A Different Kind of Love Story

Dandelion Dering played by Taylor?

There are romances, and there are love stories. For instance Nicholas Sparks books could be called love stories, but they fall far outside of the parameters of romance, sometimes even ending sadly.

And I have decided that for me as an author, romances are a bit stifling.

Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy and girl face obstacles in getting together. Boy and girl live happily ever after. That’s the basic romance novel in a nutshell. For a true romance, if you remove the romantic thread, there’s no plot left. And the story should be told from the hero and heroines third person points of view.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I adore romance. For me, no book is complete without it. I even love a happy ending. But personally, I enjoy a few more twists and turns along the journey.

When I penned my debut novel, I wanted it to be a love story, but I wanted to go a different route in how I explored the topic of love. The first thing that came to mind was a Eugene O’Neil play I had read in high school. In it, the heroine lost her true love in one of the World Wars. She spends the rest of the play searching for a man who can take his place—but instead finds only men who fulfill aspects of that longing. This gave me an idea. What if my heroine turned her back on true love because of a childhood wound? She could spend the rest of the story searching for love. She would find men who represented aspects of love, but never quite the real thing.

The next thought that came to my mind was a nonfiction book I’d read by Dr. Ed Wheat called Love Life for Every Married Couple. The book lists the different Biblical words for love and explains each one. What if I were to combine this idea with the Eugene O’Neil play? My heroine could meet men that fulfill certain Biblical definitions of love, but never that true God-like agape love.

So in my novel, Dance of the Dandelion, my peasant heroine does indeed turn away from true love because of her childhood trauma of enduring a famine. This launches her on a journey of discovery. She goes through a series of men against an exciting backdrop of the medieval pageantry and adventure on the high seas. Gottfried, the stoic knight, fulfills her need for safety and belonging. Richard, the charming castle steward, meets her longing for romance and fun. Giovanni, the kind Italian merchant, provides her with friendship and companionship. Finally she meets Lucio, the sexy sea captain, who represents passion and desire, but each relationship lacks some important element and leaves her unfulfilled.

As you might have guessed, it is only when Dandelion finds God’s true love that she is set free to find earthly love as well. But the story doesn’t end there. Dandelion still has challenges and difficult choices to face.

So, I guess the verdict is in. I write happy-ending romantic love stories of the non-romance variety. Did that make any sense? To hardcore romance readers who approach a book with a very specific set of expectations it does. And yet I think any romance readers will love my novel.

Here's what a few of your favorite authors have to say (humor me for a minute, I just got two of these recently and have to share them somewhere.)

"Dina Sleiman is a beautiful writer. Romantic and gritty, Dance of the Dandelion takes readers on an epic journey of human failings, self discovery, and second chances. Through it all God’s love and forgiveness shines through."
--Julie Klassen, Bestselling Author

"This medieval romp of a book reads like a dance! Full of unexpected twists and turns, it displays the folly or joy of our choices and the God who enables us to find true freedom in Him. Dandelion Dering is a heroine you won't soon forget!”
--Laura Frantz

"A magical medieval tale of whim and whimsy, the Dance of the Dandelion is one woman's journey to both true love and the truth, spinning a spell that will hold you captive from the first page to the last. Strongly recommended for mature audiences, this is a novel--and an author--not to be missed, and an emotional and spiritual journey that will leave you breathless."

 --Julie Lessman

Dance of the Dandelion is now available. See links in the sidebar.

Which do you prefer, a romance novel or a love story? Why? What is your definition of a romance?

How to Write the Unmarketable Novel

(As first seen on Novel Rocket)

Not a good plan, huh? Any writer with an ounce of sense will choose to write a novel that fits the marketplace. A book that will have editors clamoring after it.

Unless, of course, said novelist has no idea about the market. Say, for example, said novelist has been a stay at home mom for the last twelve years and decides to try her hand at writing that book she always dreamed of. She has no idea what the market wants. Heck, she’s not even sure she’ll finish the novel.

What she does know is that she needs to write something that excites her. Something that she would want to read. Something that will keep her typing in the middle of homeschooling and running kids to a never ending list of extra-curricular activities.

For me, it was a love story set in the middle ages. Of course I adore the world of knights, jousts, and pageants, but much more drew me to the 1300s. In that time period I saw a deep and authentic spirituality in the medieval saints that I felt would truly speak to a contemporary audience. I saw a time before our current denominational schisms and Christianese dialect where I might explore faith through new eyes. There I could set my story of finding freedom, healing, and the true meaning of love. 

Strike one!

I had no idea that Christian publishers weren’t looking for anything set in the medieval period. That in fact, most agents would turn down the project after one paragraph of my cover letter based on setting alone.

And I thought it would be great to write the book in first person. I love first person novels. They’re so intimate, and I figured it would help me get into the head of that fascinating heroine I planned to create. 

Strike two!

How was I supposed to know that the present trend in point of view runs toward a multiple limited third person perspective? I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a trend in point of view. Let’s face it, I probably would have needed to pull out my graduate creative writing texts to even remember what it meant.

Most importantly, I wanted to write a realistic novel with a fallen heroine who struggled with selfishness, sin, and sexual temptation—but that still contained a powerful spiritual message. Because, after all, that’s the book I wanted to read and almost never found.

You guessed it…Strike three!

 Okay, I’ll confess I had a clue this one might be a problem based on the fact that very few of these books seemed to be available. I knew my novel would probably be too Christian for the secular market and too edgy for the Christian market. Eventually the spiritual elements took on a life of their own, and I realized I had no choice but to hope for the best in Christian publishing.

So that, my friends, is how to write the perfect unmarketable, edgy Christian, first-person, medieval novel that nobody wants to buy. But there’s an upside.

The upside is, if you do indeed want to sell this book, you can’t settle for decent. You have to work and edit and revise for years until the book is capable of overcoming all those strikes. Until people say things like, “my all time favorite book,” compare you to Geraldine Brooks or Francine Rivers, and call your writing “light rippling across water."

If, and only if, you keep working and learning and developing your novel, you just might find a company like WhiteFire crazy enough to publish it. After all, it only takes one yes. And that company might be awesome. And let you use your daughter for the cover model. And even keep your steamiest scene because they understand you’re using it to make an important spiritual point.

The journey to publishing my debut novel, Dance of the Dandelion, was not an easy one. But you know what, looking back, I can’t say I’d change a thing.