Stitching Up A Story, by Karen Rees

Being both a writer and a quilter I've discovered that piecing a quilt and writing a story have a lot in common. Take precision for example.

Any good quilter knows that precision is the key to getting all of those corners to come together perfectly. Not only precision when sewing pieces together, but precision from the beginning. I have to be precise in marking my pieces, cutting my pieces and then stitching them all together on the same side of that finely marked line.

Failure to be precise, even in small ways such as sometimes sewing on the wrong side of the line, will create blocks of different sizes and corners that don't come together as they should. The final result is a quilt that could have been better.

Precision is also necessary in piecing a story together. I have to select the word that best conveys the meaning I want. Carefully chosen words strengthen my writing and give it clarity. When I grab the first word that pops to mind, it's often not the best choice. I've discovered that I tend to write 'irritate' when I should use 'annoy'. (I make the same mistake when I talk.) What about the difference between brag and boast? In that scene does the character stroll, stride or amble? Does she drop her eyes or does she drop her gaze?

The blocks in my quilt, pictured above, appear to be two different patterns. In reality, all of the blocks are the same pattern – A Gentleman's Fancy. The apparent difference comes from my choice of colors. In some blocks I used light colors for a particular part, in other blocks I used dark colors. My choice of color and shade – light or dark – created the difference.

Writing is the same. The details that I give will create a particular impression in the mind of the reader.  When describing a park I could mention bird messes on benches and trash on the trails. Or I could describe colorful rose gardens and shady paths. The park may have both trash and flowers but the reader's impression will be formed by the details. Before I start writing, I need to decide what impression I want to give and then use the details that will create it.

This is equally true with my characters. Do I want readers to see someone as kind? Self-centered? Timid? Irresponsible? When introducing a character, what description or behavior will leave the desired impression with the reader?

A third similarity between creating quilts and creating stories has to do with the unexpected. I could have sewed every block in my quilt using red and some light color. But I didn't. Even when I used red in a block, I sometimes paired it with a dark color. Those particular blocks stand out like freckles on a blond. They add variety.

When developing characters, we can give them depth by adding something unexpected to their personalities. The hardened criminal who, now and again, treats some stranger's child to an ice cream cone. Why does he do that? Or the sweet elderly widow who has a history that would shock her neighbors.

Quilters say that it's not a quilt until it's quilted. In the same way a manuscript isn't a book until it's published. For a quilt to win at a quilt show and a book to earn honors, both need to contain our best work. Be precise, select the right details and create interesting characters. By doing that, you could end up with a winner.

Karen Rees and her second-generation missionary husband Benjamin have served in Hong Kong since 1975. Besides her involvement in the mission work, Karen loves history, quilting and writing. They have two children, Matthew and Megan, and two grandchildren, Hadessah and Arthur. She is the author of the award-winning historical novel, The Ruby Ring.

Seeing Through Different Eyes, by Karen Rees

A few months ago a British transport minister on a trade visit to Taipei made the headlines in this part of Asia because of a diplomatic blunder. She presented the mayor with a pocket watch. She didn't know that giving a timepiece is taboo in Chinese culture. Because of the similar pronunciation of “giving a clock” and “attending an old person's funeral”, her gift suggested that the mayor's time was running out.



During the years that my husband and I worked with a Chinese church here in Hong Kong, we learned of another similar taboo. Never take flowers to someone in the hospital; flowers are associated with funerals.

Later we began working with household servants imported from the Philippines. We discovered that Filipinos point with their lips, hospitality is high priority while punctuality is not, and wives handle the family money. If they manage it badly, it brings shame on their husbands.

Our current part-time involvement with a Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seeker family from a Hindu background has exposed us to the habits and values of yet another culture.

These three cultures are different in many ways. But, all being Asian, they share a basic value: the rights of the family take priority over the rights of the individual. This value is seen in a tradition of arranged marriages that benefit the family, in the expectation that money earned by one is available to all and in the requirement that individuals put the wishes/needs of the family before their own.

This “family first” value is in direct conflict with the “individual first” culture of the West.

As writers we know that conflict drives the story. We usually create conflict by giving our characters, all of whom have likely Western values, different backgrounds, personalities and desires. Consider the additional conflict possibilities if one or more characters came from a culture with different values.

Countries, and couples, have gone to war because of clashing cultural values. It's not uncommon for a Western husband and a Filipina wife to do battle over how to spend the household money. He, being an individualistic Westerner, wants it all used for themselves and any children they may have. She, with her “family ­first” values, insists that they send money to her extended family in the Philippines.

Cultural differences can add interest, and conflict, to international contemporary novels. Recognizing cultural differences also helps when writing historical fiction.

As I researched Tudor England for my novel THE RUBY RING, I discovered that the Middle Ages shared the same 'family first' value as 20th century Asia.  Choosing a spouse in the 1500s or, more likely, having one chosen for you, was primarily a business matter, not a matter of the heart.

Because of this, the couple in my novel who wishes to marry for love faces much greater family opposition than they would have in today's individualistic Western, 'all we need is love' culture.  Since they also are caught up in England's religious turmoil, I had enough conflict to keep many readers up well past bedtime.

But to maintain a feel of authentic Tudor England, I had to allow my characters to deal with the conflicts in a manner suitable to that culture. I had to see life through their eyes.

Returning to the present day and the Chinese view of clocks and flowers, how's this for a contemporary romantic thriller?

After graduating from a Western university, a courageous young Chinese female reporter begins working in China only to receive death threats for her honest reporting of government and business corruption. She flees to the relative safety of Hong Kong. There she meets a handsome young Western businessman. After a whirlwind romance, they become engaged.

At their engagement party they receive an anonymous gift – a beautiful clock. He is pleased. She is fearful. Are her enemies still after her? A few days later she is injured in a freak accident and spends a few days in the hospital. Her fiancé brings her flowers.

Her previous apprehensions abruptly intensify as a new and terrifying possibility arises. Is her fiancé merely a thoughtful but culturally ignorant Westerner? Or is he actually in the pay of the corrupt Chinese businessmen who, through the clock and flowers, are telling her that she can't escape them?

It all depends on which cultural eyes you're using.

Karen Rees and her second-generation missionary husband Benjamin have served in Hong Kong since 1975. Besides her involvement in the mission work, Karen loves history, quilting and writing. They have two children, Matthew and Megan, and two grandchildren, Hadessah and Arthur. She is the author of the historical novel, The Ruby Ring.

DEVOTION: What Became of My Offering? ~ by Karen Rees

READ Luke 21:1-4. 

My husband and I have around a dozen English-language Bibles on our bookshelves. Times certainly have changed. Prior to the printing press, only the rich could afford the hand-copied scriptures. These were in Latin. In 1408, in reaction to Wycliffe and the Lollards, England's church hierarchy had made it illegal to produce an unauthorized English Bible.

Knowing the power of Scripture to change lives, in 1523 William Tyndale asked permission to make a vernacular Bible. The Church said “no”. Undeterred, Tyndale sailed to the Continent, produced the first printed English New Testament and saw it smuggled into England.

The Church burned every copy they could find. In 1536 they finally burned Tyndale.

When Henry VIII broke with Rome, he lifted the ban on English Bibles. Coverdale's Bible, the Great Bible of 1539, the Matthew Bible and many others were the result. Eventually, in 1611, the Authorized or King James Version was produced.

But what became of Tyndale's still-illegal New Testament and the Old Testament portions he'd translated before his death?

His translations were so good that translators, from Coverdale on, copied them nearly word for word into their legal Bibles. These same Bibles, along with Greek and Hebrew scriptures, were later used to make the King James Version. Scholars today say that 70% of the KJV Bible, and over 80% of its New Testament, is Tyndale's translation.

For nearly 400 years this Bible brought people closer to God and changed their lives. Tyndale's sacrifice wasn't wasted.

I doubt that any of us, even today's Bible translators, will face the challenges, and the dangers, that Tyndale faced. But we all know the struggle of sitting alone at our keyboards with a prayer on our lips as we search for just the right words to express the message in our hearts.

The devotions we write, the novels with a spiritual message, the articles and blogs are our offerings to God, the best we can give.

We are like the poor widow putting her last two tiny coins into the temple treasury. She knew how small her offering was compared to the bags of coins others dropped in. She probably went home to her skimpy meal, if she had one, regretting that she'd not had more to give.

But Jesus saw the situation differently. The issue was not the size of her offering. It was the intent of her heart. No doubt the poor widow went to her grave never knowing that her story would inspire people throughout the ages.

Small though it may be, when we give our best work with a humble heart, we can have confidence that God will use it for his good purpose. He did that with the widow's offering and with Tyndale's. He can do it with ours.

Karen Rees, with her second-generation missionary husband Benjamin, has served in Hong Kong since 1975. Besides her involvement in the mission work, Karen loves history, quilting and writing. They have two children, Matthew and Megan, and one grand-daughter, Hadessah.

Her historical fiction novel, THE RUBY RING, is set against the backdrop of Tyndale's battle for an English Bible. The book is a 2014 Indie Excellence Awards Finalist in the Religious Fiction category.(Congratulations Karen!)

THE RUBY RING can be purchased in paperback or eBook from Amazon.com and many other online bookstores.

Visit Karen on her author page on Facebook.

Watch her book trailer, The Ruby Ring Trailer.