Fun Fact

I'll keep today's post short and sweet, but I wanted to share a fun fact. For my new novel, Love in Three-Quarter Time, I chose one of last year's Bachelorette contestants to play the role of my enigmatic circuit riding preaher named Lorimer. This is the guy, selected for his red-gold hair, bulging bi-ceps, and rugged good looks.

Well, here's where it gets fun. This real life guy, Sean Lowe, is now this season's official "Bachelor." Yes, 26 beautiful bachelorettes are now fighting it out for his affections. To add to the fun, he's the most spiritual contestant I've ever seen on the show and just an all-around good guy, which adds to the Lorimer vibe.

Obviously the producers agree with me that he would make the perfect lead for a romance, but beyond that, in episode 2, they actually had him posing with the girls for the covers of Harlequin romance novels. That last one obviously doesn't fit my preacher idea at all. LOL. For the full episode, check it out here: http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-bachelor/episode-guide/episode-1702

So I guess I'll have to share my leading man.

But he's not my leading man, you argue. He's just a part of my ill-fated love triangle. Well, enter book 2, Love in Perfect Pitch. Yes, hopefully before long Lorimer (a.k.a. Sean) will get his own book. Just don't get too confused if you watch the show, because while Sean has the perfect face, Lorimer certainly has his own quirks and personality.

Spacious Living in an Expansive God Part II

Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!  II Corinthians 6:11-13 (The Message)

Now . . . I don’t want to say God is tricky. Rather, I will say that He is infinitely wise and able to get His message across — even when we don’t want to hear it.

Last month I started this series about II Corinthians 6:11-13. I was so excited. The idea of big, wide open spaces. Freedom like I’ve never known before.  I shared how I’ve felt trapped in my life, in my church and even in my marriage. About how, often, I’d been bound by religiosity, legalism and a list of expectations that God never placed upon me. That sometimes I was even trapped by wrong thinking. I think we all want to be set free from those sorts of prisons.

But as I considered the word spacious further, God began to take me to places that I hadn’t expected. This word is most often used in The Message version of the Bible, which I love. It never fails to breathe new life into the scriptures for me. However, because it’s paraphrased, I find it’s important to use other translations as well. Here’s what I discovered as I pushed my study of the meaning of spacious deeper.

Romans 5:5-8 uses the word spacious. However, it’s also calling us to give up our desires; To live by the spirit. It involves a lot of dying to self. Second Corinthians 5:5-8 includes the word spacious as well. But it seems to be talking about eternity more than earth. There is an inference that the cramped feeling on earth is not so unusual. The way to escape it is by dwelling in the spiritual kingdom and living by faith not by sight.

Hmm . . . this is harder than I anticipated. There’s a lot of work involved. Oh, but it gets more challenging still.

As I delved into the scripture above in Second Corinthians 5:5-8, I discovered that Paul was actually talking about not withholding love and affection, about pouring ourselves out for others. To me this means not putting walls around our hearts. And why do we put up walls? Usually it’s because of past wounds. The walls might involve bitterness and unforgiveness. But they might just be walls created by pain and lack of trust. Not so evil, right? An unwillingness to try again because of the risk of the hurt being repeated. There is a proper time and place for boundaries. However, that unwillingness to trust might be caused by fear. If so, it’s not so innocent after all.

It seems the smallness I’ve been feeling does indeed come from within me. I’ve built walls to protect my heart, and in doing so, I’ve built a prison around myself. I’m scared. I don’t want to risk being wounded again.

No one ever said this Christian walk was easy. I guess right now, God is asking me to tear down walls and take some risks. I don’t know how it’s going to work out. My job is simply to follow His leading and trust Him to see me through, some way, somehow, to good end.

God, give us courage to tear down the walls we’ve built around our hearts. In the end, they only keep us bound. Help us to trust You to be our defender and deliverer rather than seeking our own self-preservation. Guard our hearts, Lord. We place them in Your capable, almighty hands.

Step Up to Excellence!

Do you want to move your novel writing to the next level? Are you tired of receiving form rejections from agents and editors? Do you wish someone would just tell you what to fix? Then "Step Up to Excellence" might be the editing service for you.

Or maybe you're an experienced author who needs a quality in-depth content edit before self-publishing. Step Up can provide that as well.

Writing a powerful novel is a delicate act requiring years of practice. There are many elements which must be perfectly balanced before your story can truly dance its way into your reader's heart. You must exercise and develop your fiction writing muscles and technique. But like a good dance coach, the right editor can streamline the process and help your writing to soar.

There are many types of editors out there, so be sure to find the correct one for you. I specialize in content editing novels intended for the inspirational market. For the past six years, I have studied this market and learned to write and edit novels for the Christian audience. Over the last three years, I've won two awards, published two novels, and taught classes at Christian writers conferences. In addition, I've worked as an acquistions editor for WhiteFire Publishing for two years. In this capacity, I've gained ample experience as a content editor. Finally, I'm an former college writing instructor with years of experience in encouraging students. You can see my detailed credentials and endorsements at the bottom of this link.

Content editors are sometimes called developmental editors, substantive editors, book doctors, or book coaches. The focus of this type of editing is on the story elements of the novel. In a content edit, I will not be fixing your sentence structure, grammar, or typos. That sort of edit is called a line edit. However, I might comment on recurring line editing issues in order to bring attention to an overriding problem that should be addressed throughout the manuscript. If you plan to hire a line editor or proofreader, this should be done after the content edit is complete and the manuscript is revised accordingly.

Given a scale of beginner, intermediate, advanced, and professional, my hope is to bring your manuscript up one level in one edit. For a professional level writer, the goal would be publication ready. Please understand that if this is your first novel, it might take several edits to get to a professional level. And it might take years before you possess the experience to completely apply my suggestions. Writing is a marathon, not a sprint. Once you've a achieved a professional level, it can still take a long time to find an agent and a publisher, especially if your story is difficult to market. While I don't want to discourage you, I do want to make sure we are entering this editing relationship with the same expectations. I desire to be a blessing, not a disappointment. Perhaps that doesn't make me the best sales woman on the block, but I want to feel good about what I'm offering you.

GREAT RATES!
Because I am launching a new editing business, I am currently offering some of the lowest rates on the market, but this will in no way affect the quality of my work. I offer two levels of editing packages to best fit your needs and budget. Other editing services are available and will be considered on a case by case basis. These prices are subject to change as "Step Up to Excellence" grows in popularity, so act now.

To schedule your editing services email me at dinasleiman at gmail dot com.

Click here and scroll down for rates as well as my full resume and endoresements.

New Favorite Novel Ever!!!

Usually I balk at the favorite question. What's your favorite song, color, book? Usually my answer is, it depends on my mood. But only one day after finishing it, I'm ready to declare James Rubart's Soul's Gate my favorite novel of all time.

In deciding if I was sure to make this bold declaration, I started mentally scrolling through some of my past favorite novels. Then of my favorites, I narrowed that list down to the truly life-changing ones that I bought multiple copies of and forced my friends and relatives to read: The Passion of Mary-Margaret, Arena, Embrace Me, Rooms, A Stray Drop of Blood, and Havah. Every one of these books was beautifully written and spiritually powerful. I highly recommend all of them. But as I considered Soul's Gate, I realized that it combined the best elements of each of these.

Like The Passion of Mary-Margaret, it illustrated an intimate relationship with God and characters willing to give everything for Christ. Like Arena, it offered an insightful glimpse into the spiritual realm and spiritual warfare. Like Embrace Me it cut through all the b.s. of religion and pierced straight to the true heart of Christianity. Like Rooms, it demonstrated the beauty of inner healing. Like A Stray Drop of Blood, it portrayed the amazing, overwhelming power available in the blood of Christ. And like Havah, it spoke to me right where I was at that moment and transformed my life. Oh sure, there are novels I love because they're beautiful or funny or touching, but these are the ones that have affecte me the most. And I can't ignore books like the old Frank Peritti novels or The Shack that impacted me as well, but I feel like Soul's Gate went to a new place for a new time.

As I mentioned, this book was exactly what I needed exactly when I needed it. While I loved Rooms, it mostly dealt with issues I'd already tackled and revelations I'd already received. Book of Days had more impact on me, but this novel went far beyond. I so needed this infusion of faith and power in my life right now. This reminder that the spirit world is more real than the illusory one all around me that presses on my senses day in and day out. And I needed to have my fighting spirit revived. Another wonderful aspect of this book, which I've never found in a novel before, was the direct link between quantum physics, faith, and the spiritual realm. I'm a closet physics geek, so this delighted me to no end.

My husband is halfway through the book as I'm writing this, and I sent a gift copy to my mom. No doubt, I'll soon be buying lots of extra copies and wrangling all my loved ones into reading it. I not only highly recommend this book, I'd say it's a must read for every Christian. I'm sure I will read this one again and again. No matter where you are in your walk with the Lord, I think you'll find something in this book to minister to you. And even for non-Christians, I can't help but think you'd enjoy this peek at what Christianity was truly meant to be.

The novel challenges you to believe what the Bible really says and to tap into the supernatural power available in the Holy Spirit. The author says in the back that his main purpose for the book was to demonstrate freedom in Christ, but there was no way to get there without looking at spiritual warfare as well. From healing, to prophecy and vision, to being transported in the spirit and invisibilty cloaks, this book takes a look at a sort of Christianity few truly believe in. A sort of Christianity that I remember longing for once upon a time with childlike faith. For the sake of the story, it also examines the possibility of going into the souls of others to fight for their freedom. While the author admits that this is probably not precisely true, it does seem to be in many ways a very accurate portrayal of a spiritual reality.

I can't finish this review without mentioning that James Rubart also ranks among my favorite people that I've ever met. It would be hard to imagine anyone else writing this amazing book. He is one of the truest believers and most inspiring people I've ever had the pleasure of spending time with. Everything about him radiates the love of Christ. And may I add, I'm so excited that he has now quit his day job to write for us all full time :)

I sincerely hope and pray this book will be a huge hit and a best-seller! Soul's Gate is the first in a series, and I'll be sure pre-order the sequels just as soon as possible.