experiences have been with deadlines to have a manuscript finished by a set time.
First of all, let me clarify this. Sure, my editor at Harlequin Mills and Boon medical romances did need at least two manuscripts every year to keep my ‘author profile’ before the romance readership but in a sense I never had a set, fixed date – or deadline on a contract – to send her a new manuscript. I can only remember actually having one for the Heartsong Presents editor and that was the last book in my Great Southland historical series they planned to release over three consecutive months.

If you have had a peep at my website, you will have read that the same year I signed my first contract with HM&B I also signed with the Christian publisher, Barbour, in Ohio. Unfortunately, I soon discovered I had no time in our busy lives then to write for both lines. (Photo shows different covers for my five HM&B books)In fact, that requirement of HM&B was the main reason I had to decide eventually whether to continue writing for them or writing my first love, the inspirational romance novels for the Christian romance book club, Heartsong Presents. There was really no decision to make. Because I love Christ and the difference He can make in people’s live, I simply enjoy that extra freedom to include the spiritual journey of my characters too much!

My writing career has now taken me down a different path from those early, shorter Christian novels to these current, longer books almost double the wordage. But once again I am writing a series and discovered after returning from summer holidays over our Christmas, New Year period that this last manuscript was required by the publisher early March. With our overseas trip last year and so many other things besides the planning of it earlier and the actual five weeks away, there have been other numerous things happen to give me excuses to not keep writing this third book, Justice at Baragula. And now I am paying the price of that with this deadline!

It has been a rather exhausting time. To start with it was simply so hard to get back into the discipline of writing every day. I worked out how many words I would need to average each week, than broke it down to how many every day to meet the deadline. By the end of that first week I nearly decided I simply never had a hope of meeting that deadline. To start with, after such a long break from that first 20,000 plus words already written it was so very hard to get back into the heads of the main characters and their story. I’ve described it was almost as hard as pulling hen’s teeth! However, little by little their story began to grow as my thoughts became consumed with it again. I usually discover the last few chapters of a book are the ‘easiest’ to write. That does not necessarily apply to that last all important final page! (Perhaps that is why I’m procrastinating and writing this blog post right now?)

Spending so much time on the computer has meant tired and sore eyes some days and stiffness in parts of my anatomy. This means I’ve had to discipline myself not to spend much time on the internet – even reading blogs these last five and a bit weeks! Perhaps the hardest thing has been exercising that ‘no’ word to so many things. And why, oh why did the peaches on our trees have to be ripe right now? I am still hoping they will survive in the fridge until I get a chance to make some jam and chutney again this year. The house needs a good tidy and clean but a real blessing has been the support of my husband with meals, washing up and even laundry.

This week I am hoping to tackle those revisions and edits. Does the storyline flow okay? Is there enough conflict, suspense, excitement, drama in the right places? Have I used the same words and phrases too often? Is the dialogue real to the characters?

Not at all sure about actually loving a deadline but I am I wondering if I should at least like having one! At least it made me knuckle down and get right back into story-telling mode so this book is nearly written! Perhaps my personality needed the challenge?

Well, I know there are other ‘deadlines’ besides finishing a manuscript. I would love to read your thoughts and experiences on some of them

This is Mary’s second book in her new Baragula series. See the publisher website for details of where it is available: http://www.arkhousepress.com/

or buy an autographed copy from Mary – see her website for details http://www.mary-hawkins.com/

Outback from Baragula is expected to be released by a distributor in the US during 2010 The third in this series, Justice at Baragula will be released later in Australasia in 2010.

THREE QUARTERS AROUND THE WORLD--By Christine Lindsay

So, I’ve been three quarters of the way around the world. I just have to close the gap between India and Europe and I’ll have it made. Not a bad milestone to have reached. Can I dream that I’ll make it ALL the way around the globe by the time I reach 60? Why not. Dream big, people say. Learn how to dance the flamenco. Take that course on sculpting. Write that book.

To be honest though, I prefer my globe-trotting through literature. I’m just happier curling up in front of my own fireplace with a good book. Much nicer than flying here and there and staying in hotels where mothballs deter ‘things’ from crawling up the drain. But then I may be slightly biased right now after that really, really long flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver, 11 ½ hours. Took me 2 weeks to get over the jet lag. And I only remember 2 of the 5 in-flight movies I watched.

But when I read, it’s countries outside of my North American home that interest me. I’m proud to say there is a hint of wanderlust in me. I’m just ashamed to say that I don’t want to leave the comfort of my home to experience it. One can get very attached to their pretty bathtub. Their bed and pillow. Their dog. And if you ‘read a journey’ you don’t have to worry about traveler’s—ahem—diarrhea.

Looking back, my literary journeys began to the Swiss Alps when I was 6 years old and had pneumonia. My mother read Heidi to me. When I was a teenager—and again sick in bed with pneumonia—she gave me some of those skinny romance novelettes from Britain. Later I graduated to thicker romances set in exotic locals like the Outback in Australia. If you looked at the back of the paper-backed book, it always gave the cost of the book in Canadian dollars, English sterling, and what it would cost in New Zealand or Australia.

In my later teens I devoured English mysteries, like Victoria Holt or Mary Stewart. It was Mary Stewart who lured me once again outside of the British Commonwealth with her romantic mysteries like 'Madame Will You Talk' set in Greece or 'Airs Above the Ground' set in Vienna. But it was the great M.M. Kaye with her heavy historical tomes set in the exotic land of India that has remained all these years as my very favorite author.

I still shiver with delight over the scene in 'Far Pavilions' of Ash driving his horse to a mad gallop with Anjuli behind him, her arms around his waist. Her long black hair flows out behind them like ribbons of silk as he rides the horse to a lather. Hordes of Anjuli’s jailers from the Rajah’s decrepit palace are right on their tail. And Ash and Anjuli are heading straight for what looks like a solid wall of rock. GASP!!!

It was M.M. Kaye who also took me around Asia as well as Europe in her mysteries—'Death in Zanzibar', 'Death in Berlin', 'Death in the Andaman’s', 'Death in . . . well you get the picture.

Lately it’s been Christian authors like Tricia Goyer, and Jack Cavanaugh with his 'Songs of the Night Series' set in Germany during WW2, who have taken me out of my North American comfort zone. Very recently it’s been Roseanna White with her brilliant 'A Stray Drop of Blood' set in The Holy Land and Rome, and Linore Rose Burkard with her Regency novels.

Thank the Lord for wonderful authors like these. With them around I really don’t need to renew my passport.

But then again . . . I do having that yawning gap between Europe and India to close. Oh well, maybe like old Bilbo there's one more adventure left in me. Maybe two?

To read more about my adventure in India or about my journey as a mother who gave up her child to adoption and subsequent reunion, check out my blog www.christinelindsay.com

Introducing Cathi-Lyn Dyck

Pascal, Burke and Nietzsche came by mail to keep me company today. Blaise, in the original, is clean and clear; Friedrich has made his introduction far too humourously for his passing reputation, and I recognize his voice; I've heard it echoed elsewhere. I did not pass the time with Edmund, for I stepped outside to see the frosty kiss of a warming, fading winter on prairie trees.

My name is Cathi-Lyn Dyck. I'm a Canadian of English descent, though I hear there are some Irish Guinns a-way back when. My grandparents came from the bombed-out wreck of World War II England to Winnipeg in 1955. They'd heard that if one wanted to become rich, one went to America. If one wanted a good life, one went to Canada.

On my father's side, I am related one way or another, at a respectable distance, to almost every old family name in my little prairie town. On my mother's, I am a global citizen, with relatives who took up residence around the world from Cyprus to South Africa, to Australia and New Zealand. Although I've never travelled off the continent, the world is not so unfamiliar. Rather, it's familial.

This afternoon is scheduled for building the children's snow fort into a rough-and-tumble igloo. My Mennonite husband is adept with his hands, like quicksilver in his spontaneous bursts of engineering strategy. The four we homeschool could use that challenge. It's been a cold and housebound winter. As they wait for their Dad to come home from town, they discuss the strange inversion of population and land mass ratios between here and the United States.

Their chatter makes my head ache. Why am I trying to write again in the midst of the noise and bustle? I may have racked out my ability to tune it all out over the last month, polishing a manuscript. I'm an ACFW member, and I'll go to Indianapolis this year. I'll work with the market I have, but my heart was raised on older voices from countries with deeper roots.

One paragraph in, I have fallen in love with Pascal's expression of the Aristotelian first cause: “la fin,” the prime motivator, the source, but said as the finality, the ending. Sometimes what seems backwards is perfect. It is an injustice that people attach themselves to me, what though they do so with pleasure and voluntarily. I would deceive those in whom I would birth such a desire, for I am not the first cause of any man, and I have nothing with which to satisfy them.

Ne suis-je pas pret a mourir?

Do I not stand at death's door?

But also: Am I not ready to die?

The grass fades, the flower withers. The word of our God stands forever. And Nietzsche complains that Truth is a woman who has never allowed herself to be won. No, rather, He is a Man who walked among us in a country far away from here, where snow in Jerusalem is an auspicious sign to His peculiar people.

The way, the Truth, the life. The weather is warming, and winter's breath hangs foggy on the naked poplar branches. In silence, the eaves drip liquid into heaped banks along the house. We cannot hear or see it yet, but life is coming back.

I'll go to Indianapolis this fall, not so much for the manuscript as the souls who navigate the established corridors of the industry. People are the only thing I can take with me to heaven. So: not for sales, not for craft, not for following, which are only eventualities along a path; but in service to the heart. Here in the dregs of time, words wither and fade like a daylily's blooms in the summer afternoon heat. Another bloom springs forth tomorrow, and yesterday's is forgotten.

It would be an injustice if people attached themselves to me; I would be culpable of creating belief in a falsity. For it is necessary that they pass their lives and their cares in the attraction, the pleasure, of God; or in that search.

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A freelance writer and editor with an interest in the evolving indie press realm, C.L. Dyck blogs at ScitaScienda.com. Her primary interests are literary and speculative fiction, particularly with international or ethnic flavour.

SUNDAY EDITION

Welcome to our first SUNDAY EDITION! On Sundays we'll let you know what's coming up on the blog, announce the winners of our contest giveaways and share our exciting news that we think you may find interesting. Check out the News section below to find out who has books releasing in the coming weeks and months!

Coming Up This Week

Monday

Grace Bridges: Introducing Cathi-Lyn Dyck

Tuesday

Christine Lindsay

Wednesday

Mary Hawkins

Thursday

Valerie Comer: Anne of Green Gables--International Icon

Friday

Rita Galieh

Saturday

Kara Bonnevie: The Beauty of Language

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News

Ronie Kendig’s espionage thriller, Dead Reckoning, will release March 1, 2010 through Abingdon Press. (Only 15 days until the release date – very exciting!)

Lisa Harris' thriller set in Africa, Blood Ransom, will release in April 2010 from Zondervan.

Lisa Harris is currently hosting a contest on her blog for a copy of her historical with Summerside Press, Love Finds You in Revenge, Ohio and some jewelry from Africa. She will draw a winner on February 20th. Visit http://myblogintheheartofafrica.blogspot.com/2010/02/february-giveaway.html

Happy Valentines Day!

Interview With Susan May Warren By Catherine West

I've had the blessing of meeting Susan several times now, sitting in her classes at conferences, and also working with her on one of my manuscripts. I'm excited to welcome her to the International Christian Fiction Writers blog today!

You’ve been writing a long time, in almost every genre imaginable, although I don’t think you’ve written any vampire-eating werewolf stories yet. (Have you?) Can you share a bit of your journey to publication with us?

I’ve always been amazed at the journey God has taken me on. I always loved to write, but being a missionary in Russia, I never dreamed about being an author. I just tried to do the best with what God had entrusted to me, and for me that meant writing missionary newsletters. I honed my skills through my newsletter, and then, after a number of years, began to write devotionals and magazine articles. Although I tried my hand at writing novels (I wrote 4 before I ever had one published), I never thought I would get anything published. But I diligently studied craft and analyzed books, even though I was hidden away in Siberia. I’ll always be grateful that Tyndale and later Barbour, Steeple Hill and Summerside took a chance on me! I’m still learning, and still trying to be a good steward of what God has entrusted to me.

Here at ICFW we have a love for stories that take place on foreign shores. You’ve written a few of those yourself. I’m thinking specifically of your Mission: Russia series. I know a bit of your story, but others may not. Can you tell us how these books came to be birthed?

Living overseas allowed me the rare view of seeing heroes of all nationalities. I knew a number of brave Russian policemen, as well as Christians where even worked for the FSB! So, I longed to write about these heroes, as well as the Americans I knew.
In Sheep’s Clothing was birthed from an actual event when two missionaries were murdered in our town. I dreamed up a scenario where a missionary witnessed this – and then was on the run from the murderer. In the story, I also got to introduce a team of heroic friends – Russian and Americans – who helped save the day. It led to the Mission: Russian series, a set of international thrillers. The first three books are In Sheep’s Clothing, Sands of Time and Wiser than Serpents. The next three come out next year.

Oh, I'm pleased to hear that!
Was it difficult to pitch a novel set in a foreign country to a US publisher?

Since I brought so much authority to my subject – having lived there for 10 years as a missionary, they were open to hearing what I had to say. And, I had incorporated Americans as well as Russians into the cast of characters, so it wasn’t completely foreign. Finally, I picked a publisher who was already publishing internationally-themed books. It’s important to find the right publisher, one who is already open to foreign settings. Because I did these things, I found a pretty good reception.

I really enjoyed Wiser Than Serpents, the third book in your Mission: Russia series. I hadn’t really heard much of trafficking before I read this novel, and it really opened my eyes to the world beyond my own little environment. Do you have plans to write more books that educate as well as entertain?

I always try to educate as well as entertain. ☺ I love to sprinkle my books with spiritual truth, but also to raise awareness about something. Right now, I am writing World War 2 historicals for Summerside, and loving the way I can showcase some of the lesser known heroes of that war.

How much research was involved in your foreign setting novels?

My secret is that I only write about countries I’ve actually visited. That way I can make it as real as possible. But I also always do considerable research. I want my reader to feel as if they are actually standing in a market in Taiwan, or Old Towne Square in Prague. Everything from the smells to the sounds to the kind of street food available is essential to create this storyworld.

Would you take on the task of setting a book in a country you haven’t visited first hand?

I would – but only with the time necessary to research it, and I’d for sure tap into first hand accounts. And, honestly, probably I’d just give in and visit the place.

Okay, lets talk about all the genres you write. Do you have a personality disorder? Just kidding. But really, why so many? Do you have a favorite?

LOL! Yes. Actually.
I love all my genres, they’re all special to me. But I love to be stretched as a novelist, so diving into a genre that I haven’t spent as much time in is always intriguing to me. I am currently writing historical, but I’m also experimenting with voices and literary techniques (like an epistolary novel). I always want to intrigue my reader, give them the solid storytelling, but perhaps change up the format or the genre. As far as favorites – I love my romantic comedies like Happily Ever After, the new ones I’m writing for Tyndale – the Northwoods series.

I’ve had the pleasure of sitting in on a couple of your classes at past ACFW conferences. What do you like best about teaching?

I love to see that moment on a student/author’s face when suddenly they realize what is missing in their story. It’s a wonderful Aha! Moment and I know that I’ve been a part of the creative process for them, and in some small way helped them accomplish their dreams. (and hopefully an amazing work of fiction!) I really love to teach.

You wear many hats as a wife, mother author, and your editing service as well – how do you manage your time, especially under deadlines?

I have a very forgiving family, and I focus on the essentials. Sorry, I just don’t believe that a clean house is an essential (although my house is clean, I don’t obsess over it). I focus on being at the football and BB games, going to my daughter’s theater productions, attending church, and going out swing dancing with my hubby on Friday night. Other than that – well, it’s sometimes frozen pizzas two days in a row, and maybe even ramen noodles on a Saturday night. Thankfully, my hubby is a great cook!

You’re a great inspiration and mentor to many aspiring authors. What’s the best piece of advice you would give to somebody just starting out on the journey toward publication?

The journey is just as important as the destination. Savor the journey and what God will teach you in it, fill up with Him, and the words will pour out onto the page, and embrace teach-ability.

So what’s next for Susan?

Sons of Thunder and Double Trouble are just out!! Here are blurbs for each:

Double Trouble:
Susan May Warren's delightfully funny heroine is at it again ... P.J. Sugar finds herself in Double Trouble this time!
With one solved case under her belt, PJ Sugar is ready to dive into her career as a private investigator. Or at least a PI’s assistant until she can prove herself to Jeremy Kane, her new boss. Suddenly PJ’s seeing crime everywhere. But is it just in her head, or can she trust her instincts? When she takes on her first official case—house-sitting for a witness in protective custody—Jeremy assures her there’s no danger involved. But it soon becomes clear that there is someone after the witness . . . and now they’re after PJ, too.
The book’s blog tour will run the entire month of February and features a super fun social sharing contest! Go here to enter the "Double the Sass" contest - you won't want to miss your chance to win an IPOD gift pack - The Super Sleuth prize package – everything a ‘sleuthing’ gal needs!

Sons of Thunder:
Sophie Frangos is torn between the love of two men and the promise that binds them all together. Markos Stavros loves Sophie from afar while battling his thirst for vengeance and his hunger for honor. Dino, his quiet and intelligent brother, simply wants to forget the horror that drove them from their Greek island home to start a new life in America. One of these “sons of thunder” offers a future she longs for, the other—the past she lost.

From the sultry Chicago jazz clubs of the roaring twenties to the World War II battlefields of Europe to a final showdown in a Greek island village, they’ll discover betrayal, sacrifice, and finally redemption. Most of all, when Sophie is forced to make her choice, she’ll learn that God honors the promises made by the Sons of Thunder. For more info and up coming promotions got here!
Read an excerpt here: Sons of Thunder

Thanks for visiting with us, Susan and we look forward to reading your new books!
To learn more about Susan, visit her website!

Catherine West writes contemporary romance and women's fiction. She enjoys life on Bermuda with her husband, two almost grown children, and one rambunctious Border Collie. When she's not writing you can find her in the garden or out on the Agility course, pretending she knows what she's doing!
Catherine's work is represented by Rachelle Gardner of Wordserve Literary. You can check in with her anytime at her new website!

Welcome Linore Rose Burkard-and a giveaway!

This is Lisa Harris and today I'd like to welcome Linore Rose Burkard to our blog!

Linore creates Inspirational Romance for the Jane Austen Soul. Her characters take you back in time to experience life and love during the Regency England era (circa 1800 - 1830). Her novels include Before the Seasons Ends, The House in Grosvenor Square and, The Country House Courtship. Her stories blend Christian faith and romance with well-researched details from the Regency. Readers experience a romantic age, where England from the past comes alive and happy endings are possible for everyone!

Q&A with Linore

Welcome, Linore. Your tag line is "Inspirational Romance for the Jane Austen Soul". How did a girl from Queens, NY become enamored with the Regency era and come to write novels in that genre but with an inspirational twist?
By my twenties I had discovered Georgette Heyer (called the Queen of the Regency Romance) and then I re-discovered Jane Austen. Christian fiction was just starting to take off, and I kept hoping for a Christian regency to read, but it never materialized. I finally realized that if this book was going to be written, it would have to be by me! So, I wrote the book I wanted to read.

How has Jane Austen's work influenced yours? Who else has inspired your writing?

Austen shows that "romance" does not have to be seen as less literary than other genres, and that wit, taste and depth of character are as important as plot. Georgette Heyer, as I mentioned, was an influence; and beyond them, I suppose it is just that I always read a great deal, and really longed to fashion a story where the gospel was included, but to have it in there naturally, so that readers wouldn't feel preached to. I love all the James Herriot books, Dickens, the Brontes, and other English writers.


You graduated magna cum laude from the City University of New York with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. Did you pursue that degree with the goal of becoming a novelist?

No, I wasn't confident enough to ever think I'd write novels and have them published. Writing was something I couldn't seem to get away from, but I never dreamed I'd succeed at it. I majored in English Lit. just because I love it!

What do you hope readers will take away from your books?

I hope my readers will feel as though they've been transported to an amazing world of the past, with living characters and places so real they can almost reach out and touch them. I love it when readers write to me to say they just had a wonderful mini-vacation--reading my book! Some say they've had a spiritually encouraging journey while reading--and that means everything to me.

Any Regency romance is going to be compared to Jane Austen's novels ~ how are your books similar / different?

I don't think most regencies are written to be like Jane, and mine are no exception. I'm not competing with Jane Austen; I'm re-visiting the world she wrote about, though; and that is the similarity. When readers say my writing is "Austen-like", I take that as a huge compliment, but that's when I think it's wise not to believe my own press! (smile)

Do you have more Regency novels planned?

Right now I'm working on a regency time-travel that is dying to be a screenplay! I'm writing it as a novel, but little scenes creep in where, at their end, I actually type in "fade to black," before I realize what I've done. That's all I'm going to say about the new book for now, but readers can rest assured that it will be different enough to delight them, but similar in the sense that it's still me writing, it's still my voice.

Can you give us a sneak peek into The Country House Courtship?

Country House is the third book in the Regency Series, and gives one of the minor characters from the first books her own "day in the spotlight," her own romance. It begins about five years later (about 1818) and sees Mr. O'Brien (a curate, now) to a happy marriage of his own. There's a little bit of mystery, a villain (an Austenesque villain--not a serial killer, in other words!)and a denouement that I hope will leave people smiling and satisfied.

How do the secrets of your characters come to life?

Slowly. Some writers can easily locate the secrets of their characters, but mine usually take time. I need time to discover their weak spots, their tender points, and their regrets. I have to often ask myself, "Why? Why is this character acting or saying what they do or say? Why are they the way they are? Their secrets lie in the answers to these questions.

You are married and have five children. How have you been able to strike a balance between your family and your writing career?

This is not something you can do once, and then rest in. People are always growing and changing, and as the needs of my family change, I have to change too. Early on, I only wrote when my kids were asleep or when my husband watched them for me. I believe my word from the Lord at that time was that family had to come first. They were my first ministry. As they got older, I found more windows of time to work in, but striking a balance is sometimes like walking a tightrope and other times making conscious choices. No one can do everything. I try to put people before things (emotional needs come first, before a clean house, for example); and I use lists, career goals, monthly goals and daily to-do lists to help me balance it all.

What insight can you offer to aspiring authors?

Dare to dream big, because God is big! Remember that your success never depends solely upon you; there's a bigger plan at work and if you stay plugged in to your Guide, He'll move you along it. But you must work hard, seek to improve your craft by learning from those ahead of you, listen to advice and criticism-and get on the web. Start a blog if you aren't ready for a website. Join the ACFW-The American Christian Fiction Writers (if you write fiction). Or the Writer's Guild. Or another professional organization of like-minded writers. Network, do conferences, and write, write, write.

Some authors report writing 5-10 thousand words a day. Do scenes flow freely from your veins, or do you have to tweeze each word out?

In general, I write more than I need and later have to cut back. I don't use a word count, but I may set a goal of one chapter a day or two chapters for a busy week. Other times, I don't think in terms of chapters at all, just events. I may break an event down into four scenes, say, and so my goal for that day will be to get the whole event on paper. In other words, finish the four scenes. Life changes so rapidly with the children, that for me, a hard and fast writing goal just wouldn't work. And, I focus on results, not time spent. Instead of, "Now I'll write for three hours," I say, "Now I'll have this or that happen to a character, or, 'I'll show a different side to this person." When I have accomplished that goal, no matter how long it took, I feel satisfied, and only then.

Thanks for much for dropping by, Linore! To learn more about her books, stop by her website.

Linore is offering to give away a copy of The Country House Courtship to a US or Canada address. If you live outside North America, you can participate in a drawing for a short Ebook story. For either giveaway, please leave a comment below. A winner will announced on February 21st!

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.
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Award-winning author of twenty novels and novellas, Lisa Harris lives with her husband and their three children in Mozambique, Africa, where they work as missionaries. When she’s not busy writing or home schooling, she loves traveling, cooking different ethnic foods, and going on game drives through the African bush. Visit her website or her blog.