Bad words and Good words

As a Christian, I'm pretty nick-picky about the use of words. The Bible says that death and life are in the power of the tongue. Writers everywhere know that we have the power to influence minds. The question is do we influence minds for good or for evil?

We are in an age where worldviews clash. The moral compass of society is by and large based on relativism. Christian writers of every genre decide for themselves how to navigate through this war zone as they promote their books. It's not always easy.

A reader on a website commented that my book, Abba's Lament (formerly called Before The Beginning) was blasphemous and heretical. I didn't mind, because as I read the comments I realized that even among Christians, there are a variety of interpretations of scripture, and some Christians just don't believe that the Bible should be used as a plot for a Christian fantasy fiction--even speculative fiction.

My question is: do our plots and characters uplift, or do they undermine God's word?

In my high school home school literature classes, I used to ask my students: "Does culture influence literature, or does literature influence culture?"  The students learned about both historical and literary eras and the worldviews that weaved in and out of those time periods. At the end of the year, the students concluded that the answer was that both influence each other.

Christian writers can change culture over time. We are in this world, but we are not of this world. Death and life are in the power of the tongue...and in the tool of the pen.

As a parent, teacher, and author, I want to edify people. Doug and I taught our children that name-calling was not allowed. From a young age, they learned to pay attention to the words they speak to themselves and to others. I would never call my son a "bad" boy. How dare I assign that identity to him! He is a boy that did a bad thing, but his identity is defined by his relationship to God. My current work in progress, No Road Too Long, tells the story of Maggie, an unbelieving college graduate, and it has been interesting developing her character in a way that makes her "real and contemporary" especially since my books will always be PG-13 or under. I do not want to undermine God's word even when developing a character. Writers have the power to cultivate culture. No matter what the plot, we have the ability to weave in the revelation of a good God. Readers can be propelled by a renewed sense of divine purpose and significance through books that uplift the Book.

The human heart can be revived by the power of the rhema of God, but culture must be reformed by the good words and good actions of revived hearts.

BOOK LAUNCH!

UPCOMING NEW RELEASE! JOIN ME FOR MY BOOK LAUNCH!

https://www.facebook.com/events/418670798258457/

Dec 1-4, 2013

I'm happy to host 6 great women as guest bloggers during the launch. Their topics will range from: the faithfulness of God, to their favorite scriptures, personal testimonies and other inspirational topics.  My daughter Maria, age 17, a home-schooler, will write a post about teens and faith.   An interview with my co-author, Sena Woodall R.N. will be featured and last, but not least, I will have a giveaway of our new release. It will be available on paperback and ebook.

Leaf-blowing

It's Fall on the East Coast and that means that daily our lawn gets covered with orange, yellow and brown leaves. Daily, I pick a late afternoon hour as outdoor time for my 4 yr old son, a break for myself from writing, editing and marketing our books, and leaf blowing.

I enjoy blowing the leaves most of the time. It's nice to inhale the crisp autumn air, smell the nutty smoke from my neighbor's fireplace, and notice how the suns' rays can finally reach the dirt floor of the thinning forest that surrounds our backyard.

I learned a lesson the other day while leaf blowing. The edge of many leaves were stuck between strands of grass, despite the mega volt power coming at them. Other leaves, that had not grown comfortable on their patch of grass blew easily wherever the blower directed them to go.

It's difficult to crawl out from a warm blanket and meet the cold, dark air of a new morning. But we will never discover the value of that day if we don't get uncomfortable.  The Holy Spirit knows this. And like Him, I kept the force of the blower's wind on those comfortable leaves until they loosened from the soft strands of grass.

The leaves found a new resting place. Unlike the blown leaves that will crack and shred as winter enters the scene, we as God's children can loosen our grip from the comfortable places and relax knowing that we will find pleasure and life in every new or unknown season of life.

John 3:8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

News!

Doug's nonfiction book "I Was Framed!" Signed, God received its first review: 5 stars

Tina's fantasy fiction novelette, Before The Beginning reached #4 in the Christian fantasy, #4 in the Christian action and adventure and #5 in the military and war listings on Amazon during its free days two weeks ago. She had downloads from England, Canada, India and Italy as well as other places in the world.

Never Alone

I am compelled, out of gratitude, to write a brief blog about the subject of community. Have you ever felt like you were thrown into an abyss of the "unknown" all by your lonesome?  I can relate. I'm thankful for the people God has put in my path to help me navigate through.

In my Christian circles, community has become a "coin" word as of late. The question that dictates that discussion is what does community in God's Kingdom on earth look like?

I'm learning the answer every day. As a new author, my answer is different than it used to be when I was caught up in my small home schooling and local church worlds. Now I'm navigating this previously unknown world of professional writing. I've watched it from afar for awhile. Author Lauralee Bliss and I have attended church together for decades. As I watched her write book after book, my own dream became more achievable for that "one day" when the time was right. New graphic novelist Matt McDowell who released Nephilites, is a few steps ahead of me in his exciting journey. We attended church together for awhile. Although he writes in a different genre, our plots both involve angels. Nope, I'm not alone. A local church is also where I met Author Precarious Yates, whom I knew as Sarah Rogers then Sarah Smith. At the time, I didn't realize how serious she was about writing! Our brief conversations were mostly about parenting, her past ministry work in Ireland and perhaps that Sunday's sermon. Years later, she's graciously begun to mentor me as a new author. I'm so grateful. My first introduction to the online community of Christian authors was through CrossReads, a site that connects readers and authors. Then social media opened the door to direct advice from fellow authors. This advice gave me my new marketing handbook, "Book Marketing For Beginners by Heather Hart. Hart encourages networking and forming relationships with other authors. I learned that seasoned authors regularly mentor new authors! Thank You God! I'm not in this alone. 

Although I'd never recommend forsaking the local for the virtual, both can provide encouragement, mentoring, accountability, and advice. Here's a shout-out to the helpful folks on CrossReads Authors FB page like Annie Douglass Lima, who pointed out that the all important comma needed to be inserted in the title of my husband's future non-fiction release! I also thank Kelly Hagin, who gave me the opportunity to do my first interview. When I was late in submitting interview information, due to my mommy duties, she quickly assured me that she too, was a mother, and understood. Nope, I'm not alone.

Despite my introverted personality, I'm learning that I can have a sense of community with people I'll likely never meet in person. This is a different type of community, but one just as God-given and necessary as my local community of friends. I guess it only makes sense with the new, but now normal, world of cyberspace.

I thought professional writing would be a dog-eat-dog world. But it's not. There are some good people out there. I thank God for them.