Sheer Delight - The Healer's Apprentice

Well, I haven't done a book review in a while. In fact, I haven't been completely swept away since The Passion of Mary-Margaret earlier this year. I did read one amazing secular novel in the interim called A Thousand Splendid Suns about the troubled lives of two Afghani women. It's not for the faint of heart, but it will definitely change the way you view the world, and as many of you know, I love that sort of book. I also truly enjoyed What the Bayou Saw by Patti Lacy, which deals with racism, sexual abuse, and the secret's women keep. Not easy books to read by any means, but well worth the effort.

But today I would like to recommend a new novel from Zondervan that is sheer delight: The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson. Melanie is a friend of mine and fellow medieval author. This book was a real treat, from the medieval German setting, to the fairy tale elements, to the heart stopping romance. I adored everything about it.

When this book arrived in the mail, my fifteen-year-old daughter hi-jacked it and insisted she read it first. She loved it and finished it in under twenty-four hours (oh, to be young again.) The cover is exquisite and the story line compelling. When the former peasant girl falls in love with the betrothed future duke, things kick off to a strong start. The Healer's Apprentice was released as a teen fiction novel, but I think any romance lover will adore this book. I was surprised and pleased that while geared to a younger audience, it did not shy away from tough issues like abuse, attempted seduction, and the corruption of the clergy at that time. While these topics are dealt with delicately, it is good for young women to learn to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves as the Bible instructs.

This book is well executed all around. Great characters, strong plot, good pacing. The story took some fun twists and turns that will be sure to charm you, and the history was accurate and engaging. Most importantly, though, it contained very strong spiritual elements. The hero and heroine must face the forces of darkness and battle them not with their own strength, but through the power of the name of Jesus. They also learn lessons about trusting God, listening to his voice, and their worth in him. Melanie Dickerson portrayed the right and godly sort of love in this book that will stand the test of time.

So if you are looking for a book that will both entertain you and simultaneously enrich your life, I highly recommend The Healer's Apprentice. Great job Melanie. I look forward to more.

Encouraging Words

This week actually started out with a bit of discouraging career news for me. As I'm about set out for the big ACFW Conference in Indianapolis tomorrow to pitch my book to editors, that was not the sort of news I wanted to hear. But as usual, the setback drove me to my knees. I spent all yesterday morning in prayer for direction.

God was faithful, and he truly clarified his plans for my current novel, my trip, and my career. In fact, by the end of the day, I had some really great news. More exciting, though, was the scripture he gave me. I know people always say that God gives them scriptures. But this time was a little different, for me at least. As I sat praying, the reference "Isaiah 54" literally flashed in my eyes like on a projector screen. I couldn't imagine what Isaiah 54 could possibly have to do with my writing, but I looked it up anyway.

Before I go ahead and quote this scripture, allow me to explain one sidenote. A few weeks ago I published a post about getting your books out into the world. It's a long, slow process, almost as time consuming and difficult as writing the book itself. You see, writers think of their books as their babies. Trust me, I feel like I've been in a very long labor trying to birth my novels out into the world. They're in the oven, all grown and incubated, I've just been waiting for them to come out. With that in mind, here is what the scripture said.

Sing, barren woman, who has never had a baby.
Fill the air with song, you who've never experienced childbirth!
You're ending up with far more children
than all those childbearing women." God says so!
"Clear lots of ground for your tents!
Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big!
Use plenty of rope,
drive the tent pegs deep.
You're going to need lots of elbow room
for your growing family.
You're going to take over whole nations;
you're going to resettle abandoned cities.
Don't be afraid—you're not going to be embarrassed.
Don't hold back—you're not going to come up short.

Pretty cool, huh? So I declare this word over my books and my ministry today. Please keep me in your prayers this week as I pitch them at conference.

Personality Types - Writing Class Series Bonus Lesson

I’ve enjoyed this writing class series so much, that I think I’ll do a few bonus lessons based on extra discussions we had during the live class.

One of my favorite things we ended up talking about in detail was a personality indicator used by psychologists called the Meyers Briggs assessment. I love this test for a number of reasons. In general, personality tests help us better understand ourselves and our unusual little quirks. They also help us to understand that each of our brains are wired in an individual way through genetics and upbringing. They assist us in understanding others who have vastly different personalities than our own. As writers, these tests help us to write consistent characters with distinct personalities and clear motivations.

I prefer the Myers Briggs test because it breaks down to sixteen different personality types and is more targeted and specific than any other test I have found. Another reason I prefer it, is because it is well known and you can find a number of excellent websites and books that talk in detail about these personality types. You can easily look up what a person with an ENTJ personality would choose as a job, or how they deal with relationships. This is particularly helpful to writers creating characters.

My new contemporary novel is a sisterhood type of book with three main female characters. These three women needed to have enough in common to be drawn to one another, yet still have distinct personalities. So I chose a Myers Briggs type for each of them and used that to help with their characterizations.When I wanted to know what would be a good career for one of my girls, I could easily look it up online. When I wanted to know what type of man would be a good match for them or how they would respond to stress, I could look it up. Pretty cool, huh.

The Myers Briggs assesses four aspects of human characteristics. Keep in mind that everyone has all of these traits, and it's good to be balanced, but that we all lean more heavily towards one or the other.

Introvert vs. Extrovert – This has to do with how you are energized. It is not about how shy or social you are. An extrovert is energized by the outward world of people and things. An introvert is energized by their inner world. An extrovert is always up for a party and comes home excited and full of energy. An introvert may enjoy the party, may even be the life of the party while there, but will be exhausted by the end and need to go home and regroup. Extroverts need to process things with others. Introverts need to process things alone. Extroverts quickly grow lonely and have a stronger need for others. Introverts are content with their own company.

Sensory vs. INtuitive – This has to do with what you pay attention to. Sensors focus on the five senses and on facts. Intuits focus on what might be called a sixth sense. Sensors are very aware of their surroundings whereas intuits might drift off into their own head. Sensors tend to seem more grounded in realism than intuits. Sensors deal with basic information and intuits tend to take in information, but interpret and add their own meaning to it.

Thinkers vs. Feelers – This has to do with how you make decisions. A thinker takes into consideration logic and reason only. A feeler takes into consideration people and their emotions. Feelers incorporate values and subjective judgments into their decisions. If you change how a thinker thinks about a subject, their feelings will naturally follow. If you change how a feeler feels about a subject, their thoughts will naturally follow. I have found you can best tell your preference in this category by asking yourself, “If logic and feeling are in opposition to each other, which would I regret not following?”

Judgmental vs. Perceptual – This has to do with how you live and work. A judger prefers to be planned and organized. A perceiver prefers to be spontaneous and flexible. Judges are strict on themselves about keeping commitments and following rules. Perceivers view commitments as something they will probably do and view rules as suggested guidelines. Judgers tend to be on time and be early for deadlines. Perceivers tend to be late and procrastinate. Judgers like to know where they are going and how to get there. Perceivers like to go with the flow and respond to where life might take them.

By choosing the four letters, you find the personality of your character. For example, I am an INFJ (which is both the rarest personality type in normal people and the most common personality type in novelists by the way). You can go online and find career advice, relationship advice, strengths and weaknesses, etc…for this personality type by looking up these four letters. Different books and websites have varying views, so I recommend you look at several. This website as a good place to start. It is full of exhaustive information. Be sure to scroll over the little icons for the links and also to look at the bottom of each page for sublinks. http://www.personalitypage.com/html/info.html

If you would like to take the Myers Briggs test for free, here is a good version http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

We also discussed how these personality types affect you as a writer. Let's start with a very natural writer type, mine, the INFJ.

If you are an "E" for extrovert rather than an "I" for introvert, you may find that you write better as part of a team. You may need to go somewhere around people like a cafe or bookstore in order to write. And you will certainly need to join writers groups and be a part of a community. You would probably enjoy writing that involves meeting and interviewing people. Most writers are introverts, since it is primarily a solitarty activity. But introverts, be careful not to become a recluse. Writers need the emotional support of other writers.

If you are an "S" for sensor rather than an "N" for intuit and you want to be a writer then I'm not sure what to tell you. It's not that an "S" can't write, it's just that they usually don't view writing as a practical enough pursuit. If you desire to write, then you must be fairly balanced between the "S" and the "N." I would also guess that you are an introvert, because something must be drawing you to the inner world of writing. You will probably view writing as a craft. I'm guessing that reporting or fictional mysteries would appeal to you because of the sensory aspects. You may find that you enjoy writing teaching manuals or how-to type material because of its practical application. And you might make an excellent editor because of your attention to detail. Intuits will likely have good instincts for writing and also good instincts. They will enjoy the imaginary aspect of writing.

The "T" for thinker can also be a good writer, but they will probably focus more on facts and research than the "F" who might like to be more creative. The "T" might enjoy writing nonfiction or fiction that requires extensive research, and they will probably rely more heavily on formulas and structure in their writing because those aspects focus more on logic. If you are a feeler, don't get so creative that you forget to keep your facts straight.

Finally, if you are a "P" for pereciver rather than a "J" for judger, then you can still be an excellent writer, you just might not ever finish a book. If you do, you will need a publisher who is lenient on deadlines. You will probably be a "seat of the pants" writer, rather than a plotter. But, remember that it's important to examine your "organic" plot structure and make sure it's strong after you've finished your book. By the way, if you are a judger, be careful not to become too focused on the rules or too locked into your plot. This is probably an area that the judgers can learn a lesson from the perceivers. Just don't slack off on meeting those deadlines :)