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Monday, October 26, 2009

An Inspirational Thrill Ride

Wow, have I been neglecting things around here lately. In early October I went to the Blue Ridge Novelists Retreat. I spent the next week with my head still in the clouds as my subconcious worked out some issues. Then I sat down and wrote a 50,000 word book in six days. This new book of mine is not a novel, it's a collection of stories, essays, and poems centering around thematic spiritual subjects. The working title is Secrets of the Teddy Bear Indian Dance: Mysteries Unveiled While Spinning Between Earth and Sacred Praise. I'm on edit number three already, and the book has been fleshed out to nearly 60,000 words. Boy has the whole experience been quite a thrill ride.

As is a new series by the author who helped inspire my latest work. His name is Steven James, and this year he won his first Christy Award for book two of his Patrick Bowers series, titled The Rook. Steven's specialty is story. He has a master's degree in storytelling and travels the globe sharing his gift. His unique approach to writing stood out in the crowd and struck a chord deep in my brain.

I highly recommend Steven's thriller series. But not at night. Or when your husband is out of town. You know what, just keep an axe by your bed and enjoy the ride.

So as I mentioned, I was very inspired by this author's teaching. Then I read a different sort of book he wrote titled, Sailing Between the Stars: Musings on the Mysteries of Faith. Then my brain started going click, click, click, so I wrote my own collection about the mysteries of faith in six days.

The basis of the term inspirational is the verb inspire. Steven James inspired me to no end, and I guarantee his books will inspire you as well.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

The Healing Season by Ruth Axtell Morren

I was immediately drawn to this book because of its connection to the theatre world, which I love. The spunky Regency heroine, Eleanor Neville, was hysterical as she mimicked cockney accents and put on various personas, but I quickly learned that she also had much depth, and old wounds, which she attempted to hide.
Almost as quickly, I fell in love with the hero, Ian Russell, a mild-mannered surgeon with a heart of gold. His world of herbs, autopsies, and amputations proved as fascinating as that of the London stage.
These two worlds collide when the good surgeon is called upon to help Eleanor’s fellow actress after a botched abortion. Eleanor works bravely at his side to rescue her friend. From that time on, the two can’t seem to avoid one another and are pulled together by many twists and turns within the story. This causes great angst for both of them. Ian has long awaited his pure “Rebecca” type wife to be brought to him by God, and he cannot fathom his attraction to this loose and godless woman. Eleanor has no need of love. She’s had enough of that in her past with poor results. She also has no need of Ian’s holier-than-thou attitude. What she does have need of is security, an ideal London address, and a chance to perform in one of the premier theatres, none of which Ian offers.
The Healing Season is about more than a doctor’s profession, it is about the Great Physician who is able to heal physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Only through God’s supernatural grace and intervention is this book able to come to its happily-ever-after ending. This is my kind of romance that illustrates true love is a gift from God and not merely a fleeting emotion. While reading this book I was struck anew with the reality that sometimes God calls His most faithful and sincere sons to minister healing, hope, and love to His most broken and deserving daughters.