Love, Passion, and Laurie Alice Eakes

I recently finished Lady in the Mist by Laurie Alice Eakes, and I imagine if you google it, you can find lots of reviews online. You can even find a great interview with her hero on Roseanna White’s blog, which I highly recommend.

So, instead of offering just a typical review, I wanted to share some of the thoughts this book stirred for me concerning love, passion, and romance. Let me begin by saying, it definitely gets five stars on the romance chart. The hero is so roguish and charming, he had my heart-racing throughout the book. I dare say I fell in love with Dominick right alongside Tabitha.

I adored the depth of passion between the hero and heroine as well. As I mentioned in several of my shorter online reviews, often when I read Christian romance, I can’t figure out what in the heck the authors are even writing about. I don’t see those can’t eat, can’t sleep, if you walk out that door right now I might just shrivel up and die sort of moments that I relate with the human experience of falling in love. I see two people slowly, gradually moving toward one another, but at the same time, all too easily talking themselves out of the attraction. Which leaves me to ask:

What planet do these people live on???

Now let me be fair, sometimes in a long standing friendship, especially one beginning in childhood, these feelings can come softly. But in general, in my experience, they hit much more like a freight train, or better yet, a steam roller. I don’t know, maybe it’s one of those wiring personality issues. Maybe "thinkers" feel the emotions, but ultimately their thoughts win out. But, I’m not a thinker. I’m a feeler. So even if I thought a guy was wrong for me, even though I might have managed to physically stay away from him, my heart would be killing me. My fingers screaming to graze his cheek. My eyes darting to catch a heated gaze. My lips tingling at the sound of his voice. Yes, the word passion in my tagline is not a typo.

I sensed this sort of passion between Tabitha and Dominick in Lady of the Mist, and was so happy to find it there. We need this sort of realism in Christian fiction. But, of course, as all good Christians who attended Sunday School know, we shouldn’t be guided by our passions. In fact, in my first novel, the hero who represents uncontrolled passion and desire turns out to be devastating for my heroine. With God’s help she is able to escape him and eventually make her way back to the man she’s destined to marry. So why did this passion and desire work so well in Laurie Alice’s book and not in mine.

The situation was entirely different. Tabitha and Dominick were both at a place in their lives where they had given up on God. (no, I’m not taking an easy cop-out here, stick with me for a minute.) They had both hardened their hearts to God for their own reasons and were trying to earn their salvation, a feat no one can attain. In this book, they wanted to harden their hearts to each other just like they had hardened their hearts to God. In fact, Tabitha didn’t want to trust Dominick, just like she didn’t want to trust God. So in their case, opening their hearts to one another actually helped them to soften their hearts to God. They had to trust their feelings and take a step of faith. They had to let go of old hurts and preconceptions in order for their romance to blossom. Not only had God ordained this relationship, he used them to promote healing in each other's lives. (I don’t need a spoiler alert here, right? We all knew from chapter one that they were going to get together. This is a romance novel.)

God gave us marriage, and yes, I’ll say it, sex, as a beautiful physical portrait of the spiritual intimacy he desires to have with us. So do I believe passion and romance belong in a Christian novel? Absolutely. As long as the author is clear to show how God is working through this romance, I believe it offers the best sort of message possible. And Laurie Alice Eakes, skilled author that she is, used it in just this way.

We all need to have that can’t eat, can’t sleep, if you walk out that door I might just shrivel up and die kind of love for our heavenly father. We should long for his touch, seek his gaze, tingle at the sound of his voice. And romantic fiction creates an interesting avenue to express this powerful truth.

Fiction that Cuts Deep

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A few weeks ago one of my writing buddies made a shocking confession. “I want to write fiction that hurts people,” she said. “I just realized this about myself. Ultimately, I want it to get in there and break open wounds and clean them out so they can heal, but I think I also want to hurt people in the process. That's a problem.”

Yes, that is a problem. Just try selling that book. We do want our fiction to cut deep, but in a targeted sort of way. We need to use anesthesia (i.e. entertainment value), precise surgical tools (i.e. excellent writing technique), and don’t forget the pain meds (i.e. positive spiritual takeaway.)

The point can’t be to wound. The point must be to heal.

That being said, I crave fiction that cuts deep. I just finished Embrace Me by Lisa Samson. The book shattered me in the best sort of way. Yes, it hurt, and I loved it. No, I’m not a masochist, quite the opposite. But, I adore a book that gets in there and does surgery in my heart. That changes me and helps me grow. Here’s the blurb for Embrace Me:

When a "lizard woman," a self-mutilating preacher, a tattoed monk, and a sleazy lobbyist find themselves in the same North Carolina town one winter, their lives are edging precariously close to disaster . . . and improbably close to grace.

How could a book like that fail to touch you? It is described on amazon.com as, “Biting and gentle, hard-edged and hopeful . . . a beautiful fable of love and power, hiding and seeking, woundedness and redemption.” Lisa Samson is “An Artisan of Hope,” and in my opinion, a writer of the highest caliber. Dare I say, a literary author?

Lately I’ve been trying to figure out exactly what “literary fiction” is. Some say it excels in artistry and use of literary devices. Some say it focuses on character and theme more than plot. Some say it seeks to enrich more than entertain. On the other hand, some say it asks questions without answering them, or it’s depressing, or worst of all, that it’s written by pretentious snobs who think they’re too good for popular fiction. Given such a vast array of definitions, here’s my take.

Literary fiction: a rather useless term used by some as a compliment and others as an insult.

I’ve been called…or accused of being …a literary writer. And that’s not surprising since I’ve taught literature. I do give attention artistry and literary devices. I do tend to focus on theme more than plot and enriching more than entertaining. But most importantly, I want to write stories that change lives.

Call them whatever you want.

Fiction that cuts deep and changes lives can come in all sorts of packages. Readers have come to expect it in literary writing and angsty women’s fiction. But I’ve also found it in the romance novels of Ruth Axtel Morren. I’ve found it in the demented thrillers of Steven James, and the hysterical chick lit of Siri Mitchell.

Changing lives is what truly matters. Add in some artistic elements, as the above authors most certainly do, and you might just get the compliment…or insult…of being called a literary author. I’m not going to concern myself with the label anymore.

Ideally, quality Christian fiction should both entertain and enrich. That’s my goal. I want my writing to attract readers interest and then seep down in their hearts to change them in some small...or big...way. Most importantly, I want my writing to advance God’s kingdom on earth.

What is your definition for quality fiction? What do you look for in a novel? What does it take for a book to truly move you?

 

A Time to Dance

Did you ever get just the right novel at just the right time? God seems to work that way a lot with me. This fall my husband went on a trip to Nashville and brought me a book for my “souvenir.” He figured with a name like A Time to Dance it would be a sure hit. I wasn’t quite convinced I would enjoy a Karen Kingsbury novel, but I kept that little tidbit to myself. I did, in fact, love the title as well. So into my TBR stack it went, and I promised myself I would get to it soon.

Once I finished my stint with reading sisterhood novels for my own research, I pulled out the Karen Kingsbury book. As some of you know, I have been going through some really tough times in my marriage, and around that precise moment I was closer to giving up than ever before.

So can you guess what A Time to Dance is about?

I’ll give you the brief rundown. After over twenty years of marriage, Abby and John are about to announce their impending divorce to their children. They’ve tried everything and have nothing left to give. But at the family meeting before they can share the news, their twenty-year-old daughter has her own surprise announcement to make. She’s engaged and getting married in the summer. Being the dedicated Christian parents that they are, Abby and John decide they will somehow figure out a way to paste on fake smiles and make it through six more months so their daughter’s day can be perfect.

The book is all about marriages. How do they fall apart? What makes them work? What happens when they end? Abby and John are surrounded by a lively cast of secondary characters who each reflect this issue in some way. And, as I’m sure you figured out by now, this novel touched me in a significant way. I can’t promise that you will respond to it as strongly, but I think anyone will find elements in this book to change them and help them grow.

Whether you have let yourself get caught up in the busyness of life and grow hard-hearted like Abby, escaped into an relaxing relationship with a supportive and flirtatious “buddy” like John, have given up on marriage like their future in-laws, or are looking forward to a perfect marriage like their daughter, no doubt you will find someone in this book to relate to.

I related most to John. Although he never had an affair, over time his escapism with his “buddy” Charlene Denton did serious damage to his marriage. The other woman in the book, Charlene, was quite a character indeed with her subtle and patient seduction of John. She will serve as a cautionary tale for me for a long time. But John played along all too easily and contributed in his own way.

Ultimately, the most important thing I learned from the book was this: it takes two people to destroy a marriage and two people to repair one. This novel encouraged me to do something God had asked me to do several weeks earlier, and that I had been wrestling with him over.

To take a leap of faith hand in hand with my husband.

So in a bold and unified move, my husband let go of some of his hurts and fears, and I let go of some of mine. We’re taking a leap of faith. I don’t know the end of the story, but I can tell you that things turned out well for Abby and John, and I’m hopeful that they’ll turn out well for us.

This book was originally written ten years ago, but has recently been rereleased, just in time for me. What books have come to you just in time? What fiction books have changed your life? What messages have touched you?