Bookish Tuesday: Literary Libraries

by Jeanette O'Hagan @jeanetteohagan

What book-dragon doesn't love a library?

Libraries are heavenly places, crammed full of books to get in lost in. I'm a frequent visitor to our local library and have found many treasures there - including books by Karen Kingsbury, Dee Hendersen, Stephen Lawhead, Ted Dekker, Rosanne Hawke and Adele Jones.  And I have many wonderful memories as a child raiding the school library, the Nkana Mines club library, the local council library or any library that would let me through its doors for my next favourite read.

It recently occurred to me that I've included a few different libraries in my stories. It got me thinking about the fantastic fictional libraries other writers include in their books.


There are certainly some great libraries in what might be deemed secular fiction -- Umberto Eco's Name of the Rose revolves around the labyrinthine abbey library at an Italian monastery, some heart-warming scenes occurred between Edward and the Dashwood girls in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, the Hogwarts library looms large in J K Rowling's Harry Potter novels, while in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 future hope resides in the living libraries,  and then there's the Beast's library that captured Belle's heart in Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

Here is a list of some more, if you want to check them out.

Libraries in Christian fiction

And what about Christian fiction? Is it devoid of libraries? It took a while and the help of a few friends to track them down, but they are there.

Fantasy and Science Fiction

My imagination conjures up visions of Bilbo Baggins the hobbit spending his last days in the library at Rivendell full of ancient books and scrolls. Though apparently, this scene is not in the book -J R R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings -  Gandalf does search through the archives of Gondor to confirm his theories about the One Ring.

From memory, in Stephen Lawhead's Bright Empire series, the society of ley travellers keep a depository of unique and strange books in the house at Damascus, including a mysterious book which provides a clue to the disastrous shrinking universe and strange, out-of-time events.

And there is the faerie library in George MacDonald's Fantasies. Anados, the hero in this allegorical tale, discovers that the books pull the reader into their pages, to experience the events with all five senses, a truly immersive experience.

In C S Lewis' The Great Divorce, departed authors congregate "about public libraries to see if anyone’s still reading their books." A somewhat depressing thought. Though the people in the Great Divorce are those who have failed to move on and accept in full the gift of God's grace.

Christian author Steve Rzasa is a librarian and a library makes an appearance in For Us Humans, a sci-fi where a human cop and an alien investigator need to team up to track down a missing artifact and prevent dire, world-threatening consequences, while dialoging about Jesus.

Romance, Historical and Biblical Fiction

And it's not just speculative fiction that contain delightful libraries.

Bodie Thoene’s Jerusalem Scrolls  The Zion Legacy Series No 4 references a library of ancient scrolls under Jerusalem.

And in sync with the times, Carolyn Miller's regency romances often feature libraries. Manor house libraries in The Eluisive Miss Ellison and The Captivating Lady Charlotte, and borrowing libraries in The Dishonorable Miss DeLancey and Winning Miss Winthrop while both The Dishonorable Miss DeLancey and Carolyn's lastest release, A Hero for Miss Hatherleigh, have some scenes where the heroine meets significant people at the (public) libraries of Regency England.

Carolyn Miller is clearly an author after my own heart.

Paula Vince, in her post Stories with Libraries and Librarians, mentions at lease three other occurrences of libraries in Christian Fiction.

Elizabeth Camden's Beyond All Dreams features a a research librarian named Anna, who archives maps, and in the process, discovers an explosive and dangerous secret.

In Lynn Austin's Wonderland Creek, a shy librarian is pressured to become a mobile librarian to a hillbilly community, with some dangerous and life-changing results.

And in Julie Klasson's The Ladies of Ivy Hill,  Miss Rachel Ashcroft inherits her father's books even though she doesn't like reading, so she sets up a small lending library with wonderful consequences.

Libraries in Nardva

And there there are my fictional libraries.

The Palace Library in Tarka

The Great Library of the Golden Place features in Akrad's Children. A large area that takes almost one wing and two levels with a mezzanine floor and a domed skylight over the reading tables, it is the hero, Dinnis' favourite refuge. Dinnis curries favour with the cranky librarian, Ralton, so he can spend more time there and earn a little metal. Prince Mannok on the other hand, caused havoc inside the library as a young boy, and would rather be anywhere else as a young man who loves riding and hunting.

In my short story Lakwi's Lament, young Lakwi loves books and wishes she was allowed in the library, but her father has banned girls from entering. Her big brother, Prince Rokkan gives her books and the ideas and stories she drinks in help her when she does find herself in deep trouble. A story about a girl, a library and a puppy (among other things).

The Library of Alexgaia

In a short sci-fi 'space opera' story, Rendezvous at Alexgaia, Dana and Avonis have to get into the hidden library at Alexgaia, run by the technomonks, to find a clue for a code. Getting in is one thing, getting out is another thing altogether as they dodge lethal autobots among the library stacks. 

And in a short story A Rookie Mistake, time traveller, Sandria is in a private library looking for precious artifacts to save from the 1666 Fire of London when her mission goes badly wrong - or maybe right, depending on how you look at it. (As Time Goes By: Mixed Blessings. Breath of Fresh Air Press.)

Both stories have been republished in Ruhanna's Flight and Other Stories.

And my latest library creation?

The Seven-Tiered library of Sillantis

In my latest release, Shadow Crystals, the fourth and penultimate novella in the Under the Mountain series, the heroes spend some of their time shifting through the scrolls and codices of the Library in Siltanis, search for the clue to breaking the bond of a soul-stone. Of course, when the rebel ebed invade the city, things become rather fraught and dangerous, but those days in the library are not wasted.

Do you love spending time in a library? And what fictional libraries would you long to visit? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks to Paula Vince, Susan Bruce, Adam Collings and Mazzy Adams for some great suggestions to add to the list :)

Giveaway

And as a bonus, I'm giving away to one commenter an e-book from the Under the Mountain series (a choice of either Heart of the Mountain, Blood Crystal, Stone of the Sea or Shadow Crystals).

----

Jeanette spun tales in the world of Nardva from the age of eight or nine. She enjoys writing secondary world fiction, poetry, blogging and editing. Her Nardvan stories span continents, time and cultures. Many involve courtly intrigue, adventure, romance and/or shapeshifters and magic. Others, are set in Nardva’s future and include space stations, plasma rifles, bio-tech, and/or cyborgs.

She has published numerous short stories, poems, four novellas in the Under the Mountain series, her debut novel, Akrad's Children and Ruhanna's Flight and other stories.

Her latest release is Shadow Crystals, the penultimate novella in the Under the Mountain series with Caverns of the Deep due in April/May.

Jeanette has practised medicine, studied communication, history, theology and a Master of Arts (Writing). She loves reading, painting, travel, catching up for coffee with friends, pondering the meaning of life. She lives in Brisbane with her husband and children.


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A Wonderful Mistake

I've sometimes been afraid to step out and make a move in any direction for fear that I'd be doing the wrong thing. I know the saying that God can only direct a moving car and not a parked one, yet I've still chosen to remain firmly parked, jotting down possible pros and cons, trying to figure things out. What usually happens is that my head just spins and I'm even more frustrated and confused, having known all along that the pros and cons for both sides are what makes a decision difficult in the first place. I've felt envious of friends and acquaintances who state, "After prayer I just knew deep in my bones that the right thing to do would be...." So with big or medium sized decisions, and sometimes even small ones, I've been a procrastinator.

Not long ago, I found a statement in a book I was reading that we shouldn't be afraid to step out because God can even use our mistakes! It was a nice thought and I wanted to think it's true. Some of mine have been so big. Well, over the weekend I read a true story that confirms it absolutely.

It was about Mr Alfred Nobel, the Swedish instigator of the Nobel Peace Prize. He'd become a multi-millionaire from his work producing dynamite. Over breakfast one day, he opened the morning paper and was shocked to see his own obituary in the classifieds. For whatever reason, the editor of the paper had mistakenly thought he'd died. When Nobel got over his initial shock, he was upset to find that his obituary was not very flattering. In spite of his success, he'd been labelled as a rude and selfish man who had no time for others. That became the catalyst for him to change his life around before it became too late. Establishing the Nobel Peace Prize, thereby giving huge chunks of his wealth away in aid of great humanitarian causes changed his personal legacy completely. When we think of the name Nobel, what do we immediately think of? How ironic to learn that the man whose name is most associated with worldwide peace earned his fortune in something as un-peaceful as dynamite!

I can imagine when the newspaper editor discovered his mistake, he would've wanted to sink into a hole in the ground and never come out again. As far as mistakes go, that was a pretty big one. But look at the good that came out of it. Perhaps it's a good thing to just make the best prayerful, informed decisions we can and then step out without looking back, trusting them to come alright.

Paula Vince is an award-winning Australian author of Christian contemporary fiction. She loves to set her novels around her own familiar and beautiful environment. Her most recent novel, 'Imogen's Chance', was published in April 2014.

Doughnuts and Books

Last week, some poor teenagers were mugged for the boxes of doughnuts they'd bought at our new Krispy Kreme factory outlet which has just opened in Adelaide. In news reports, the robbers were hailed as the 'Krispy Krooks'. I'm not sure if they've been discovered and apprehended yet, but our city is going crazier over the new outlet than I ever would have expected, just because they are a well-known brand we've never had before.

 On Saturday, my teenage daughter and her best friend got caught up in the hype and decided to make a trip to the factory outlet. They had to catch a bus into Adelaide from the Hills where we live, followed by a tram to the suburb where the shop is situated. They found a line twisting and curling from the shop door way down the road. The girls decided that as they had already spent so long getting there, they might as well join the end of the queue.

The wait turned out to be almost three hours. As they inched closer to the door and into the shop premises, they saw a policeman on the job, striding around eating doughnuts the staff had given him. I don't think there would have been any risk from muggers in a crowd that size. He was probably there just to make the public feel safe. The two girls decided to buy a couple of boxes each, since they'd already put in such a lot of effort.

On the way back to the tram stop, they began feeling nervous that crooks might spring out at them from the shadows, to steal their doughnuts. By the time they'd caught the bus back to the Hills and made it nearly home, the winter night was pitch black and had started to rain. They had covered many kilometres in public transport for their treats.

I couldn't really blame my daughter when she snapped at her brothers not to dig into them straight away. 'You don't know what I've been through today to get these doughnuts. My feet are aching, I've spent heaps of money, and I was cold and bored. You can have some when I say so.'

When we did get a taste, were they any good? Well, I have to be honest and admit that they were okay, but nothing special. Certainly no better than the doughnuts we can buy from our local shopping centre. The boys agreed they were nice but nothing to rave about. If I'd done what the girls did, I might have considered it a bit of a wasted day.

In fact, the loveliest, most delicious cakes and doughnuts I've ever eaten were from an Aussie country town named West Wyalong. It's like a scrub oasis in the middle of New South Wales. We were on a tour of our country with our three children, aged 9, 5 and new born. We stopped to stretch our legs and chanced upon the bakery with these delicious goods. Even though it was 2004, I've never forgotten them. I'm afraid they were far more delicious than those from Krispy Kreme last week, but nobody hears about them.

How true such things are in all of life, including the books we read. We can't help hearing about the books which are at the top of the most well-known publishers' lists, because they tend to spread through the media. Maybe these are the equivalent of Krispy Kreme in the literary world. They are the books which we hear hype about, and can't help having our curiosity aroused. We may find it easy to forget that these are by no means the only books in the market.

I enjoy receiving recommendations of more obscure books from trusted reader friends who tell me, 'I'm sure you'll love this.' And I love stumbling across books I can spread the word about in turn. It is a joy to get stuck into fiction from different nations, which I can pass on to others, saying, 'You really get the feel of the setting from this story,' or 'You'll never think of the place in the same way again.' This blog is a good springboard for such unexpected, excellent discoveries. There are often guests, who let us know about their new books, and regular contributors whose engrossing published novels are set all around the world. The best thing about them is that, thanks to digital purchasing options of the 21st century, they are readily available, unlike the delicious doughnuts from West Wyalong.

Paula Vince is an award-winning author from South Australia. Her contemporary dramas and romances contain elements of mystery and suspense. She enjoys hanging out with her family, homeschooling her youngest son, and making the most of the four distinct seasons in her beautiful Adelaide Hills. Her most recent novel, 'Imogen's Chance' was published in April 2014. For more talk about books with Paula, visit her book review blog. Or catch up with her at her at It Just Occurred to Me

I'm so glad they did it

As part of homeschooling for my kids a few years ago, I decided to share some excellent books from my past with them. They were two of my favourite old series. One was the "Little House" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder and the other was the "All Creatures Great and Small" series by James Herriot. And whenever I read either of these two authors I'm caught up in their stories instantly. Even though these two authors may seem poles apart, they actually have a lot in common.

Both of these series are autobiographical but written in very entertaining story styles. Both were written when their authors had grown quite old and were looking back over their own lives. They each decided to leave their own legacy in writing and I'm so grateful they did. What a lot of history, geography and even science are tied into these fun, human-interest books. Putting readers into their own places with their descriptions has to got to be one of my favourite ways to learn.

We learned a lot about that pioneer time in America when Laura and her family were moving west that helped us put our own lives in perspective. And we developed a real feeling for the late 1930s in Yorkshire when James first became a vet, not to mention noticing the vast progress in technology that's happened in those 80 years. And we've cracked up laughing at some of his hilarious anecdotes. I can't help thinking that if neither of these authors had written, we'd be so much poorer without knowing it.

That started me speculating about the number of people with fascinating stories who think they couldn't possibly record them and don't bother trying. Or the ones who do and then leave them in their cupboards. So I'm sure we are already poorer without knowing it in thousands of ways. Maybe anybody with a knack or passion for writing and recording in an interesting way ought to regard it as a sort of duty to record them because we never know who we'll touch. Even if it's unlikely that we'll become as famous as Laura Ingalls Wilder or James Herriot, doing it for the love of it and for those who may be touched is a worthwhile enough goal anyway.

My father has been writing my own grandfather's story this way. I never knew that grandfather. He died almost ten years before I was born but I've recently got to know him through typing my own father's family history. My grandfather (his father) was born in 1892. He had lots of interesting things happen to him. He served in both wars and he was the boxing champion of South Australia for several years. There is lots of information about him, including several funny anecdotes that happened around the country-side and in the ring. How much poorer we would have been if none of these stories had come to light. I was born in the 1970s, and even time that recent comes across as the Dark Ages to my kids. Perhaps we all should consider scribing some record of our past for posterity, as times seem to change so quickly.

Paula Vince is a South Australian, award-winning author of contemporary fiction. She believes a good story has the power to touch hearts and lives in a way nothing else can. She lives in the beautiful Adelaide Hills of South Australia with her family.

Review of Imogen's Chance and Interview with Paula Vince

Imogen Browne is an American citizen with ties down under. When she was a child, her parents took a mission trip in the Australian outback, leaving 9-year-old Imogen with people in Adelaide they didn't know well. (The men had been school chums.) Imogen played a part in a tragic accident that changed the Dorazio family forever.

Now 24, Imogen returns to Adelaide to try to make amends for her part in the family's misfortune, only to find them facing a new struggle: Asher's diagnosis of terminal cancer. Although Asher is her own age, he's the family member she got along with the least as children. Now, no one but Imogen seems able to deal with him: his mood swings, his faith...or lack of it, and the dark humor he uses as both shield and weapon. They grow closer as they work through life issues together. Can love out-grow cancer cells?

The story deepens as the reader considers second chances. Can we truly make amends for past mistakes? How much should we reveal of trauma long past? Can God forgive us? Can people? Can second chances come through physical healing as well as emotional and spiritual?

Paula Vince tucked away secrets she doles out at appropriate points in the story, adding to the novel's depth and intensity.

I asked Paula if I could ask her several questions that came to mind as I read Imogen's Chance. I always love to chat with other international authors here on ICFW. It's extra fun when the interviewee is a member author here, too!

(Thank you, Paula, for an advanced reader's copy of Imogen's Chance.)

VC: I notice you chose to have your heroine be an American who has visited Australia several times. What was the reason behind that?

PV: I’d automatically intended to make Imogen an Aussie girl, as all my former heroines have been. My publisher and editor both suggested that I make one of the main characters American, thinking that it may appeal to international readers, especially those who are searching for somebody they can more easily relate to.

I’ve never visited America so found that idea fairly daunting. As I could understand the reasoning behind their suggestion, I decided to see what I could do.

I’m so glad I took their advice, as Imogen being American turned out to be crucial to the plot in several ways. If she’d simply lived in a different Australian state to the Dorazio family, it would have been too close for the plot to work. Some of the characters would have behaved quite differently and the drama would have fallen flat. It’s a good example of all things working together for good in this story.

I’m pleased that some international readers have told me that Imogen does come across as American to them. One day I may actually be able to visit, and learn some extra things for myself.

VC: I noticed it gave you chances to explain Aussie words that might be strange to international readers. Well done!

VC: One of your themes is holding destructive secrets close, and the pain that can come from them. How did the ideas for the particular secrets in Imogen's Chance come to you?

PV: Although the main theme in Imogen's Chance is healing, I wanted to have a potentially shattering secret to bring Imogen back over to Australia to make amends. I grappled with what that was going to be.

I wanted it to be a bombshell which would be bound to raise the hackles of the hero, Asher. Yet at the same time, I wanted it to be something Imogen herself was drawn into as a relatively innocent character. I thought of several possibilities which didn’t work, for various reasons.

At last, I came up with the right one and everything clicked into place. It was perfect, because there was scope for Asher to be involved in his own way too, even though he didn’t have a clue that Imogen played a part. I had a situation in which both characters were keeping quiet about a five-year-old secret, with no idea that they were each still suffering over the same incident.

I’m hoping people will totally get why Asher would initially react with anger, yet they will continue to feel empathy and pity for Imogen at the same time.

VC: A big part of the story surrounds Asher's quest for healing through prayer and faith. Do you personally believe that any believer can be healed if only they have enough faith and positive thinking?

PV: I’ve researched this question a lot for years before starting to write this novel. The material I’ve come across by people with healing ministries is very convincing. Some of the true testimonies of healing they have recorded could only have been miracles from God. Reading these has been enough to convince me that simply accepting every bad prognosis, based on limited data gathered by humans, is a shortsighted choice indeed. I’d rather err on the side of optimism than simply give up hope.

Several of the texts I’ve read propose reasons for faith in healing such as this one. If Jesus died on the cross to cover our sins, then His death must also cover the consequences of our sins, and sickness is a prime example. There was no sickness before sin came into the world, so there should be none for forgiven believers. The physical bodies of true believers, which are temples of the Holy Spirit, should be out of bounds for sickness and disease. No matter how we feel about simple arguments like this, it is interesting to at least be aware of them.

I’ve had healing experiences in my own life that convince me every believer ought to keep their faith boosted. Just last year, I had a sore patch on my face. Two doctors were certain it was a skin cancer, but before the appointment with a plastic surgeon came around, I watched it spontaneously fade and disappear in the week following prayer. Personal experiences like this are enough for us to hold onto, keeping our faith for bigger issues elevated, because God never changes.

Perhaps the bottom line is what my character, Asher, comes to decide – that God loves him personally and uniquely, so he doesn’t need to concern himself with fretting over what may happen to him. He just needs to trust that in God’s loving hands, everything will work out right for him.

VC: Healing through faith can lead to potentially divisive discussions. All of us know someone who prayed fervently and faithfully to overcome a fatal disease, only to succumb.

I'm sure we all also know someone who was inexplicably healed through faith, whether of cancer or something else where doctors gave no hope. It's this second part I'd like to focus on in our discussion.

What faith-inspiring story of healing will you (briefly!) share in comments today?

Valerie Comer's life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local food movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily ever afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.

Valerie writes Farm Lit where food meets faith, injecting experience laced with humor into her Farm Fresh Romance stories. Visit her website and blog to glimpse inside her world.

Self-help within the pages of fiction

Fiction is a genre I enjoy writing, but when I visit libraries and bookshops I also love to browse the self help and personal development sections. I'm always open to the idea of improving something and if any of these books contain ideas I've been overlooking all my life, so much the better. They often boost my mood when I read them; particularly those with lively anecdotes and stories. Perhaps anybody who has been borrowing and purchasing self help books for as long as I have ought to have their act far more together than I do. That's an interesting thought.

Once I found a website which listed what compilers called history's Top 100 self help books. I realised that I'd already read a huge chunk of them, which left me puzzled. Surely, in that case, I ought to have what it takes then, whatever "it" is. My husband said, "Maybe you have too many self help books. I think people ought to choose just one and then stick to it."

Well, recently I found Og Mandino's The Greatest Miracle in the World in a second hand shop for 10c, which proved to be a great bargain. It's a personal development book disguised as a fictional story. The mentor character, Simon Potter, tells Mandino that he'd spent several years dissecting all the great self help books which had ever been written, trying to extract their essence. He listed Norman Vincent Peale, Dale Carnegie, James Allen, Napoleon Hill and many others I've read over the years. Finally, he was able to compress their messages down to 5 main points, a bit like reducing a scientific substance to its chief elements. Rather than suggesting you all go out to buy the book, I'll tell you what they are.

1) Count your blessings.
2) Recognise and appreciate your uniqueness.
3) Go the extra mile.
4) Use your power of choice wisely.
5) Do all of the above with an attitude of love.

It made a lot of sense to me, especially as God IS love. I'm sure that anybody who follows each of these straightforward suggestions consistently cannot help improving their mindset and condition.

Now, here is the unexpected thing that helped me. I'd just done something silly which I was paying myself out over, and I wanted to forget about. I don't know why, but I randomly decided to read a few pages of A Design of Gold, one of my own novels I've written. It was published in 2009 and since then, I've worked on three others and forgotten some of its finer details. Well, I found myself drawn into the story of how my characters Michael and Jerome had fallen down a pit (an apt analogy but pardon the pun). Their feelings and points of view really struck home with me. I even felt like cheering them on as they realised that they needed to change their thinking patterns to improve their lives. It was great for me to re-visit these two young guys with a fresh perspective.

I decided that the advice they gave each down the mineshaft was good and to take it on board myself. It was all about how a simple shift in the way individuals think about themselves can make an enormous difference to their personal satisfaction levels, even when nothing else changes. Can characters actually be wiser than the author who wrote them? Well, I have to say yes, I think so. At least we all may forget some of the wisdom we once knew. I was smiling for the rest of the day, to think that a story I wrote back in 2008 was now coming back to bless me. It felt a bit surreal in a very pleasant way. I never would have thought of myself as a self help agent, but hey, why not? Maybe I didn't need to spend all the money on self help resources.

 Paula Vince is an author of contemporary inspirational fiction. She lives in the beautiful Adelaide Hills of South Australia, which she enjoys using as the setting for her novels. She enjoys filling her stories with a bit of mystery, suspense and romance.

Fiction is healthy for our outlook

An eye-opening experience I had was stopping over at Tokyo Airport on the way to Heathrow, when I was 20 years old. As we walked through the long airport terminal, the only three Anglo-Saxon faces to be seen anywhere belonged to me and my parents. The rest of the vast crowd was comprised of Asian faces, Japanese specifically. There were thousands of pretty girls with glossy, jet-black hair, cute toddlers and smart-looking men. Undoubtedly, a stream of western tourists turn up in that international airport all the time, but at that moment, for as far as I could see, there was just us.

We were getting covert glances and sometimes smiles. Growing up as a fourth or fifth generation Australian in Adelaide, I had carried an unconscious sense that most people were like me. We were the 'common' type. Of course I'd been taught at school that the vast majority of the world was filled with other races, who had different coloured skins and spoke different languages. The dry facts and text book photos obviously hadn't made it sink in. Now, during that long walk with our suitcases through Tokyo Airport, I had my first experience of feeling 'foreign'. The world was a far bigger place than I'd ever imagined.

I sometimes remember my impressions of that day in 1990. It's healthy to think of ourselves from someone else's point of view for a change. I find it a good remedy for remembering that the world doesn't revolve around me. It's wise also to consider how easy it is for individuals to carry a sort of delusion of grandeur and self-importance. Although I am ME to myself, the crucial person in my life's story, I am an OTHER to everyone else on our planet, who are busy being the centre of their own stories. From this perspective, any special sense of entitlement has to be rejected.

It's the same for why fiction is a good medium to read and write. When people ask me why I write it, I've sometimes felt put on the spot, unable to come up with a reasonable sounding answer. I have an inner conviction that it's excellent and important, but a simple, "I've always enjoyed it," seemed a self-indulgent answer and certainly not acceptable. When I remember my impressions in Tokyo that day, I think it's all tied in with the reason why.

Fiction enables us to remove ourselves from our own egos and look at the world from the perspective of others. Studies I've read about have indicated that fiction readers really are higher on a measured empathy scale than non-fiction readers or non-readers. This doesn't surprise me. When we are reading a novel which switches from one character's point of view to that of another, we are filled with new ways of looking at the world. We may begin a story automatically endorsing one person's opinion and rejecting another, but when we read part of the story being told from the opposite point of view, it allows us the experience of entering a head which is totally different from where we might have expected to find ourselves.

It's so easy not to realise that all this is happening when we are simply reading a good story. What a great exercise for helping to understand and broadening our tolerance, even if just a little bit. This is what I often aim to do with characters who don't seem so lovable. In my opinion, being able to see a glimpse of the world from someone else's perpective, even just a flash, is well worth the effort a fiction writer may have to put in to provide this.

Paula Vince is an award-winning fiction author who lives in the beautiful Adelaide Hills of South Australia, which she likes to make the setting for several of her novels. She believes that nothing has the power to delight and inspire more than a good story. Her ninth novel, 'Imogen's Chance' will be published in April, 2014.

A guided tour through amazing technology changes

I was born on Christmas Eve, 1969, right on the turn of a new decade. It was an interesting time to enter the world. When I think of all the changes I've seen in a reasonably short life, I feel I have something in common with those who were born around the end of 19th and beginning of the 20th century. They experienced plenty of change within a short period, including motor cars, telephone, electricity and flush toilets. I feel as if I've been in a similar whirl, although I'll just focus on what it means for us as writers.

1975 - 1980
When I visit my Dad's work while they clean, I sometimes get to try typing my stories out on his typewriter. The keys often get jumbled up and stuck together. They tell me my little fingers probably aren't strong enough to give each key the good, firm, separate jab it needs. It's very frustrating. I only get about one paragraph done in an hour.

1985
I'm in Year 10 at High School and we begin a cutting-edge new subject called Computer Awareness. Our school owns about a dozen huge computers which we have to share in pairs to do assignments. It's all over my head and I decide to stick to typing.

1987
I get through Year 12, which is the final year of High School, or matriculation, with hand-written essays and assignments. For research, I still have only the World Book Encyclopaedias in our library, just like every other student. If somebody has the volume with the letter I want, it sets me back for who knows how long. I'm not a very outspoken person so often have to wait until close to the deadlines for the work.

1998 - 1991
I buy myself a treat to help myself through University. It's an electric typewriter. My fingers glide across the keys and I can even buy little rolls of correction tape, so I can back-space and white-out mistakes. A typewriter with its own liquid paper! The assignments I submit look far more professional than my hand-written ones ever used to.

1992
Just before I get married, I'm able to borrow my future brother-in-law's computer to type out wedding invitations. They look flasher than anything I could ever do on my typewriter. Not only can you use italics but you can change the whole font. I'm beginning to think I'd like one of my own, but I'm not as clued-up as my brother-in-law, who even 'surfs the net' when he's at Uni. I wouldn't know where to start.

1995
We get a computer about the same time we have our first baby. My Dad lends us the money, although he believes they are a luxury which people don't really need in their homes. He knows I like to write though. Now I can save things on floppy discs and return to them whenever the baby is sleeping. And instead of throwing out whole pages of work, I can 'copy and paste' and shuffle things around in my manuscripts.
 Some encyclopaedia salesmen still knock on our door and worm their way in to spread their wares across our loungeroom floor, trying to convince us that one day, our son will thank us when he has to face school assignments. My husband decides no, with the way the internet is heading, encyclopaedias will one day be old memories, hard as that may be to believe.

1997 or 1998
Around about now, we have internet. I never thought this would happen to me. The world is at my fingertips from my kitchen table. I wish I'd had this at Uni, because I wouldn't have needed to make so many trips down to the city to research. It's dial-up Broadband, so we can't talk on the phone while someone's using internet. If people say, "I've been trying to get through for hours," we say, "Sorry, I was on the internet."

2000
It's the turn of the century and the Y2K bug didn't get our technology. We have our email address now. My in-laws ask me if I can send an email to friends of theirs, who are travelling. They are amazed next day, when I tell them, "They've sent a reply."
"But they're miles away. How did it get there so quickly?"

2006
I start my first blog. When I find out what the word actually means, it sounds like fun. Its first comment is from a lady in America and I'm dancing around the room, delighted. "Hey, people in America are talking to me! They've read my blog. Can you believe that? They've read what I have to say and they're in America!"

2007
Some of my blog friends are talking about Face Book. I have a look, but it seems a bit silly. Who'd want to bother knowing all my little details? I'll probably just stick to my blog. I join a writers' chat group and one lady tells us that she's published an eBook, because it seems to her that is where the future is heading. Privately, I don't think anyone will latch onto those. Naw, it's too way-off. Who'd stop reading proper books?

2010
I read through to prepare my 2000 title, "Picking up the Pieces" for a new edition, and find I have to change the technology all the time. I had characters looking for public phone booths and listening to tapes in tape recorders. Wow, who would've thought we were so behind the times such a short time ago?

2012
I'm working on a collaborated novel with three friends. Two of us live in South Australia, one in Victoria and one way up in Queensland. We manage to plan the whole plot on Skype, and even look at each others' faces while we're talking. Then emails fly back and forth all the time, as each of us finish different parts of the story. How could we have done this, so far apart, without modern technology?

2013
I own a kindle and an Ipad, which is an excellent partnership. With one, I'm able to browse Amazon and buy books, which I can begin to read immediately with the other. All this is before I even need to get out of bed. Many of my books are available from Amazon and other on-line book stores in e-format, so we can advertise them internationally without having to worry about postage. For the first time, our Great South Land is feeling less isolated

Many of my friends are from overseas, and if we want to, we can talk to each other live.

A few weeks ago, I was watching my publisher's two-year-old boy use his Ipad like a pro, which I'm sure he's probably been adept with since he could walk.

My own children laugh when I reminisce about the old manual typewriter, the old electric typewriter, the old encyclopaedias and the old floppies. They say, "You were around with the dinosaurs, Mum," yet I know I wasn't. It's simply that progress has happened so quickly, we've hardly had time to catch our breath. I believe we're living in exciting times for authors and readers. Things I couldn't have imagined in the 1970s and 1980s are now normal parts of our lifestyles and I'm looking forward to finding out what will come next.

As writers, we are enjoying far more luxuries than our illustrious forebears. When I imagine how people like George Eliot or Charles Dickens would have loved our modern computers, internet and communication devices to help them write their enormous novels, I feel very grateful. No matter what the pitfalls of modern communications are, and there are quite a few, it is easy to focus on the good, when we consider how they have helped to revolutionise our lives.

I can't help agreeing with my 18-year-old son. He says he hopes the end of the world won't happen for a long, long time, because it would be such a shame, in his opinion, to have a "Left Behind" scenario just when technology is getting really good.

Paula Vince is an award-winning author of contemporary Christian novels. She lives with her husband, three children and one nephew in the beautiful Adelaide Hills of South Australia, which she uses as the setting of many of her books.

Reading a novel is not like getting married

Some time ago, I was talking to a lady who politely explained why she declined to read any of my books. "After the one and only novel I ever read, I decided never to read fiction again."

"Was it that bad?"

"No, to the contrary, it was excellent. It was 'The Thorn Birds' by Colleen McCullough. I enjoyed it so much I decided no other novel could possibly come close. Since I'd read the best novel ever written, what would be the point in reading any others? It'd be a waste of time. I'm glad the only novel I ever read happened to be the world's best book."

My jaw must have hung slack for a moment. I tried to convince her that there is a wealth of wonderful stories out there which she'd surely love as much, if only she gave them a chance. I can understand 'book hangover', which is when we read such a good novel, we want to spend time savouring the characters in our heads and thoughts before we move on to anything new. I've often had it myself. I've never heard of it lasting 20+ years, as it has been for this lady. As I couldn't convince her, I assume her case might drag on for the rest of her life.

That surprised me enough to wonder how many others her reaction may apply to. Surely not many, I hoped. Yet I began to see less extreme variations of the same thing in others, even within my own family. My 14 year-old daughter, Emma, loves the comedian Tobuscus, aka Toby Turner. She has often been heard to say he must be the funniest guy alive. She has bought a Tobuscus jacket from overseas and had a Tobuscus pair of shoes designed by an artist she knows.

One day, soon after we moved into a nicer house than we'd lived in before, Emma's little brother, Blake, asked her, "If you had your choice, which would you pick? We could live in this great new house but Tobuscus never existed? Or we could still live cramped up in the old house and he does exist?" Kids ask weird questions.

Emma had to think about it. Even though she loved her more spacious new bedroom, she decided that living in the old house and being able to continue enjoying the comedy of Tobuscus would be her preferred option. I suggested to her that she was thinking like the 'Thorn Birds' lady. If Toby Turner didn't exist or she'd never heard of his comedy, she'd be none the wiser and there would surely be some other comic person she'd totally enjoy. Because the fact is, creativity is everywhere and it's sad when we limit ourselves to one person or outlet. God-inspired ideas are floating around and there are many creative people snatching them and crafting them into unique and fantastic offerings with the aid of their God-given imaginations.

I'd love to read all the books I possibly could, starting with the ones which appear on the widget of this blog by creative authors from around the globe. I've read some terrific novels and I'm sure there are many more destined to have me sighing and swooning over emotional roller coaster rides. I'm honoured when people tell me such things as, "I enjoyed all your contemporary novels but didn't think I'd enjoy your fantasy series, yet when I started it, I loved them just as much," or vice versa. Even when a particular genre may not be our cup of tea, there are others written by different authors that surely would be. Reading widely has always been one of my greatest hobbies.

I'm thankful that books are nothing like marriage. I know what I'd tell that 'Thorn Birds' lady if I had the chance to speak to her again. Choosing a novel to read is nothing like choosing a spouse. We don't have to make vows to remain true to them to the exclusion of all others. Such a covenant is not required because God has designed our brains to appreciate any number of stimulating stories. When I co-wrote "The Greenfield Legacy" with fellow Aussie authors, Meredith Resce, Rose Dee and Amanda Deed, we put a page about each of us at the back of the book. That is so readers may find out more about the diverse writing each of us has to offer. We're hoping they'll start there and branch out. I challenge us not to be the sort of readers who blindly stick to our favourite authors. I like to download kindle freebies. I've read a few dodgy ones that I'm happy to delete, but I've also come across some fantastic ones which I'm grateful not to have missed.

Paula Vince lives in South Australia with her family and homeschools her younger children. She writes contemporary romantic dramas set in her own picturesque Adelaide Hills, some of which have won awards. She believes nothing has the power to entertain and inspire as much as a well-written story with lovable characters. Visit her at www.paulavince.com.

The Greenfield Legacy: Interview with the four Aussie authors and book giveaway

Left to Right: Rose, Meredith, Paula, Amanda. 

Narelle here. I'm delighted to welcome four talented Aussie Christian fiction authors to our blog today. ICFW member Paula Vince has collaborated with multi-published authors Rose Dee, Amanda Deed and Meredith Resce to write The Greenfield Legacy.

We are also giving away a copy of The Greenfield Legacy (world-wide, more details at the end of the post).

I will introduce these lovely ladies before we learn how they worked together to produce their collaborated novel, a first for the Australian Christian Fiction market. 

Award winning Australian author, PAULA VINCE, loves to evoke tears and laughter through writing fiction. She has a passion to provide inspiring stories that highlight her own beautiful country. http://www.paulavince.com

ROSE DEE was born in Ingham, North Queensland, Australia. Her childhood experiences growing up in a small beach community would later provide inspiration for her first novel. Rose, who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree, decided to try her hand at writing two years ago. The result of that attempt is her first novel, 'Back to Resolution'. Her novels are inspired by the love of her coastal home and desire to produce exciting and contemporary stories of faith for women. 'Beyond Resolution', and ‘A New Resolution’ are the second and third books in the 'Resolution' series. Rose resides in Mackay, North Queensland with her husband, young son, and mischievous pup, Noodle. http://rosedee.com

AMANDA DEED grew up in the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne in a Christian home, and found faith at an early age. She has followed her passion to serve the Lord through music and literature since her teen years. Now married, with three children, Amanda enjoys the variety of being a mother, finance administrator, musician and historical romance writer. Her debut novel, The Game, won the 2010 CALEB Prize for fiction, and Ellenvale Gold was a finalist for the same prize in 2012. http://www.amandadeed.com.au

South Australian Author, MEREDITH RESCE, has been writing since 1991, and has had books in the Australian market since 1997. Following the Australian success of her “Heart of Green Valley” series, an English Publisher has taken the first three books in this series, and has released them to the British and American markets. ‘The Greenfield Legacy’ is her 15th novel published. Apart from writing, Meredith also takes the opportunity to speak to groups on issues relevant to relationships and emotional and spiritual growth. Meredith has also been co-writer and co-producer in the 2007 feature film production, “Twin Rivers”. With her husband, Nick, Meredith has worked in the ministry since 1983. Meredith and Nick have one daughter and two sons.

Mattie was in love with Billy, but she was too young to wed. When Billy was conscripted to fight in Vietnam, they made a decision that affected their lives and their future. But so much pain resulted that Mattie never really healed. Every turn Mattie made affected her daughter and her granddaughter in ways she didn't even realise. But forty-six years later, is it time for things to be set right? 

Navy is a young woman who has never known her family. But what could be a wonderful opportunity is met with jealousy and apprehension from her cousin Brooke and her aunt Connie, especially with handsome Aidan around. Each must look past their struggles and find forgiveness and trust and perhaps even love. 

This absorbing family drama, set in South Australia's beautiful McLaren Vale wine region, is written by four of Australia's outstanding Christian fiction authors who have brought you best-selling and award-winning novels.

Narelle: What was the inspiration for writing The Greenfield Legacy? Who came up with the story idea?

Meredith: I think Paula came up with the idea, but our brainstorm Skype session helped to let it grow and take shape with all four of us giving input.

Rose: It was Paula’s idea. She contacted each of us with the concept and we had a Skype discussion about how it all would work. The story came to us quite easily. We started with a general outline and it just rolled from there.

Paula: I was scrolling down through my Face Book news feed and saw that four American Christian Fiction authors had collaborated on a novel. As well as being interested to read it, the idea that something similar should be done for the Australian market wouldn’t leave my head. My family thought it sounded far too hard but I still didn’t want to let it go. I finally sent messages to Meredith, Rose and Amanda, to ask if they would be willing to join me in giving it a try. All three ladies were enthusiastic about the idea and the rest is history.

Narelle: How did the four of you manage to brainstorm the story, considering you all live in different parts of Australia? How did you collaborate to put together the story outline?

Meredith: We had the one long brainstorm Skype session, which was loads of fun, with ideas flying around left, right and centre. It was really great how the story could take different turns here and there from the separate characters’ points of view. We just agreed on the one solid storyline thread around which we each hung our own individual ideas.

Amanda: Skype is a great tool for communicating these days. Apart from a first group phone call discussion where we brainstormed the story outline, we emailed back and forth quite a lot during the process, clarifying as we went.

Rose: Once we had a general idea of the four characters, we all drew up a character analysis. I feel as though the story unfolded easily. I had some great ideas on where my character was going just by reading what the other characters thought of her, and how they interacted with her. We mainly conversed through e-mail. Once we started, our keyboards were hard at work and we had a first draft within months.

Narelle: I’m curious to learn the logistics behind four authors writing the same novel. Did you each write different characters or plot threads? Did you all write at the same pace? Did you revise and critique each other’s writing as you wrote the story or did you revise at the end?

Amanda: I think I was the slowest of the group, having to fit the writing in around many other demands, but I loved that the other authors’ parts inspired some of my ideas as I went. Then there were the, ‘Oh, I didn’t see that coming,’ moments, where I had to figure out how I would fit some new scenario into my own part of the story. I really enjoyed that part of the challenge.

Meredith: We each wrote a different character, and the main plot was agreed upon from the brainstorm, but there were subplots that added to the story and built each individual character. We each wrote a character profile for our own character and secondary characters, so that if one of the others of us had to write our character into their part, they knew pretty much how each would act/respond. We wrote like a tennis match. One would serve a piece, the next would take and develop the next point in the story via their character’s point of view, then hit to the next writer, whose character needed to emerge at that point. We batted it back and forth between us and it grew exponentially. It was very exciting going to the email next day and finding the story back in the inbox, but it had grown and developed so much. We did critique each others’ writing. I might have been more harsh than the others, but hopefully it all turned out well. I believe the readers will really engage with it.

Paula: I was the one who tied all the different chapters together as I received them in my inbox and it was great fun. I enjoyed the jigsaw puzzle aspect of that job, figuring out where each bit would have happened chronologically and slotting them together until they worked as smoothly as possible. I always got a kick out of seeing how ‘my’ characters appeared in the other ladies’ sections. We left our critiquing until towards the end, but by then we were all so emotionally involved in the story as a whole, the input from outside editors was definitely appreciated.

Narelle: Was it difficult to pull together four different writing voices and writing styles to create a cohesive story?

Rose: You would think it would be incredibly difficult, but I found that the process flowed smoothly and the ‘voices’ complemented each other. I think this is because we all write specific characters, so although each voice is different – they all really suit the characters.

Meredith: Surprisingly, no. The four different voices definitely reflected the four different characters’ points of view as they emerged. It actually made it just a tad more realistic.

Amanda: Getting it all to flow together seemed to be rather easy, I think. I have since read other co-authorship stories which make it sound a lot harder than our first experience of it was. Perhaps we were just a good fit.

Paula: We are quite confident that readers may have a tricky job telling who was who. Our minds gelled together so smoothly, we believe it may as well have been written by just one person. I enjoyed my experience of everyone else’s working styles. Meredith would come up with plot twists and email them to us with headings such as, ‘Breaking News.’ Rose got so enthusiastic about the different characters, she’d infect us all. Amanda would work with spurts of amazing energy, when we’d receive two or three really poignant chapters that made us ‘oooh’ and ‘aaah.’

Narelle: What advice do you have for other writers who may be thinking about collaborating to write a novel?

Paula: Start with a basic plot in which you are all firmly agreed on. Then you’ll be less likely to annoy each other with ideas the others just can’t buy. Keep your approach to working together lighthearted, even at moments when the story itself isn’t.

Amanda: Be open-minded. I think if you have narrow expectations of what it should be, you might struggle to make it work. There needs to be a lot of give and take.

Meredith: If you find other authors who seem to think like you do, and who you respect as a writer, and who is willing to have a go, why not?

Rose: I think that you have to have similarities in taste. Although we are two contemporary and two historic fiction writers, we still all like a bit of romance and drama. Common ground helps. I can’t imagine it would have worked if we had to accommodate an author who wrote science fiction or someone who wrote thrillers. Other than this – I think you just have to give something a go. We had no idea how this would work, or even if we would produce anything good enough for publication. But The Greenfield Legacy is a story we are all proud of. It’s a great read.

Narelle: Ladies, thank you for a fascinating and insightful interview. I'm looking forward to reading The Greenfield Legacy and trying to guess who wrote each character. 

By commenting on today’s post you can enter the drawing to win a copy of The Greenfield Legacy. The drawing will take place on Friday, November 2 and the winner announced on Sunday, November 4. Please leave an email address [ ] at [ ] dot [ ] where you can be reached. 

"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."

Australia's first collaborated Christian novel

I was happy to have spent last weekend on Australia's Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Several writers from Australia and New Zealand were there for a Getaway in which we attended workshops and listened to interesting seminars. A variety of brand new books were launched, one of which was "The Greenfield Legacy", a collaborated novel I've written with fellow authors Meredith Resce, Amanda Deed and Rose Dee. It's a project we've worked hard on this year and it was wonderful to be able to answer questions about it on a panel and sign several copies with the others.

We were each keen to bring our passions into the story. Therefore, it encompasses a few generations and contains some Australian history, several unexpected twists and shocking family revelations. We were all unanimous in wanting to include satisfying romances and a sensitive plot which we hope will bless and touch the hearts of readers. With four main characters to follow (one written by each of us), we wouldn't be surprised to hear that readers, with their diverse backgrounds, may choose different ones to especially relate to.

I've found that working with others on a novel is a really rewarding and interesting experience. It's helped me to stretch my creativity and learn how others go about the writing process. Seeing the result of our equal input for the first time was great. It's a composite that I was proud to be a part of. Later this week, an interview about our process will be published by Narelle Atkins but for now, I'd like to share a glimpse of our story in this trailer.

    Paula Vince's youth was brightened by great fiction and she's on a mission to pay it forward. A wife and homeschooling mother, she loves to highlight the beauty of her own country in her stories. Paula's books are a blend of drama and romance with elements of mystery and suspense.

The Pen is Mighty

I was shopping in a little Community Aid Abroad store and needed a card for another author. There was a rack of cards, including one with the caption, "The Pen is Mighty." I paused to think how true those words are. I don't remember whether it was Shakespeare who first wrote the words, "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword" but it sounds like it might have been him. How true it turned out to be in his life, anyway. Literally hundreds of his wise or witty lines have made their way into common English usage, spouted by people who don't realise for a moment that they are quoting William Shakespeare.

Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, had a huge role in the abolition of slavery and altering of American history. And way back in ancient history, it was clear to many that the men and women who wrote the plays, stories and propaganda of their times were responsible for firing up many hearts to follow their cause, including the mighty warriors who took their eloquent writing on board. I'm a firm believer that we authors can help promote beneficial changes in readers' hearts through the helpfulness and purity of the words we write. I picked up the card to take to the cashier.

When I glanced at the price sticker on the back, I thought they must have made a mistake. It said $100. Hey, what? At first I assumed it must have been a mis-print for $1 or even $10. Then I realised what I'd been about to do. By purchasing that card, I'd be agreeing to fund the supply of many schools in third world countries with text books and writing tools. I put it back in the rack, thinking how close I'd come to embarrassment, for although I would have been willing to do that, I didn't have the money in my account. I was glad I looked, instead of just trying to buy it.

As it's true, that the pen is mighty, I'd like to encourage all who read this to keep faithfully writing the words in your hearts, trusting that they'll bless, cleanse and inspire those who they are meant to, and may for many years to come.

Paula Vince is a homeschooling mother and award winning author of seven novels, four of which are set in her own beautiful environment, South Australia's Adelaide Hills. 

We might be incubating

Like baby chickens encased in the shells of warm eggs, we writers go through times of incubation. The process is also like seeds buried deep in the ground. Nobody can see anything visible happening, yet our minds are rife with energy, ticking away on something great that might not come into being for a long time.

I had my idea for an amnesia story way back in 2000 when I'd finished writing my first draft of another novel, Picking up the Pieces. I found the new idea intriguing and fully intended to get stuck straight into it. I even wrote several chapters and phoned a friend in the police force to quiz him for several details I'd need to know for my plot, especially how they set about discovering the identities of people who don't know who they are. Even though I devoted a few months to this book at the time, I finished up putting it aside. For some reason, it wasn't gripping me as much another sudden new idea to write a young adult trilogy entitled Quenarden. When I finished work on those three books, I re-wrote The Risky Way Home, the first book I'd ever written. Then I had an idea about combining two of my contemporary romances into a sequel, which became A Design of Gold. When I'd almost finished writing that, this amnesia idea suddenly bobbed up in my consciousness again. After eight years of being pushed to the back burner, my enthusiasm to work on it was brimming again.

I knew its time was right. The details about an antique shop background were clearer in my head and characters motivations were falling into place, while they had been strained all that time ago. It was as if the fruit had taken eight years to ripen in my subconscious mind. I went through those old chapters I'd written and found lots of waffle that could be deleted. Better still, I'd learned some extra skills as a writer which the experience of five extra books had taught me. And best of all, my kids had grown up a bit and real life experience had taught me my hero's lesson - that our thoughts shape our world and what we choose to focus on grows in our outer worlds. I'm sure I wouldn't have been as well-equipped to write that eight years earlier. The book ended up being called Best Forgotten.

I am incubating a few other ideas which will require some scientific research while I'm working on something that I'd been incubating while I wrote Best Forgotten. There are also ideas knocking each other around in my brain about a book of reflections to encourage fellow writers. I like the way Madeleine L'Engle expressed this incubation process in her reflective book, Walking on Water, in which she likened her creative process to having several pots bubbling away on the stove's hot plates at once. She sprinkles and stirs ingredients into each of them as they occur to her, and eventually the one which becomes complete in her mind and enthusiasm first gets taken off and worked on while the others continue to simmer.

Are any of you being incubators at the moment? I wonder what invisible germs of wonderful books are already simmering among us.

Paula Vince is a homeschooling mother and award winning author who live in the beautiful Adelaide Hills of South Australia. She writes mostly contemporary drama/romances with elements of mystery and suspense.

Don't be in a hurry to finish

Each time I've worked on a novel, I've experienced an impatience many of us may be familiar with. We are reveling in the worlds of our characters and their stories and wish other people were already there with us. We want to hold the finished product in our hands, admire the lovely covers, breathe in the wonderful new book aroma and visit Amazon to find out if any reviewers have had anything to say.

When I finished work on my most recently published novel, Best Forgotten, I was quite surprised by something I never expected to happen. I quickly started missing it all. While I was taking my well-earned break from writing, I discovered that I really wanted to be nutting out scenes, dreaming about characters, making my own editing slashes along the way and building up piles of A4 paper. I wanted to be shuffling scenes around and deleting waffly parts of the story. I realized the whole process means far more to me than just necessary, busy-work to achieve an end result. Fiction writing really is a rewarding and valuable activity during every stage of the process and when I don't have a current manuscript to keep my imagination occupied for months, I hate it.

Currently, I am about 50 000 words into a new project, Along for the Ride. A few days ago I found myself filled with that impatient excitement to have feedback from others already. I reminded myself that this 'quiet' stage is valuable. People may not be hearing much from me about new book releases or launches but that doesn't mean I'm just sitting idle around my house. This is the stage where my mind is ticking over with events and dialogues which my fingers are racing to record and keep up with. Whenever that impatience creeps up on me this time, I'm reminding myself that I'm enjoying every moment.

Is anybody else in the middle of a long-term project which you're finding a bit of a drag? It might be a novel, a study degree, a home or garden project or some enormous art or craft. Maybe it's some sort of outreach mission which never appears to be making much of a difference. Do you ever hear yourself grumble, "I can't wait until this is finished," or something like that? I encourage you to enjoy every moment of the hard work you devote to it, because you'll never have those creative moments back again pouring energy into a long-term project larger than yourself is an exhilarating thing to do.

Paula Vince is a homeschooling mother and award-winning novelist from Adelaide, South Australia. She has written a fantasy/adventure trilogy for young adults along with four romantic dramas with elements of suspense and mystery.

Sink your teeth into Australian fiction

Last week, we Aussies celebrated Australia Day. It's a good marker between the end of the summer holiday period and the beginning of the working year, as for many of us, January is considered a holiday month in which we enjoy our summer sports. I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to highlight our Christian novels and their authors.

Australia was basking in its colourful beauty for years before being added to any map. The original settlers mostly had desperate reasons for moving there. Some were convicts who'd been driven to their paltry crimes through starvation. Others faced so much religious persecution or economic hardship that re-locating blindly to the other side of the world seemed the most attractive option.

They all arrived in a vast, sunburned land unlike anything they had imagined. The way they came to terms with life in the wild land is a source of pride to those of us who are privileged to call them our ancestors. Staunch faith, gutsy courage and unquenchable humour are the attitudes that saw them through. Interestingly, the same qualities are those which shine through the Christian fiction books currently being written by Australians.

We have beautifully researched historical fiction which authentically reflects the hardships our pioneer ancestors dealt with. There is wonderful contemporary fiction as refreshing as taking a trip to our land down-under. Finally, there is whimsical and excellent fantasy brimming with the wry style of humour Australians are renowned for. The main drawback we still face is that all this wonderful fiction isn't always easy to find on the international market. Our population is relatively small compared to those of North America, Europe and Asia, making it difficult for us to compare financially with print runs and marketing.

I like to think those of us who are busy writing fiction share a similar spirit to the pioneer ancestors I mentioned. We are all hard at work with a spirit of determination and optimism to make a difference and show worldwide readers the beauty of our Great Southland. I love the sample of Aussies writing for this blog; Mary, Rita, Narelle, Jo-Anne, Dale and myself. I'd like to finish off proudly mentioning some other fiction-writing names readers might like to look out for. The authors on the following list have either had fiction published already or are preparing to.

Rose Dee, Amanda Deed, Carol Preston, Meredith Resce, Jo Wanmer, Anne Hamilton, Penny Reeve, Andrea Grigg, Penelope McGowen, Sandra Findlay Peut, Dorothy Adamek, Laura O'Connell, Jenny Glazebrook, Martin Roth, Janelle Dyer, Elva Schroeder, Heather Monro.

I'm sure there are even more authors whose names don't spring to mind at this moment but this has to be a good starting point. It pleases me to have such a variety, as when I first started querying publishing houses with manuscripts, I was told, "Forget it because there'll never be a market for Australian Christian fiction." Anybody who believed that underestimated the spirit of the Australian Christian fiction author.

Paula Vince is a homeschooling mother and award-winning author of faith-inspired fiction set in Australia. She believes stories are a powerful tool to bring goodness and hope to the lives of readers and loves invoking tears, laughter and cheering.