Secretaries of Praise

In a devotional about Acts 20:35, J. Hudson Taylor said - “Oh that our pen may be anointed as with fresh oil, while we seek to bring our own soul, and the soul of our readers more fully under the influence of this truth!”

As we search for truth in the world around us, as we strive to depict it, in whatever form, we glorify the One who is truth, the One who lives in us.

But there is a danger, the trap of arrogance, the sin of pride. There is danger in loving our words too much, danger in thinking ourselves wise. William Saroyan has said - "If you practice an art faithfully, it will make you wise, and most writers can use a little wising up." We must never assume the words belong to us, neither to keep nor to distribute. The words, especially those that come from the depth of our spirit, belong to our Father. We can never claim Divine inspiration, but we must take seriously the calling, the vocation, of a writer who is Christian.

Nor can we claim that we have all the answers. Frans Kafka has said - “One reads in order to ask questions.” Perhaps one should also write from that perspective, not to provide, but to seek the answers, those answers that will resonate deep and long as they touch that central part of our being where God resides; those answers that will lead us and our readers to more questions and to a deeper knowledge of God.

The trap of pride also lurks, ready to ensnare us. It is in arrogance that we write believing we possess the complete unadulterated truth. Jesus is the only One who lives in that place. Jesus is truth. We are merely those, as J. Hudson Taylor says, who are seeking to bring our own souls under its influence.

Oswald Chambers, who has written one of the most popular devotional books ever written, has said - "The author who benefits you most is not the one who tells you something you did not know before, but the one who gives expression to the truth that has been dumbly struggling in you for utterance."

I think the author who is most true to himself, and his readers, is the one who admits that truth has been dumbly struggling in him, as well. It is when we as writers struggle to give utterance, struggle toward that wholeness, that holiness, that we succeed, no matter whether the result is published in the New Yorker or in a local newspaper. For, as E.B. white has said, “Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar.”

This is our calling, our privilege, to walk forward in that faith, for, as George Herbert's wonderful little poem says -

 “Of all the creatures in the sea and land

Only to Man thou has made known thy ways,

and put the pen alone into his hand,

and made him Secretary of thy praise.”  

 

 **** 

Marcia Lee Laycock writes from central Alberta Canada where she is a pastor's wife and mother of three adult daughters. She was the winner of The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone and also has two devotional books in print. Her work has been endorsed by Sigmund Brouwer, Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and Mark Buchanan. Marcia's second novel, A Tumbled Stone has just been short listed in the contemporary fiction category of The Word Awards. 

Abundant Rain, an ebook devotional for writers can be downloaded here. Visit Marcia's website

Queen of the Slush Pile: Rachel Allord

Rachel Allord’s debut novel, Mother of My Son, won Novel Journey’s Out of the Slush Pile contest in the contemporary women’s category in 2010 and is now available for pre-order through Pelican Book Group (release date May 24). Rachel grew up as a pastor’s kid, vowed never to marry a pastor, and has been contentedly married to her husband, a worship pastor, for seventeen years. Privileged to be both a biological and adoptive mother, Rachel resides in Wisconsin where she avidly consumes coffee, sushi, and novels– preferably at the same time.

Sometimes it’s a long journey from idea to publication. What was your winding road like?

Writing a novel began on somewhat of a whim. As much as I loved being a stay at home mom, I felt like my creativity was drying up and I couldn’t shake this story brewing inside of me. So in a rather feverish way, I began to write. 

I soon realized, however, that even though I could write, (didn’t my English degree prove it?) I had no idea how to write a novel.  After attending a couple of conferences and establishing myself as a freelance writer (Chicken Soup for the Soul books, MomSense and other publications) I kept writing, kept improving the story. Then ironically, providentially, I began experiencing some of the themes compelling me to write—namely infertility and adoption. 

After adopting our precious baby girl from China, and after not looking at my manuscript for almost three years, I brushed it off and read it with fresh eyes. Did it need work? Oh yes. Was it redeemable? I thought so. So I rolled up my sleeves and dove back in, equipped with clarity that comes from shelving a project for so long, and experience. 

From first draft to publication the process took twelve years, with lots of starts and stops and rejections. But I guess that’s how much time I needed to find my voice and get the story right.

Tell about your new release Mother of My Son.

College student Amber Swansen gives birth alone. In desperation, she abandons the newborn, buries her secret, and attempts to get on with her life. No matter how far she runs, she can’t escape the guilt. Years later and still haunted by her past, Amber meets Beth Dilinger. Friendship blossoms between the two women, but Beth’s son is a constant, painful reminder to Amber of the child she abandoned. When heartache hits, causing Amber to grapple with the answers to life’s deeper questions, Beth stands by her side. Yet just when peace seems to be within Amber’s grasp, the truth of her past and the parentage of Beth’s son comes to light and threatens to shatter not only their worlds, but the life of the teenager they both love.

Where did you get the idea for the story?

One evening I caught a news story on TV about a high school girl who gave birth in the bathroom during prom, put the baby somewhere, (I don’t remember where) and went out to dance again. Being a new mom myself, the birth experience was still pretty fresh in my mind and I thought how in the world does someone do such a thing? What kind of home life does she come from? What was her mindset? What would become of her? I also began to grapple with questions like: Is God’s grace sufficient to cover all sins? How do we rid ourselves of the guilt from the past? This story haunted me and prompted a lot of questions—a great place to start for a writer.

Where do you find time to write? How do you juggle everything in your schedule?

 My son was a baby when I wrote the first draft so naptime equaled writing time. Now he’s thirteen and no longer naps, (nor does my eight-year-old daughter or my husband for that matter) but I still tend to write in bursts. This isn’t advice really, just my reality. My goal is 1000 words a day, a mediocre goal for many writers, but I can’t stop myself from editing along the way. Truthfully, some days I write for eight hours other days, ten minutes. The key is, I love to write, and we somehow manage to find time for what we love. 

What’s one word of advice you’d give to someone just starting out on the writing road?

 Listen. Listen to writers who’ve gone before you and listen to their stories. Listen to conference instructors and agents and editors. Listen to the news. Listen to conversations around you. Listen to what’s stirring in your heart. Listen to the whispers of the Holy Spirit. Listen to the word of God. Should you listen and heed every voice? Of course not, but still, listen, listen, listen.

Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest…what’s your favorite social media and why?

Pinterest leaves me feeling like an ADD homemaking disaster, Facebook has definite perks but also plenty of drama, so I guess that leaves Twitter. Short, simple, direct, Twitter. Does face-to-face over a cup of coffee count? If so, I’ll take that.  

Where can readers keep up with your writerly exploits?

At my website: Rachel Allord

Facebook

Twitter

And be sure to check out the Mother of My Son book trailer HERE or purchase a copy at Amazon.

Stop Whispering ~ Thoughts on Finding Your Voice ~ Nava Atlas

Stop whispering! 

The eternal quest to find your writing voice

By Nava Atlas

When the movie Dirty Dancing (1987) came out, I was often told that I resembled “Baby,” the lead female character played by Jennifer Grey. If I sat in a corner at a restaurant or at a gathering, friends sometimes delivered the film’s iconic line—”Nobody puts Baby in a corner!”— considering themselves completely hilarious. But I liked corners, and I still do. They’re cozy, and it’s easy to blend into the woodwork. Putting oneself in a corner, though, either in the real world, or on the printed page, is the equivalent of whispering. Women tend to do that a lot, especially when we’re unsure of our own voices.

     

When I started working on The Literary Ladies’ Guide to the Writing Life, a collection of first-person narratives by classic women authors on their experiences and challenges as writers, I was content to whisper in the margins of the pages of the book. Alongside the musings of twelve classic authors of the past (Alcott, Austen, Brontë, Alcott, Wharton, Woolf, and six others), my role was to comment on how their experiences and challenges resonate with today’s writing women. Since I myself designed the pages, I set my comments in tiny type, and tried to hide them as best I could in the pages’ gutters. That ended when the book found a publisher, and the editor firmly told me I could no longer whisper in the corner, neither metaphorically or literally.

     

At first, raising my voice above a whisper wasn’t easy. All those familiar “Who do you think you are...” demons rushed in to fill the void where confidence should have been firmly in place. “Finding your voice” is a writing directive that teeters on cliché. Yet, what’s more important than developing a distinctive personality in print? Without a firm grip on voice, you’re left either with whispering shyly, or its flip side, endlessly blathering streams of overwrought prose or poetry, the literary equivalent of nervous chatter

     

What advice would revered classic authors have for those of us still seeking to find or define our voice and style? Here are a few thoughts from writers who went through much the same as most of us, and emerged to tell the tale:

“Every young writer has to work off the ‘fine writing’ stage. It was a painful period in which I overcame my florid, exaggerated, foamy-at-the-mouth, adjective-spree ... I knew even then it was a crime to write like I did, but I had to get the adjectives and the youthful fervor worked off. I believe every young writer must write whole books of extravagant language to get it out.” —Willa Cather, from an interview, 1915

“I didn’t have any particular gift in my twenties. I didn’t have any exceptional qualities ... The only reason I finally was able to say exactly what I felt was because, like a pianist practicing, I wrote every day. There was no more than that. There was no studying of writing, there was no literary discipline, there was only the reading and receiving of experience.” —Anais Nïn, from an essay, 1975

Each person’s method is no rule for another. Each must work in [her] own way, and the only drill needed is to keep writing and profit from criticism ... Read the best books, and they will improve your style. See and hear good speakers and wise people, and learn of them. Work for twenty years, and then you may some day find that you have a style and place of your own, and you can command good pay for the same things no one would take when you were unknown. —Louisa May Alcott, from a letter to a reader, 1878

I suspect that most of us have an inkling of what our literary voice should be, but what’s missing is the courage to use it. Raised to be good girls, many of us are reluctant to sound too strong, assertive, unconventional, or too much like the self we know is in there somewhere, clamoring to come out. The best remedy, simple though it seems, is to write in quantity, vast quantity if possible, allowing yourself to do mediocre (or even terrible) work, a practice that will eventually peel back the layers of self-consciousness to reveal a true voice. As for me, I still like to sit in corners in restaurants and at parties, but on the page—not so much any more.

Nava Atlas is the author of The Literary Ladies’ Guide to the Writing Life. Visit the Literary Ladies web site  and for daily inspiration, join our Facebook Page.

WHY DID I QUIT MY DAY JOB?

Darlene Franklin’s greatest claim to fame is that she writes full-time from a nursing home. She lives in Oklahoma, near her son and his family, and continues her interests in playing the piano and singing, books, good fellowship, and reality TV in addition to writing. She is an active member of Oklahoma City Christian Fiction Writers, American Christian Fiction Writers, and the Christian Authors Network. She has written 26 books and more than 200 devotionals. Her historical fiction ranges from the Revolutionary War to World War II, from Texas to Vermont. You can find Darlene online elsewhere at http://darlenehfranklinwrites.blogspot.com/, http://mydailynibble.blogspot.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/darlene.franklin.3

WHY DID I QUIT MY DAY JOB?

Lately I have been struggling with a crisis about my calling to write. My pre-published friends wonder why I complain. I am where they hope to be: writing full time, with close to thirty published titles under my belt, and more books under contract. I am blessed. I know that.

But doubts creep in when day after day I struggle to write. My health is fair-to-poor, and the days I don’t feel 100% far outnumber the times I feel well. I want to write more and instead have to write less. Getting words on paper challenges me all the time, and it’s even harder when my body seizes with pain or allergies clog my head.

So I found myself asking: am I truly called to write? I know I can write. I even know people enjoy my books. But have I made a difference? And if I haven’t, why do I put myself through the hard work (some days it feels like torture) of producing a quality book?

Recently I wrote the 100^th post on my new blog, http://mydailynibble.blogspot.com/. I reread many of my posts, and surprised myself to discover I had written about God’s call to write—encouragement taken from the Bible, Genesis through 2 Kings. Some of the lessons I had learned:

·      Write all the words, sharply (Deuteronomy 27). What differentiates a writer from one who wants to? A writer writes. Period. Write from the heart, and hone my craft.

·      My voice is unique (Numbers 18). No one else can tell my stories the way I will. It is an exclusive calling; if I don’t write them—no one can and no one will.

·      Treat God as holy by writing about Him and presenting Him artistically (Leviticus 21-22.) In my writing, I present holy (not perfect) people doing holy things—in real life settings.

·      Exodus 37-38 provided a lot of lessons, including:

·      The God who gifted to write romantic fiction may also lead me to write a different genre, even nonfiction.

·      I’m not a household name, but one of a group of largely unknown authors who write Christian fiction.

·      In My Daily Nibble, I seek the break down the law (both the Torah and all of God’s Word) in bite-sized nuggets of understanding.

·      God doesn’t call me to be anyone other than myself. My writing can’t and shouldn’t copy someone else’s style.

·      Writing is often an act of faith.

·      Whatever God wants me to write, He won’t give up on me or leave me, but He will see me through to the finish. (Joshua 2)

·      Writing may/will move me out of my comfort zone. (Genesis 31-32)

At the same time, I spoke with a supportive friend. She pointed out the obvious: “Maybe you are under attack. Maybe God has something even bigger that you are or will be working on, and Satan is trying to stop you.”

Oh. Suddenly it made sense to me, especially in light of all the things God had shown me in His word.

If I needed any additional “signs,” God gave me a three-book contract—while I was in the hospital for a week.

So I am once again doing the hard job of writing and asking God for daily strength.

Many writers—so close to 99% I would almost dare to say all of us—fight self-doubt and discouragement. Visit the milestones when the call seemed the most clear. Remind yourself why you started writing—why you should continue.

One final thought: The last time (before now) that I seriously considered quitting was ten years ago. At the time, I had no books published although I had been writing for over ten years. I asked God, am I foolish to pursue this pipe dream?

The answer I got was—I don’t have to know if God wants to write five years from now. I only need to know if He wants me to write today, on this particular project.

Don’t worry about the rest of your life. Ask God for wisdom for today.

Hidden Dreams


Mary Anne is on the run.


Her father's been murdered, and now the mob's after her, too. Leaving New York City behind is the only way to stay alive. Yet Mary Anne Lamont finds herself stuck in Maple Notch, Vermont, when her car crashes straight into Wallace Tuttle's truck. Wallace and his family offer her warmth and welcome, no questions asked. But she doesn't dare give them her real name—not without risking their safety too.




At first, Wallace chides himself for being distracted by the glamorous flapper. Mary Anne certainly doesn't fit his image of a future wife. But underneath the bleached bob and big-city ways is a courageous, caring woman. When the danger she's been running from draws close, Wallace must risk everything to prove his faith in Mary Anne, in God's plan, and the dreams they've come to share.