Kellyn Roth's Blog: Kellyn Roth, Author, page 9
March 8, 2023
Villainizing Romance & Other Dumb Things Christians Do
A bold title, ain’t it? I hoped it would attract your attention, and I hope the post that follows is worthy of your attention. If it isn’t, well, what can I say? I am only human, and though I have put much thought and many words into this article, perhaps it will still fall flat for some.
That said, I do have something to say, and I will say it with as much boldness as I can muster:
I don’t like how Christians discuss romance in fiction.
Specifically, in Christian fiction, but this applies more broadly to all fictional works as well.
My thesis is simple: we have become a culture, in Christianity, that either glories romantic relationships in and outside of fiction to an unhealthy extreme, focusing in on marriage-seeking couples as the ideal of God-serving people …
Or we have tossed out romance completely in an unhealthy and downright impossible way that leads to nothing but frustration, cruelty, and perhaps even sin.
If you thought my title was meant to incite the rabble, well, here I am making my introduction even worse! But I don’t mean to incite the rabble—mostly because I am the rabble, and I am too lazy to be incited.
That said, maybe you can think along with me and wonder if, perhaps, there’s something silly about the way Christians approach romance in fiction (& in general, though that is far too big a subject for this post).
The Christian Culture Toward RomanceThere are two types of Christian cultures when it comes toward romance, and they are equally bad. The first is easy to diagnose—an obsession with romantic relationships that may be best summed up by that elderly woman from your church who is constantly asking if you have a boyfriend and recommending her nephew as a potential option when you say “no.”
Okay, maybe that’s a bit unfair, but there is certainly a subset (even a fairly large subset) within Christian culture that prioritizing getting those rings glued on tight ASAP as a must for all men and women, but especially women, everywhere.
And romance just seems to confirm that.
Now, though I disagree with the concept that the secular patriarchy is responsible for promoting the importance of marriage within the Church, this is one area where I’d give a nod to today’s culture—and the culture of romanticism in general.
Romantic love and therefore marriage is the end-all, be-all. For both men and women, whether you see if that way or not. Women who don’t seek marriage become old maids, bitter and resentful and in possession of far too many cats (as if there’s such a thing). Men who don’t seek marriage are also bitter, but in a uniquely “I’m scarred by my past and can’t open myself to love” way (because believe it or not, women are writing this narrative, and women are more sympathetic to men than to themselves!).
The church has fed into this, prioritizing romance and marriage over all other relationships, callings, states of being … whatever you want to call it, it has become ingrained into Christian culture (in Protestantism, at least) that you should marry, soon, and raise a healthy batch of pretty babies.
Now, I love that, actually, to a certain degree. I married pretty young, am pleased with my church, and desperately want a large family. But that’s me—and when I talk about me, I never mean it to apply to anyone but me. There are many, many Christian men and women who will never marry or who perhaps shouldn’t marry. The command was not that we should all marry, but that we should do it if we can’t help it (1 Corinthians 7:2; 7:9).
Look. Marriage is beautiful. It is the only relationship that is a truly perfect representation of Christ’s relationship with and love for the Church. That said, is it the end-all, be-all? No.
And Christian romance should reflect this in being both taking the relationship with the weight it deserves and in showing that it is not the sum total of the characters’ lives and in particular, their relationship with God.
The Christian Culture Against RomanceAnd the alternative, proponed largely by progressive groups, single women, or people from all groups who are fed up with the silliness of most romance novels (which would technically include me—I just arrived at a different conclusion) …
Romance is BAD.
Now, I feel like there are two subsets of the “romance is BAD” group.
1: There is too much romance in fiction, and
2: Romance is just bad.
I’ll address the latter first:
Part 1 of Anti-Romance: Romance is BadThat’s silly.
Don’t be that way.
God created romance and romantic love and sexual intimacy is a part of that, too, so stop it. *sprays you with a water bottle*
Okay, that was way too condescending for me to just leave it. I’m not that way—try as I might, it does not sit right with me to disregard a whole sector of my audience that way even if I disagree with them.
The first thing I’d say to the “romance is bad” (or mostly bad) is this: Romance is a Relationship, Not a Genre. That blog post lays out a lot of great points (written by Grace A. Johnson) which I deeply appreciate.
The second is … Well, let’s actually take a moment to come to the root of the majority of the “romance is bad” arguments I’ve seen, and it’s this: romantic fiction shouldn’t be consumed unless you are in a romantic relationship because it tempts the reader to longing for romance. And, uh, other … temptations.
Okay, fair enough. Let’s take these points on a bit at a time.
The Longing for RomanceFirst, the longing for romance. Okay, why not?
If you were not meant to long for romance, and if you are a Bible-reading, pray-without-ceasing, God-serving reader, you should be able to discern that even while reading romance. So instead of blaming the genre—or anything—for your sin, blame yourself and deepen your relationship with God.
Granted, this may mean removing romance novels from your TBR list for a while, but they are not the problem. You are the problem. Be accountable for your actions. I promise you, the sin was always there—the romance novel may just have brought to light what already existed within you.
And really, doesn’t that make the romance novel a tool?
It is also important to call yourself to discernment rather than throwing every book under the bus. Use all fiction you consume to sharpen your skills of discernment rather than requiring that every novel you read is inoffensive and trivial.
Further, this argument ignores all the good effects romance novels can have. In my personal life, I’ve seen again and again how romance can show us a true vision of God’s love for humanity as well as our need for companionship.
Let’s move on to the second point.
The Temptation to SinUsually this is sexual in nature, as people will argue that romance novels are basically a soft intro into pornography or something of that nature.
As someone with a history of “other temptations,” I fully understand the depth of “temptations,” and I think the influence of Christian romance on temptations is very overstated. In fact, it’s borderline nonsense, if we’re talking about quality Christian fiction novels written by strong Christians. Which is 90% of what I’ve read, regardless of what people may say about the inherent goodness (or lack thereof) of this subgenre. (Maybe I’m just pickier about what I actually read than y’all.)
Why? Because from the beginning of my reading of them, Christian romance has saved me from “temptations” by turning me back toward reality, Christian relationships, and most importantly, God. It continues to do this for me daily by helping me acknowledge and turn away from my own continued temptations (as these do not stop in marriage because nothing but God can heal a sin—especially not a human relationship).
Here’s another point in this variation of the argument. I’ve seen the verse from Song of Solomon, “Do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases,” used to justify not showing young women romantic works until they are married.
To me, this seems a stretch of an interpretation of a largely sexual verse set within a largely sexual work. (Just to clarify, I disagree wholeheartedly with the interpretation that Song of Solomon is largely figurative or that the poetry is not inherently sexual or that it’s just about God’s love for the church. Sure, it has elements thereof, but when studied with an open mind and an understanding of the era’s poetry, it reveals that is also about the beauty of married love and in particular, sexual love within marriage.)
But let’s separate ourselves from the verse and the Bible and focus in on the thought process behind this. The question posed is, “Does reading romance novels cause young women to have their sexual or even simply romance-related thoughts be awakened too early?”
Yes and no.
Here’s my take:
Worldly media does that to you, if you’re unaware of it. We are bombarded with worldly romantic and sexual messages that make romance seem like the end-all be-all, especially in the women-centric romantic fiction genre that prioritizes romance relationships about all else.
But you can again use discernment to see that and therefore protect yourself against it. One of my favorite memories as a young teen is watching Gilmore Girls with my mother and seeing the real-life (and yet fictional, lol) consequences of sexual immorality and even just emotional intimacy in unsure relationships. Oh, and what it means to be a commitment-phobe. Oh, and why … Okay, lots of lessons in that show.
That’s what discernment does, folks. It turns everything into a fun lesson!
But with Christian fiction? Eh. Once again, use discernment, but I feel like Christian fiction is doing a better and better job at differentiating itself from the modern take on romantic relationships and presenting a godly model. (There are notable exceptions.)
And guess what? We need godly models of romantic relationships. NEED them. And we need to stop demonizing romance simply for existing.
Personal storytime: I have known many Christian families who have doomed their children to misunderstanding romantic relationships and sexuality, to hiding all hints of romance and sex in their own lives from their parents, and to struggling for years to establish a healthy view of romance and sex if they ever did at all.
Leaving a girl’s heart empty of any knowledge of romance and sex will not make her desire the good, God-approved version.
It has to be fought for, looked for … LONGED for.
If there’s an emptiness there in the first place (some of us don’t have this, but some of us do—not all people are created equal, and not all people even care about romance and sex that much—really), it will be filled by something. It’s the choice of the parents and then, as time goes by, it should be the choice of the teenager and then adult, what goes in. Because “nothing” is not a legitimate answer.
It applies to other areas of life: you cannot remove a bad habit by just removing a bad habit; you must replace it with something healthy. You must take out the weeds and then plant the flowers, because if there’s dirt, it’s gonna have something in it.
So choose what kind of information you will fill your head with or allow your child’s head to be filled with. If you give no information, your child (or your brain) will probably make up their own—and guess what? Kids (and brains) are pretty evilly imaginative—and the more you hide something from them, the more they will make up what that something is.
Romance exists in this world. What you choose is how you view it.
Now, granted, you can’t save your child or yourself definitively. I’m a good example of someone who was given all the right tools and simply chose my own path for a number of years. That said, there is such a thing as giving them a good start.
But is all romance inherently evil or even inherently unhelpful? Does it all contain the potential for sin? Is there no such thing as helpful and edifying romance, regardless of who you are and what your background is? Certainly not.
With that out of the way, let’s discuss the alternative “romance is bad” conversation: there is too much romance!
The Solution to Too Much Romance? More Platonic Relationships!This one I have a hard time talking about because I feel like it’s much more nuanced. Because yes, the world is oversaturated with worldly romance.
But I’ll say it again for those in the back who might not have gotten my true point here:
The WORLD is oversaturated with WORLDLY romance.
So if you read primarily secular YA fantasy (which is fine! I’m not judging you; I’m just pointing out that it is going to contain some non-Christian elements!), yeah, you’re probably seeing a real problem. The world is obsessed with worldly romance. And why shouldn’t it be? It’s the world! (I will never stop being annoyed with Christians for expecting the world to be Christian. What Bible are you reading?)
As one of the few things that God created primarily for unselfish pleasure*, sexual love is an easy thing to pervert. So easy, in fact, that it takes a ton of effort to keep it pure and loving even in the strongest of Christian marriages.
*I feel like people are gonna come at me for this, but in truth, sexual love should be all about pleasing your husband or wife, not all about you. But obviously if both of you are Christians who want to have a successful marriage, and you should allow nothing else because otherwise your Christian marriage is gonna get good old-fashioned perverted, you should be mutually going about and beyond the call of duty to please each other. So basically, if you’re not getting as good as you give, put on (take off?*) your big girl pants and communicate like a grownup because it’s supposed to be mutually pleasurable. *shrug*
*I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist.
When divorced from Christianity and from marriage, all sexual and therefore all romantic love falls into unhealthy and evil patterns very quickly.
And almost any secular romance will reflect this in some way (though not all, because the ideas of godly romance are also a big fixture in our culture, and even secular creators can reference it).
Yet I disagree with the concept that there could ever be too much Christian romance. I don’t think we could ever write enough beautiful relationship featuring a man and a woman loving each other in a godly way.
That said, are there not enough stories in certain literary genres featuring platonic relationships? Sure.
So write them! And read those that are written! But you don’t have to diss romance in the process. And don’t close your mind off to it completely, either.
But before I go off this subject:
Are Platonic Relationships Equal to Romantic Relationships?This is a conversation subject I’ve heard often. “Romance are bad because they make romantic relationships seem like the only relationship or even the best relationship.” Yeah, I get that perspective. Yet I think there is a reason why we elevate romantic relationships in the way that we do.
The first part does have to do with sin. If sin can’t make us disregard romance, or pervert romance, it will make us elevate us to a status above our relationship with God. This is bad.
However, the other parts are actually healthy.
Healthy Reason #1: a romantic relationship was the first ever human relationship and the one God originally gifted to humanity when He first created humans. We value it, therefore, for obvious reasons. God didn’t make Adam a cool bro or a son or a mother. He made him a wife. (You could argue that was just for practicalities sake, because there are some things Adam and his Cool Bro could NOT do once the human race needed to, um, you know … expand … but still.)
Healthy Reason #2: romance is inherently different from a friendship. It’s important to note that God has compared His relationship with us to just about every type of relationship. However, marriage is the one that is inherently meant to be a picture of God’s love for and relationship with the church. It’s honestly a pretty perfect metaphor, or as close as one can get with sinful, imperfect humans.
Honestly, sometimes I can feel like the conversation easily disintegrate into “I just hate romance” with no qualifiers, and I don’t think that’s fair or what anyone truly means when they say that. Let’s talk about that for a bit.
What Do We Really “Hate” About Romance?I think there are some things we hate about romance that are bad and yet seem to be featured in every romance.
I could sit here and list trope after trope, plot point after plot point, and character after character, but it gets down to this:
A lot of romances, influenced by the world and divorced from God’s original intent, fall into worldly sins that make romance unbearable as a genre. Therefore, the solution is not to cast off romance, but to write better romance.
A Subgenre of the Discussion: Romance in Middle Grade and (Some) Young Adult FictionThis is one area where I think romance is unnecessary.
Why?
Because there is a certain age in our culture where romance is unnecessary. These audiences are largely comprised of populations who need to see romance* … but probably not have their own romances.
*In the sense of seeing healthy adults like their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, older cousins and siblings, family friends, their church, Bible stories, family films and books that include romance … there are so many options!
Further, a healthier relationship with platonic relationships is very needed in our culture. But if we had a healthy relationship with romance to begin with, it would be a lot easier to have a healthy relationship in all other areas.
Yet at a young age, in middle grade, it is best that kids are exposed to healthy relationships between adults—not hormone-fueled or nonsense-fueled relationships between children. And in the young adult genre, it’s very important that young adults see both healthy romance AND healthy friendships, because that is an important time for community-building and learning to relate to other humans in a platonic way.
So when I make this discussion, I am largely leaving those two genres out of it, which I think eliminates 90% of the people who are concerned with the amount of romance in fiction.
In Conclusion: Choose the Middle-GroundThere is rarely such thing as a healthy extreme. There never has been, nor will there ever be. God Himself shows this clearly by being the most dual-purpose Thing* in existence.
*If y’all think that’s disrespectful, well, maybe it is. But God is inherently multi-faceted while also being one, always and only GOOD, Being. He is also inherently steady, even, and gentle, even when He has no cause to be. His anger and judgments are slow but decisive, strong, and intense when they arrive. And we had best seek to emulate that in every way possible.
Honestly, if nothing else, we can stop with the finger-pointing and holier-than-thou attitude. Romance is not evil. Not reading romance doesn’t make you special or pure or cooler than the rest of us. Yet neither does enjoying romance give you an edge on others (unless others are completely walling themselves off from all romance like a good Puritan, in which case … you’re a little better than those people #sorrynotsorry) (and on the opposite end of the spectrum, not reading romance is better than the extreme of only reading romance or reading smut or finding yourself constantly tempted to sin by romance … any number of things).
Look. It’s okay to not like a certain plot or genre. But it’s not okay to dislike a certain kind of relationship that is God-ordained.
In conclusion, with 3,000 words in this article, I leave you with this: villainizing romance eventually comes down to shooting yourself in the foot in many cases. Not always, but many of us are created to desire romance and will someday have real-life experience with it.
Anyway, it’s up to you to not read romance if it’s not good for you or you don’t want to. I don’t like reading mysteries because I’m impatient. I don’t read a lot of Christian nonfiction because 90% of it causes more troubles in my weak lil’ mind than it fixes. I am not saying you should read romance. I’m not saying you should write it, engage with it, promote it.
I’m just saying you shouldn’t actively villainize it.
And honestly, some of the biggest “romance haters” (sort of) I know support this idea 100%. In fact, I’ve somehow garnered a large readership who read my books even though they hate romance, and I love all of these readers because:
It makes me laugh (I thought I was boring?? Plainly some of y’all don’t know how lame I am!)It proves that everyone gets to choose their favorite genres and yet sometimes will read out side of the genre like balanced humans.But also, I just really value non-romance readers reading my books because that means I did it right. 
Though maybe my readers are just dumb. That’s your call. (If you’re one of my readers, I’m sorry for calling you dumb. You did willingly read some of my writing, though. So what am I supposed to think?)
And that’s all I’ve got.
TTFN!
~Kell~
P.S.Well … give thoughts! I’m so curious about how this post will be received because somehow I know a lot of people who don’t like romance. (Honestly, a lot of them are dear friends who I deeply respect, too, but I think I’ve had this exact same conversation with 90% of y’all, so meh.) What are your thoughts on romance?
Are you interested in getting to know me & my books better?
I want to invite you to my super secret club. I mean, it’s not really a secret, because I’m telling you about it now, but here goes.
Join Mrs. Roth’s Society Column, my street team! We’d love to have you along for the ride!
March 1, 2023
The 2023 Alice & Ivy Read-Along
Hello everyone!
Simply put, let’s do a read-along.
(Or re-read-along, as the case may be! Both situations are welcome.)
ABOUT THE READ-ALONGI’m host a fun read-along running from March to September of 2023. We’ll read the first five books and Becoming Miss Knight (novella) in preparation for Like a Ship on the Sea releasing in September!
It’ll be simple, low-pressure, and you can choose your level of participation.
WHY SHOULD YOU DO IT?
Here’s the best part: there will be prizes, and they are NOT all dependent on finishing a certain number of books, et cetera. Yes, this is one of those things that essentially gives participation trophies.
However, there are some things that I will only be sending out to people that finish certain books & review them, because after all, this is kind of a big endeavor for me!
THE PRIZES
All people who follow me and wish to seek these things out will find publicly available:
Monthly lives on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube
All people who agree to participate in the challenge (regardless of whether they actually finish any books) will receive:
A few of the giveaways currently planned include:
However, I intend to post more giveaways and other special treats as time goes on. I just don’t want to plan that far ahead.
HOW TO SIGN UP:
That’s easy! Just fill out the form below:
Frequently Asked Questions & Answers:(which are frequently asked because I anticipate them, not because anyone has actually asked them)
IS THIS JUST FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T READ THE BOOKS YET?
No! Definitely not. Re-readers are more than welcome, and their reading will be counted the same as people reading it for the first time.
WHAT IF I DON’T OWN THE BOOKS?
I can provide you with a free ebook copy or … (see below about audiobooks).
DO I HAVE TO ATTEND ALL THE “EVENTS” TO WIN THE PRIZES?
NO! These are all entirely optional. You may decide to watch them/participate them at your discretion. The only thing that you have to do to win is READ (or listen—see below!) and in some cases, review.
DO AUDIOBOOKS COUNT?
Yes! In fact, if you want an audiobook copy of any of the above books, with the exception of Becoming Miss Knight, I can provide a code for a free Audible copy while they last.
WHAT IF I DON’T WANT TO JOIN THE SLACK GROUP?
I will send out monthly emails to anyone who wants to do the read-along without participating in the Slack group. However, I will tell you that you’ll be missing out!
WHAT IS THE SCHEDULE?
Roughly speaking:
March — The Dressmaker’s Secret
April — Ivy Introspective
May — Becoming Miss Knight
June — At Her Fingertips
July — Beyond Her Calling
August — A Prayer Unanswered
WHERE DO I DIRECT ANY QUESTIONS?
You can comment them below, email them to me (contact@kellynrothauthor.com), or direct them to the group once it is created.
HOW DO I SIGN UP?
Fill out this form any time before September!
TTFN!
~Kell~
P.S.What do you think? Does this sound like fun? Are you going to participate? Let me know in the comments!
Are you interested in getting to know me & my books better?
I want to invite you to my super secret club. I mean, it’s not really a secret, because I’m telling you about it now, but here goes.
Join Mrs. Roth’s Society Column, my street team! We’d love to have you along for the ride!
February 22, 2023
The Heart Behind Second-Chance Romance {Romance Trop Blog Collaboration}
Hello my friends! Today I’m joining a blog collaboration with Grace A. Johnson and R.M. Archer. Our goal is to share about certain romance tropes. You can read Grace’s post on enemies-to-lovers here and R.M.’s post on arranged marriages.
But now I get to say my piece, and I’m talking about something I don’t believe I’ve ever talked about on my blog before: the heart behind second-chance romance.
Let’s talk about it.
Much like how Pride & Prejudice seems to have inspired enemies-to-lovers (see my post about that here), Jane Austen’s Persuasion seems to be the origin of second-chance romance. It’s a trope that may go further back, as with P&P. In fact, there’s some scholarly debating over whether Much Ado About Nothing is a second-chance romance (which definitely makes my favorite Shakespeare play all the more interesting).
Regardless of where this trope originated and how long it’s been around, it’s no secret that there are dozens of romances—many of them with “second-chance” slipped into the title—available on booksellers everywhere. Specifically, this seems to be a common trope in the subgenres of bully romance (gross), secret baby romances (has to be handled very carefully), and older adult romances (which is cute & we need more of because romance doesn’t disappear at 25).
There are two books that can be loosely categorized as “second-chance romance.”
Persuasion-style, in which a character reunites with an old sweetheart and has a “second chance” at love with them.Books that have ANY “second” romance—so if the main character or characters experienced heartbreak in the past, some people will define it as “second chance.”In this post, we’re specifically focusing on Persuasion-style second-chance romance where the main characters are reuniting after a separation, but we will also cover the more “finding love again” variation of this which is such a common trope that it’s become less of a trope and more of a romance staple for any slightly-older characters.
Perhaps this has become less of a trope and more of a romance staple in some areas. A lot of the stories I was able to come up with that contained some portion of this trope but not all of it. Oftentimes hints of this trope at contained within a larger overarching story rather than being the entire plot.
Persuasion
Persuasion is the first book that comes to mind, and at first, it was the only QUALITY book that came to mind. However, notwithstanding, it is the Queen of this trope. No one has done this trope with the same seriousness, emotions, and functionality as Austen did way back in the early 1800s. Anne Elliot’s story is heart-wrenching, and we are able to see her both as a flawed person and as someone who desperately needs the love she missed out on. Further, on the reread, you see exactly what our dear captain was thinking and want all the more for them to end up together. Though this is far from my favorite Austen novel, I still appreciate the tropes as presented, and goodness, they are well done.
The Dressmaker’s Secret
My own book!
Granted, I don’t hit a lot of the tropes, but at its essence, for a non-romance book, that is essentially what the story is.
The reason I think this story doesn’t really feel like a second-chance romance (other than Alice being a narrator along with Claire) is that the focus was never, “Will they find love again?” It was, “Will they create a FAMILY?”
And to me, that’s more powerful. It’s not just giving in to uncontrollable emotions. I couldn’t care less about that (even though I may squeal a little when it happens in a favorite book or movie). It’s about choosing commitment, choosing what’s right, choosing each other. And I’ll talk about that more later, but isn’t that what second-chance romance ought to be?
A few other books in my genre that contain this trope include:
In Love’s Time and High as the Heavens by Kate BreslinShadows of Swanford Abbey by Julie KlassenThe Heart’s Charge by Karen WitemeyerFrom films, I’ll point you to:Downton Abbey (BBC drama series)
This is basically Mary and Matthew’s end-game story, and I love it. As you know if you’ve watched the show, their relationship is complicated but beautiful. It slowly draws you into the realization that they can ONLY be together, but some bad advice and both of their pride separates them when they were practically engaged (*squeals in protest*), and it continues to separate them until at last … at last!
This feels like it should be too frustrating to work, but it is so well done, and further, you really believe this couple belongs together. They are simply separated by their character flaws, by society, and by a lot of bad luck. At first, Matthew is Morally Superior—Mary is closed off to her own emotions and takes bad advice with a desire to conform to societal norms. Later on, various factors keep them apart, including other love interests, war, injuries and illness, and then again, their own pride.
Matthew’s Moral Superiority keeps on popping up, and I find it interesting that the first time he’s really like, “You know what, I love you anyway” is in response to Mary confessing she’s not so Morally Superior herself. You see that moment of struggle when she confesses a truth she had been hiding from him, including him asking for clarification (“Did you love him?”), but then even when she admits that there was no Moral Superiority whatsoever in her actions (“It was lust, Matthew!”), he says, “I never could despise you.” (Also, a moment of appreciation for Matthew’s face when Mary says, “It was LUST!!!” because he was totally like, “But we’re English?”) It’s just very well-done thematically—and makes me really happy inside.
The Awful Truth (1937)
This one is pretty hilarious. Essentially, a couple decides to divorce after a number of shenanigans on both of their parts. Unfortunately, both of them realize that the awful truth is … they are still in love, despite their difficulties. However, they are both too prideful to admit it. More shenanigans ensue but fortunately, they end up together in the end.
This one doesn’t really work UNLESS it’s a comedy. Because it’s a comedy, however, you really want these “awful” (pun intended) people to end up together because clearly they both need to be awful TOGETHER and grow up some.
I Love You Again (1940)
Same principle as The Awful Truth, but in this one, the guy gets amnesia and forgets his entire marriage—including the fact that he became an awful bore before he wooed his wife, who is now leaving him. Now, feeling like his younger (and arguably more interesting) self, who was a con man, he tries to scam her out of his own money before he leaves forever … but ends up falling in love and winning her back.
It’s cute because HE’S falling in love with her for the first time and SHE’S falling in love with this apparently more romantic side of him that’s coming out JUST FOR HER, and it’s … adorable. Goofy, but adorable.
Honestly, what I’m gathering from these is that second-chance romance works better in romance, which is a missing point in most of the novels I’ve seen for sale. Y’all pay attention, okay?
The Philadelphia Story (1940) and High Society (1956)
These two are some of my favorite old movies which are pretty much the same only the second is a musical. The heroine is inherently unlikable, but that’s some of the fun of it. Despite the fact that in both versions, she’s subject to some period-era sexism, you know that the guy who really wants her with treat her well in the end. And she needs to get back with him and give up her pride to do so. Further, these are just fun movies (or I think so—I’ve heard the opposite, too).
It’s time to break down the emotional logistics.
As with any trope, there are a lot of silly or shallow books written. This trope is often misused and seems to have less variety in it than others of their ilk. That said, we’re not talking about the dozens of silly, petty second-chance romances on the market. We’re talking about writing this trope, which is really just a type of relationship, in a realistic, heart-rending, and interesting way.
Here are a few of that
Let’s start with the negative ones.
Negative Desires in Second-Chance Romance ReadersWe want to be pined after—and sometimes we enjoy pining.
Oftentimes second-chance romances feature one or both of the main characters pining after the other. We all relate to that, somehow. Our hearts squeeze at the thought of having our hearts broken—we don’t want it to happen to us. We don’t want it to happen to our characters either.
And we want to believe that maybe, just maybe, we are still loved even after whatever it was that drove us apart from our loved one.
Really, this is not a truly romantic thing. True romance involves love, and it is not loving to hold onto someone long after they’re gone. True love sometimes involves letting go and moving on.
We want what we wait for more than what we have.
This is why so many TV shows pull a lot of their plotlines from those “will they, won’t they” plotlines. We are looking for those secret glances. And though we want the satisfaction of the ending, the grass is always greener—so once the plot thread concludes, so does the story.
Though TV show producers want to drag that on as much as possible, authors often don’t, and readers love getting a taste of those feelings without having to go through seven trashy seasons of a TV show they’re only into for one will-they-won’t-they couple.
We have an inherent desire to return to what was.
All romance does have a degree of wishful thinking, and second-chance romance is a leader in said wishful thinking. As with the other two, readers and watchers of this trope sometimes look back at their own failed romances and nostalgically wonder what might have been. (Though I’m married to a man I wouldn’t give up for anything, sometimes I do wonder about past flirtations, of which I had a few. What would THAT life have been like? It’s a question no human can fail to ask.)
Though a lot of this can be said to feed humanity’s negative desires (after all, at the end of the day, it is more fulfilling to NOT have years of heartache, despite how it tends to be romanticized by this trope and others), we can pull great beauty out of this trope, too, if we use our healthy minds to draw healthy conclusions.
Let’s talk about the positive.
Positive Desires in Second-Chance RomanceWe know that realistic romance MUST include forgiveness.
Human beings sin. We mess up. We do and say and think stupid things. And because romance is a relationship, not a genre (see what I did there, Grace?), we know that romances must include mistakes—and forgiveness of said mistakes once the inevitable apology comes around.
A lot of second-chance romances feature a forgiveness plot, and honestly, I like them. There’s a great need for forgiveness in my life and relationships—and it is precious to see the accurately and gracefully reflected in fiction.
We desire for all relationships to be resolved.
“If it is possible, as much as depends upon you, live peaceably with all men.”
God didn’t just write that in the Bible for kicks and giggles. Though sometimes it is important to move on, to break away from what is unhealthy or perverted, sometimes it is better to STAY.
In a world where divorce is rampant and a large percentage of engagements are broken off before the couple even gets to say “I do,” some romance author somewhere said, “This couple comes back together, despite it all—and they stay.” And that is powerful.
Stay in the marriage. Stay in the relationship. Stay because of love—stay in spite of a lack of love. And allow God’s grace to carry you through.
Now, I don’t want to romanticize staying in abusive, unhealthy relationships. However, do I want to romanticize staying (or coming back to) relationships with broken people who are trying their utmost to follow Christ? Yes. Absolutely. Because just staying is romantic sometimes.
To quote Taylor Swift, because why shouldn’t I do whatever I want, “Don’t read the last page, but I stay …” (That line always breaks my heart a little in a good way.)
We want to be given that second chance.
“Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
Jesus Christ gave us that second chance—and we know we didn’t deserve it, but He did. How much more should we then reflect this in our own stories?
“But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Honestly, we don’t deserve second chances, but we’re always offered them—and as we know, Christ values our dedication to forgiving those that hurt us.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Second-chance romance is a trope that gets a little less attention than others. As you can see, it’s not inherently toxic, but it can get a little old. It requires some creativity to make this work, and in the romance genre, you are almost rewarded by readers for not seeking creativity.
That said, I challenge you to give this trope a “second” look! It has worth—it just has to be done in a specific way. Further, it has so much potential to dig into themes that we don’t often explore in romance. I wish, for instance, that people would write second-chance romances where characters get together after a long separation DESPITE not loving each other—because they know it’s the right thing to do. (Spoilers, but see The Lady of the Vineyard, for instance.)
Before You Go:I have a giveaway running! I’m giving away a paperback copy of At Her Fingertips this month to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
You can enter the giveaway here:
ENTER THE GIVEAWAYHonestly, though this book ISN’T exactly a second-chance romance, it has elements of the secondary variation of the trope (finding love after losing love), and overall, it feels like a second-chance romance somehow. Maybe it’s just my main couple’s vibe (in book 5, too).
Anyways, enter soon, because it’s only running a week!
TTFN!
~Kell~
P.S.Are you a fan of this trope? Why or why not? (I know a lot of people who aren’t, so you won’t surprise me!) Do you see potential in this trope?
Are you interested in getting to know me & my books better?
I want to invite you to my super secret club. I mean, it’s not really a secret, because I’m telling you about it now, but here goes.
Join Mrs. Roth’s Society Column, my street team! We’d love to have you along for the ride!
February 15, 2023
Two Valentines Day Anthologies: Tell Me You Love Me and Seize the Love
Today I have two indie anthologies to share with you today!
The Tell Me You Love Me Anthology and the Seize the Love Anthology will both released on Valentine’s Day, February 14. Be sure to check ’em out if you like to read about ~love.~
Tell Me You Love MeTell Me You Love Me – a timeless collection of stories that truly understand the meaning of “I love you”
Twelve young Christian authors have come together, alongside romance novelist Grace A. Johnson and editor Issabelle Perry to show our world of depravity and cheap imitations of romance what love really means: faith, hope, and sacrifice.
These stories range from contemporary YA to historical to fantasy, and tell diverse, unique love stories that compel, captivate, and warm readers’ hearts with their sweet and authentic nature.
Featuring work from Michaela Bush, Saraina Whitney, Karynn Heckler, Margaret Copeland, Lucia Molano, Sarah Lawton, Brooklyn O’Brennan, Mackenzie Hendricks, H.S. Kylian, Lydia M. Jupp, Katherine Perry, and Amelia Cabot, the Tell Me You Love Me anthology is the collaboration of talented and inspirational young writers you’ve been waiting for!
Learn more at graceajohnson.com/tell-me-you-love-me-anthology or on Goodreads !
Seize the LoveHonoring the Love of the Savior
Agape. Eros. Philia. Storge
All forms of love… Seize the Love pulls readers into an anthology of stories all showing love. A love that honors God even as the reader flips the pages to find the story of a dying request, a random encounter, finding proof of God’s love, reunited siblings, caring for others, finding hope, love among the hard and easy, and more stories.
No matter the form of love, you’ll find stories sure to warm your heart, bring a smile or a tear, and hopefully remind you of the love of the One who created you.
Matthew 22:37
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Featuring various love stories sure to please the whole family.
LinksYou can find the Tell Me You Love Me Anthology here on Goodreads and buy it here on Amazon. And you can find the Seize the Love Anthology here on Goodreads and buy it here.
ScheduleFebruary 7th
Grace A. Johnson – tour kickoff
H.S. Kylian – anthologies spotlight & giveaway
Kaytlin Phillips – anthologies spotlight & giveaway
February 8th
Grace A. Johnson – anthologies spotlight & giveaway
February 9th
Rhys-Marie Whitnell – anthologies spotlight & STL review
February 10th
Vanessa Hall – STL spotlight & anthologies giveaway
Weekend Break
February 13th
Lilly Wiscaver – STL spotlight & giveaway
Allyson Jamison – STL spotlight
February 14th – Release Day!
Madisyn Carlin – STL spotlight & giveaway
Lillian Keith – anthologies spotlight & giveaway
February 15th
Kellyn Roth – anthologies spotlight
February 16th
February 17th
Kristina Hall – anthologies giveaway
Vanessa Hall – TMYLM review
Weekend Break
February 20th
Allyson Jamison – TMYLM spotlight
February 21st
Merie Shen – TMYLM review & anthologies giveaway
Katja Labonte – anthologies spotlight
Katja Labonte – anthologies review
Abigail Kay Harris – tour conclusion
TTFN!
~Kell~
P.S.Have you read either of these anthologies? What did you think?
Are you interested in getting to know me & my books better?
I want to invite you to my super secret club. I mean, it’s not really a secret, because I’m telling you about it now, but here goes.
Join Mrs. Roth’s Society Column, my street team! We’d love to have you along for the ride!
February 8, 2023
Chapter length, story length, and more: the ultimate guide to how long you should be writing
This is a question I’ve heard repeated over and over again in every writing forum I’ve ever visited. Writers just want to know how long their chapters and their books in general should be.
The problem is, there’s not a solid answer. “How many words!?” Most the time I find myself saying, “However many you want.”
That said, there are some guidelines, though they’re very flexible, especially for the indie author (who is free to do just about whatever they want).
Still, today we’ll be talking about industry standards for length (by the word) within the traditional publishing world as well as in general!
We don’t want to consider how many pages here. If you want to talk pages, well, I want to talk page sizes first—and then fonts and font sizes and indents and … you get the idea. We’re focusing on words in this post.
Chapter LengthIn general, chapter length is actually very flexible. There aren’t even available industry guidelines available—at least nothing solid. It really depends on your book.
Most times, it’s not even required to put chapters in! It’s an author choice.
However, I will tell you that most authors I know, including myself, aim for between 1,500-3,000 words per chapter. I personally try to keep them all between 2,000 and 3,000 but lately it’s been like 3,000-5,000 because my characters are not cooperating.
Children’s fiction authors or authors of fast-paced books may shorten their chapters, and with longer books, it makes sense to have longer chapters oftentimes.
Honestly, though, this is a choice you have to make for yourself. What do you feel comfortable with? About how long do you estimate the chapters of the books you read are?
In the end, finding a good stopping place and going with that is better than obsessing over chapter length when you could be working on your next book!
What makes a novella (and a short story and so on)?There is again some flexibility, but here are some general guidelines.
Flash fiction: 1-1,000 words
Short story: 1,000-8,000 words
Novelette: 8,000-15,000 words
Novella: 15,000-40,000 words
Novel: 40,000+
Note that though 40,000+ technically count as novels, most novels are in the range of 60,000-100,000. Also, the difference between a novella and a novelette is a blurred line; many people will call anything 10,000-40,000 a novella!
By the genre: traditional standardsIn the traditional publishing world, genre-length standards are totally a thing. Here’s some general lengths!
Science fiction and fantasy:
There is some flexibility with any genre, but this is the category that tends on the long side. However, they don’t usually exceed 150,000 words.
90,000-120,000 is a good guideline for science fiction and fantasy. Audiences in this genre generally are more comfortable with epics, wanting to spend more time in the
Romance:
50,000-100,000. I know, I know—that’s a big difference! But this includes a lot of subgenres, after all: contemporary, historical, paranormal, fantasy.
When writing a romance, always think about your subgenres. Historical fans may be all right with slightly longer novels than contemporary fans—but if you’re writing less “epic” historical romance, you may want to go on the shorter side.
Historical fiction:
Anywhere from 80,000-100,000 is acceptable for this genre, though it can be a little bit more. After all, you’re doing the same thing with that science fiction and fantasy authors are doing—you’re creating a new universe for your contemporary readers!
Note that some subgenres can be shorter. Christian fiction and romance (and combinations of the two) tend to be on the shorter side.
Crime/Mysteries/Thrillers/Horror:
These are all page-turners, and they require a fast pace, so they tend to be slightly shorter, generally in the range of 70,000-90,000 words.
Some subgenres, however, can be shorter—it’s not uncommon for cozy mystery, for instance, to be more in the range of 50,000-60,000, for instance.
Young Adult (YA) fiction:
YA has some variance, especially due to subgenres, but it’s a little shorter than most adult fiction—usually 50,000-80,000 words. A fantasy YA title would be a bit longer, but
Children’s fiction:
Like YA, there’s a lot of variance to be had here. Children’s picture books can vary a lot! Just grab a couple off your shelf (assuming you have picture books!), and you’ll see a lot of variance depending on the specific age they’re targeting.
Chapter books for children vary, too. For ages 8-10, they’re in the range of 1,000 to 10,000 words, though it’s feasible for it to be a bit longer. For ages 8-12, this will go up to 10,000-30,000. If you’re aiming for 10-14, then 25,000+ is common and can be as long as 50,000. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis measures 38,421 words.
As I said before, these are more guidelines than rules.If you’re pursuing traditional publishing, you’ll want to follow these guidelines somewhat closely, or at least take a stroll through the general ballpark.
However, indie authors can make or break these rules. Just keep in mind that if you write a 100,000 word long children’s fiction novel, you won’t have a lot of kids getting through it!
I’d say common sense and reader reactions are the biggest guidelines for an indie author.
For instance, if most of your readers are mentioning that they’d hoped the book would be a bit longer—not as in they wanted the story to go on but as in it felt rushed or like they hadn’t gotten their money’s worth— that might be a sign you need to write longer.
But … if a lot of readers are quitting halfway through or complaining about it seeming to drag, that could be a sign that you’re writing on the long side!
TTFN!
~Kell~
P.S.How long do your stories tend to be?
Are you interested in getting to know me & my books better?
I want to invite you to my super secret club. I mean, it’s not really a secret, because I’m telling you about it now, but here goes.
Join Mrs. Roth’s Society Column, my street team! We’d love to have you along for the ride!
February 1, 2023
An Imaginary Changing of the Names in the Kees & Colliers Series
Some time ago, I made a post in my street team, Mrs. Roth’s Society Column, discussing imaginary name changes in the Kees & Colliers series.
My street team was NOT pleased. Because apparently they love the original names. Which, to be fair, they are memorable names, but if I had it to do all over again, I would definitely choose different memorable names. In general, there are a lot of things I would change about the Kees & Colliers series.
However, for the sake of argument, let’s talk about what I would change character names to if I were writing the series right now. Which, again, is largely copy/pasted from my street team and therefore in quotes.
Enjoy!
I’m working on some Flowers in Her Heart edits tonight, and I’m just thinking, “Why on earth did I have to name these people when I was a child!?”
If I had of named them now, I wouldn’t have used Troy. I would’ve gone with Nick as I had originally intended. I love Troy on him now, but he’s always seemed like a Nick with the option of “Nicky” when he was young. He has that The Thin Man vibe, you know?
Never mind Nick/Judy from Zootopia (the trailers came out in 2015, which was when I originally firmly decided on Troy!). I could’ve made it work.
Besides, Nicolas is so French, and Troy is so terribly American.
Granted, I’ve been able to find it used around the time he was born, but still. Not my favorite thing.
I would’ve had Lola go by Lilou. I might’ve stuck with my original choice for Adele, too – Adelia. It’s more flowery, which I think fits her, though it’s not as harsh, either. Hmm. I don’t know. It would’ve been a subject of debate.
I also would’ve picked a different name than Judy (Judith Ann is all right, but it doesn’t really sound like something Adele and Troy would pick). Probably something flowery if not something more directly related to Kenneth. I made it work, but I could’ve done it better if I’d given myself time to think it out.
I did play with the names Elise, Dahlia, Daisy, Lilly – and in the original draft, she was Alise/Alicia. I originally settled on Judith/Judy because it sounded so very 1930s.
As for Camilla, she would’ve become Camellia. The flower name would’ve still somewhat honored Millie while remaining true to Adele’s personality.
I think they still would’ve named their son Kenny.
If I’d been smart and brave, Millie would’ve been Millicent. It feels more British than Camilla (despite the fact that the name is very commonly used in the British upper class for reasons we won’t get into again shut up Harry & go away).
Because of when I wrote Souls Astray, and my deliberately non-detailed writing in first drafts of the other two books, I DID name Troy’s parents later in the game, which is where Estelle and Eben showed up. Estelle feels French nobility to me, and Eben is good for this quirky randomly-went-to-France-and-got-married-to-some-girl-he-met-there guy.
I do wish I hadn’t done double E names, because that makes their family Eben (or Ebenezer), Estelle, Eloise … and Troy. Poor planning on their part.
See, this was so much simpler when they were Claire-Marie (then Adelia then Adele), Philippe (then Nick then Troy), Alise (Alicia then almost straight to Judy), Henri (disappeared him), and Yvette (disappeared her).
Gosh, I miss The Sapphire of the Seine.
(Also, can you imagine a Peter/Alice story where Peter has known Alice since she was eight years old, meeting her every time he visited Paris as a struggling writer who visited Paris just ’cause he had friends there, and had one of those “oh, she’s a woman” moments when she turned sixteen because GiGi fueled my childhood? Because I have written a story in which that happened before I trashed it. It was super cheesy but also weird. ALICE kissed PETER of her own free will just because she could & knew it would mess with him, and she also at one point tossed his hat into a river, so like … not our girl. Peter was always Peter, though. He was confused and enamored and frightened, but very sure of himself once he figured things out.)
ANYWAYS, all this to say, just for funsies, here’s what I would do if I weren’t just doing a quick proofread & wanted to entirely overhaul this series (probably much to the fury of all my friends who love Troy and Judy as names, as I do, too, in some ways, if only because of affectionate familiarity).
Troy Ebenezer Kee would become Nicolas Gabriel “Nick” Kee.Adele Elizabeth Collier-Kee would still be Adele Elizabeth Collier-Kee. Much as I like Adelia, it just isn’t right.Judith Ann Kee would become Liliane Elizabeth Kee, called Lily by her mother. It’s the perfect combination of French and traditional English, and I can totally see there being a battle over Lili vs. Lily. Troy would pronounce it “lee-lee.” It’d be adorable. (Also, then Troy would have a part of his heritage in Judy because Lili and Lilou are similar nicknames and Liliane feels like a smoother version of Leanne even though they are completely different names.) An alternative for her middle name, with the assumption that Kenneth had a different middle name, would be Liliane Georgia Kee or Liliane Roberta Kee.Eloise “Lola” Kee-Cole would become Eloise “Lilou” Kee … and then some traditional English surname that wasn’t Cole. I also don’t remember if she had a middle name, and I can’t find it in any of my notes, so I’m going to assume no. Maybe Leanne like her mother, so Eloise Leanne Kee-Taylor?David “Dave” Cole would just be David “Dave”, but with a last name that sounds a little less weird hyphenated with Kee. Let’s say David “Dave” Taylor.Adele’s family would still be the same. There’s nothing wrong with Louis, Elizabeth, Louis Jr., and Kenneth. I might change Kenneth’s middle name to something more traditional as I was trying to do something with “Judah.” Perhaps something like Kenneth George Collier or Kenneth Robert Collier.Of course, this means Kenneth Kee would still be a thing, but I’d consider something closer to Kenneth Nicolas Kee or Kenneth Gabriel Kee.Troy’s parents would be something more traditionally English and something more traditionally French that didn’t clash so much with Eloise. Maybe John and Leanne. Alternately, Nicolas Kee and Leanne Martel-Kee. I know Estelle’s brother is Henri Martel now, and I can believe Leanne and Henri as siblings.This would make Camilla Estelle Kee into Camellia Leanne Kee. Which I think is so cute! Could still do Cammy, though I can see Adele insisting that her NAME is CAMELLIA.Millie I might keep as Camilla or change to Camille, but that still sounds very foreign to me despite the fact that it’s pretty traditionally English. I think the best option would be to have Millie be short for Millicent or Mildred. Millicent Lark isn’t so bad.There is no changing Harrington. Never, ever, for any reason.So yup, those are some random thoughts I just needed to get out. Everything is staying the way it is, but my, do I wish it were this way. The aesthetic is so great!
I’d like to note that unlike other situations when I’ve suddenly gone off onto a rant about how I wish things were different, this is one case where I’m legitimately tied to my messy differences, so don’t worry. This all stays the same.
Do I wish it were different? Sure. But the Kees & Colliers series has always been my messy, imperfect series. I love it for what it is … a chaotic story of real-life drama surrounding real-life events.
And in real life, we don’t get to carefully curate a name aesthetic. People do weird things like name all their children “T” names except one, and choose honorific names that aren’t precisely related but sound similar, and use a mix-and-match set of nationalities.
They also do things that are actually bad, but this is what upsets me because I’m entirely shallow.
So we’ll leave the fantastic names in The Chronicles of Alice & Ivy and be happy with what is with this already-published series. 
TTFN!
~Kell~
p.s.Well, what do you think? Do you like the current names better or do you wish for a better name aesthetic? Have you read the Kees & Colliers series?
Are you interested in getting to know me & my books better?
I want to invite you to my super secret club. I mean, it’s not really a secret, because I’m telling you about it now, but here goes.
Join Mrs. Roth’s Society Column, my street team! We’d love to have you along for the ride!
January 18, 2023
Let’s Talk about Wild Blue Wonder Press
Wild Blue Wonder Press is launched, and I realized I haven’t officially chatted about it on my blog, so here we go.
Wild Blue Wonder Press has always been my main imprint, but I’ve wanted it to be something more, well, forever! In particular, I wanted it to serve as a way to help indie authors which has always been one of my main goals with everything, from my blog tour services way back when to Reveries Co. and onward to more recent services like Growing Writers.
So let’s get to it!
What is Wild Blue Wonder Press?To quote our website:
Wild Blue Wonder Press was established in January 2016 by Kellyn Roth for the purpose of independently publishing her historical women’s fiction series, The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy.
Based on a special location on her family’s property and a childhood stumbling over phrases, Kellyn chose the name to evoke feelings of wonder in a world full of dark valleys. After all, where there is snow and ice, there will be chickadees, and in the midst of the darkest woods, you can often find a cozy cabin.
As of January 2023, Wild Blue Wonder Press is beginning working with other creatives to expand its outreach and help other independent writers achieve their dreams in a professional manner.
In the long run, my goal is to provide an alternative to indie publishing on your own for people who still want to indie publish.
Now, indie publishing is meant to be an … independent … experience. It’s in the name, after all! However, I have often noticed a similar trend when I watch newbie indies launch their first book. And sometimes their second book. And their fifth. And so on.
There’s a lack of guidance, and oftentimes that leads to a lack of quality. It also will generally lead to wasted money, time, and disappointment. Some indie authors give up, and others truck along, feeling hopeless and worried about their future. Most give up on a career. Some don’t—some stick it out and figure it out.
But is there an easier way?
My long-turn goal with Wild Blue Wonder Press is to provide an alternative source of support that mentors authors through their first launch and even provides financial support. Afterwards, some authors may stay with Wild Blue Wonder Press—and others may move on to do the process by themselves.
That said, everyone has an option to do what they want. I just want there to be another option for newer indie authors who want to get a start in a realistic way while learning about the process. Of course, we can’t help a lot of indie authors to start with, but in the long term, I want us to expand to help many authors get their start.
And that all starts with a successful anthology launch.
Springtime in Surrey, Our First AnthologyOur first big project will be at least two if not three anthologies (also known as “short story collections). #1, which is now open for submissions, is Springtime in Surrey.
You can find out about Springtime in Surrey on our anthology page. In particular, please see the “your submission” section to see what you will be submitting. (It’s not exactly your average collection of stories!)
There are also further submission guidelines and a Pinterest inspiration board available for the project.
The main idea is you’re pitching YOURSELF as much as your story (which does not have to be written—just outlined—at the time of submission.
Stories included in this collection will be:
Women’s fiction, generally aimed at young adult or adult audiences.
Vintage in style if not in setting.
Real-life characters & therefore real-life problems.
Heavy Christian themes.
May be historical or contemporary.
Featuring stories set in County Surrey, England.
Desired word count: 10,000-20,000 words. Flexibility may be available.
To submit for the collection, your story does not have to be completed—but you will have to submit a full synopsis, so if you are a pantser, it may be a good idea to write the story ahead of time. You can view our official submission page here. But here’s what you’ll submit:
An introduction to yourself, written in first person, which should include past writing experience, any details about your platform, and other applicable information you wish to share about your time as a reader, writer, and member of the “bookish community.” Note that beginners are welcome; however, it is helpful to know how much you have done, even if that answer is “practically nothing.” It’ll help us know how to help you!
A brief description of the types of books you enjoy writing or would like to write and a brief summary of your dreams for a writing career. This way we can understand better what your goals are.
A “pitch” of a short story idea that could theoretically fit into our collection. This does not have to be written. However, we want a full synopsis or rough outline that gives us the beginning, middle, and end of your story idea, a decent understanding of who your main character is and why we should care about them, and a brief summary of the main theme.
A snippet of a book, short story, or other piece of writing that you have worked on in the past, preferably something that has received no professional edits (edits from friends or family is fine!). At least 3,000 words preferred.
To submit, you can email the above in a PDF or Word Document to admin@wildbluewonderpress.com! Note that on the anthology page, you will find a link at the bottom of the page to view further submission guidelines that are worth the read!
We can’t do any of our grand plans for bringing change to the indie community if the anthologies flop. So if you’d like to join us, or support us, please consider doing so!
That said, this is all in God’s hands. This is really my variation of “putting out a fleece.” I’ve had a lot of difficulties as I’ve been preparing to launch the press, particularly with my health and with other things going on in my life. I am prayerfully watching how God chooses to realize this dream.
As you can read about on the “about” page, our mission is “to share fictional stories full of grace and truth. Our goal is to create stories that matter, to delve into the deepest and sometimes the saddest parts of life, and to return from the darkest valleys resplendent in the light of hope and the fullness of joy.”
TTFN!
~Kell~
P.S.Are you submitting for our anthology? Anyways, I’m really excited about this, and I can’t wait to share more! Be sure to follow along by heading over to our website and joining our newsletter or checking us out on Instagram or Facebook. We could really use the support!
Are you interested in getting to know me & my books better?
I want to invite you to my super secret club. I mean, it’s not really a secret, because I’m telling you about it now, but here goes.
Join Mrs. Roth’s Society Column, my street team! We’d love to have you along for the ride!
January 11, 2023
God Be With Ye, 2022, and Welcome to 2023 (The Late 2022 Recap & 2023 Goal Post Y’all Must Be Waiting For)
The year has long ago come to a close, and I can’t help but be a pessimist.
Oh, I know, that’s not the RIGHT thing to do. But I don’t always do the right thing. I’m a human, and despite my knowledge that trust in God is the way to go, pessimism sneaks in, the voice of the Devil (or is it my own sin nature?) tempting me to look back at 2022 with a mix of indignation and depression.
Yet I know that’s not the godly way to respond. So I force myself to look back on accomplishments. I mean, I published three full-length novels and a short story in 2022. Honestly, my pessimism wasn’t even allowing me to see that, but it’s true.
God takes care of me. I see it in the little moments, when I pray for help and am met with a clear answer. I see it in the big moments, when I scream and, even if I don’t like His answer, it is the one that is for the best.
I see the way my needs are met as they arise. I can’t stand the apartment I’m living in? A beautiful new living situation was provided. I couldn’t find a job, and after struggling for several months, God provided me with one. I wasn’t sure I could realistically get projects done in time so many times, and yet, God pulled me through.
Yeah, I suffered a lot … and with God’s help, I hope I grew up a lot.
With all this in mind, let’s talk about 2022 and move forward in 2023 with joy and purpose, ready to tackle whatever God brings us.
Looking Back at 20222022 was a rough year for me. I had a number of moments when I didn’t feel like I could keep going, or when I feared that God was not with me after all. I had failures and triumphs. I often felt torn and unsure what I was doing. It was so, so easy for me to lose sight of all the amazing things that had happened, even recently, in all the mixed up emotions and thoughts I was experiencing.
I feel like I didn’t come as far as I wanted, but in some ways, this was a huge growing year. The fact that I didn’t make a ton of forward progress means that I learned a lot of new skills, did a lot of thinking, and reflected on every moment that passed me by.
Though I am disappointed in the way 2022 went, I know that God created this year to a purpose, and the incredible things He did throughout this year despite the overall “blah” feeling I have about it cannot be discounted.
Where I see dead ends, God sees me walking along the path He has intended me to walk on all along. He is guiding me toward a perfect future—and though I can’t see it now, I am grateful for what blessings I can see and excited to discern how He will use me through the good and the bad of the year to come.
On the Blog
Just 10 days in 2022, I posted this blog post about conundrums. This is one of my favorite posts to look back on, actually, because it’s rambly and introspective in a Very Kell Way, and it’s just … well, a snapshot into my life.
To quote that post:
Right now, in this period of my life, it is enough to trust God.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
And, for today at least, that is enough.
A year and some later, that still is true.
I went right into the Beyond Her Calling relaunch then. I didn’t feel like the launch went as well as I’d have liked, but it was still fairly successful. I think I wasn’t in a headspace, though I didn’t know it at the time, to really launch product. I was very lonely, very unsure what my direction for the next five years or so was going to be, and very sad about a variety of things.
I also got sick, so that doesn’t help.
But anyways, here’s the wrapup for the launch period, if you want to see it.
With book 5 coming out in that year, after that launch period, I decided to share about the story behind the rewrites of The Dressmaker’s Secret. If you’re a fan of the series and missed this post, definitely give it a read!
After this, I accidentally went on a significant break, apologized for the accidental break, and then shared this amazing guest post by Grace A. Johnson about writing romance which is actually one of the highlights of my blogging year! It’s also just an amazing post about romance in general. A follow-up post to this is my “enemies to lovers” trope post, which was so much fun to write and share!
And the year was challenging, so here’s another post that had be talking about challenges.
One of my favorite quotes from that post is:
“Never would I imply that hope comes simply from an emotional response. In fact, quite the opposite. Hope comes from being firm. From standing up for the light, for what’s right, and turning away from the dark, the evil. From taking small steps and being faithful to your calling.”
And this post is honestly great because it summarizes, in a baby way, one of the big lessons that has stuck with me throughout 2022. Things don’t go as planned. I know this—things rarely go as planned in my life. However, there is a way to roll with that that DOESN’T require me to either not care or slip into depression.
I learned to trust God a lot more in 2022. Before, I assumed that my own weakness WOULD lead me to slip into spiraling thoughts, and I WOULD find it impossible to get on my feet for months and months, and I WOULD always end up in a place of ongoing sickness for a period of time before getting halfway up the “healing” ladder … and then failing again.
But that’s not true.
Last year, my word was “sustained.” I forgot about that literally a couple months into it, but somehow, God still sustained me.
Isn’t that funny?
I chose the word hoping to keep it at the center of my heart. Yet I quickly forgot it. And yet …
Here I am. Totally in awe of how sustained I was.
Anyways, moving on, this went right into the A Prayer Unanswered launch. This is an underappreciated post which introduces the new characters who appear in book 5, so give it a look if you’ve read the first four books and want an intro to some of the newbies before diving in!
There were only a few miscellaneous posts in between before we dove right into the After Our Castle launch in October, but here’s a post I really enjoyed writing that is a great one for those who want to know about Victorian birth control/family planning without having to read the dirty details.
As has been my pattern, I posted another melancholy post right before the After Our Castle launch. This one was called: “What I Do Have I Give You: A Tale Of Paralyzation And Ongoing Healing.”
To quote the post:
“It’s not been an easy couple months. It’s not been an easy year. But that’s not surprising, because human life is not easy, and if you expect it to be, well, you’ll be disappointed.”
This post talks a lot about my worries over publishing After Our Castle, which was honestly a huge challenge for me.
But nonetheless, I went into the launch. Here’s the wrapup, in case you’re curious about what people said, what I did, etc. (Also, this is my favorite launch post because it tells you what some of my future plans are!)
As you probably know, one of my post popular (and only) posts lately was a review of Redeeming Love. It was … interesting … for sure.
Then we had the launch for my short story, The Knights of Pearlbelle Park.
And that’s about all I did last year. (Obviously I skipped some blog posts in between, but that hit the highlights for sure!)
Wrap-Up of My 2022-Is-Beginning PostOkay, let’s start with some things I thought were coming up in 2022.
Going to the Writing RetreatThat was so much fun! I was blessed to be included in the February Glory Writers retreat, and I enjoyed it so thoroughly. It really helped me solidify my desire to spend more time with Christian writers.
This didn’t happen in person, but I did attend online, and I was able to pitch a couple times, which was great because I’ve been wanting to “practice pitch” for a while. It’s a great skill to have as a writer, regardless of your career plans!
Year 2 of the Author Conservatory ProgramThe remainder of Year 2 of the Author Conservatory Program was pretty crazy for me, plus things changed up a number of times. It was an exciting adventure and had lots of plot twists. However, I’m excited for Year 3, whenever it officially starts, and wrapping up the Author Conservatory journey.
A baby … or health testingThis is the thing that really didn’t happen. Obviously, we don’t have a baby, but we haven’t done a lot of health testing yet. I assumed we do that in August, but a variety of factors have put it off. I hope that we’ll be able to get a little testing done in the New Year to hopefully figure out if there are any obvious factors at work here other than God’s will.
I haven’t talked about this a ton, but obviously this weighs heavily on me. Sometimes I’m okay with it—and other times I am an emotional wreck. Regardless, it’s never far from my mind, and Matthew and I could absolutely use prayers about it.
(^ Above are pictures of our new house! Do you like? I certainly adore it!)
A house to rent? A dog?I wasn’t sure what the year would bring, and at the beginning of the year, I’d probably have been less than pleased about what it did bring. We did not end up taking Bonnie home—instead, we have a border collie named Stanley who is a special fellow we really love. We didn’t end up renting a new house, but we are instead renting a cabin from Matthew’s parents. At the beginning of the year, I probably would’ve considered this a step back, but it’s been amazing and has presented us with so many opportunities we wouldn’t have had otherwise.
(^ Stanley! Isn’t he the cutest pup?)
More time outside, more time with friends and family, and becoming more helpful to other people!I’m not sure I did a great job at this! I tried, certainly, but I probably could’ve done more to be out of doors. That said, I was happy with the way my relationships have proceeded in 2022, and I’m hoping to be more and more helpful to people as time goes on.
This was honestly such a blast! And another huge highlight of the year.
(That’s ^ me with my fellow student speakers, Charis Rae and Juliet Artman!)
But I actually am happy with where I am now, continuing to slowly improve.Write the McAllen Brothers series. Didn’t happen. I didn’t write much in 2022, actually.Get a job! Whether this is pursuing an old job, if the opportunity presents itself, or taking on a new one, I need to earn income in some way. YES! I ended up doing a few part-time things, getting an old job back, and then starting a brand-new job!
(^ Christmas 2022)
2022 Word of the Year
My 2022 word of year was:
Sustained
(Past tense, because I already am sustained!)
My verse:
Sustain me, my God, according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed. (Psalm 119:116)
As I mentioned, I forgot my 2022 word of the year just a few months in … but it nonetheless became an interesting theme as I navigated those twelve months.
It seems like, at every turn, when I expected the worst, God turned it into something good—or better than I could have even imagined. This was never more exemplified that in the case of the cabin, the puppy, and more. There were many times when I was behind on deadline and stressed beyond all belief, and God still sustained me through those times.
I’m so grateful for the ways in which God sustained me through 2022!
In 2023, I hope to:
Write at least three books.Publish one book.Complete the launch of Wild Blue Wonder Press.Publish two anthologies with Wild Blue Wonder Press.Have a successful NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMos (April/July).Successfully host a writing conference (YWW 2023!).Pitch my Regency romance novel.Progress in the Author Conservatory.Exercise regularly.Learn to cook.2023 Hopes & ExpectationsIn 2023, I hope to write more and stress less.
That is an oversimplification. However, I still have hopes that the contents of 2023 will resemble that simple sentence. After all, I definitely do need to write more, and I definitely do need to stress less.
I am also undertaking a crusade of personal health. More and more, I believe it is vital to prioritize physical, mental, and emotional health, with the fourth and most vital part of this equation being spiritual health. Of course, this is not an easy assignment. There’s a lot that goes into every one of these factors.
But I am determined. So much so that I’m even meeting with a health coach! And waking up at 6 AM! I mean, for me, can you get any more DETERMINED?
which brings me to my 2023 word of the year:
2023 Word of the YearDetermined
This word means two different things to me.
First, there’s the Job 14 version:
“Man who is born of woman
Is of few days and full of trouble.
He comes forth like a flower and fades away;
He flees like a shadow and does not continue.
And do You open Your eyes on such a one,
And bring me to judgment with Yourself?
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
No one!
Since his days are determined ,
The number of his months is with You;
You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.”
Not only am I sustained throughout all my days; my days are also determined. In spite of all my planning, I am living within certain wondrous limits appointed by the Lord. I can but do my best to serve Him.
However, I also think of 1 Corinthians 2:2:
“For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
My focus this year is on living God’s plans out for me, but also focusing on serving Him and “niching” my life down, if you will, to be more focused on Him.
Further, without knowing it and before I chose this word, I added this line to my laptop background:
“God decides the timing; you just determine your responses.”
Is seemed so fortuitous when I saw that! How did I know? Well, I didn’t, but God did. And I certainly need to learn to temper my responses to God’s movement in my life.
So, with a feeling of hope, I look toward 2023, determined to take what God brings to me with joy and perseverance.
May all you be blessed in the year to come.
TTFN!
~Kell~
December 21, 2022
The Knights of Pearlbelle Park is Launched!
Hey folks! This will be a short-ish post, but I had to get on here and let you know my Christmas short story, The Knights of Pearlbelle Park, is now available on Amazon. It’s only $0.99 if you want to buy it, or you can borrow it for free on Kindle Unlimited.
Also, for a limited time (e.g. until I run out), you can shoot me an email at contact@kellynrothauthor.com and request to purchase a paperback copy of the short story. There are only 15 copies printed that will ever exist, and about 10 of those are available for sell.
It costs just $10 (including shipping) for me to send one of these to you! It won’t be there before Christmas, but if you want it for yourself, well, there ’tis, while supplies last.
Note that these ones will all have the incorrect title, as you can see in the images. (It’s PEARLBELLE, not Pearbelle. But I printed them with the incorrect title several weeks ago before it got fixed. Literally no one notices until it’s posted online, so just don’t take tons of pictures of your books … basically, don’t do what I do! There will probably not be corrected titles at any point because the only reason I ordered them in the first place was for a couple friends, not for general consumption.)
They’re super cute and tiny, and also, since I never intend to have them readily available, they’re somewhat of a collector’s item. (Also, just so you know, my other short stories will someday be available in such a way. It will just take me a while to get those sorted!)
But back to the information about the book itself.
About the BookEnjoy Christmas with the Knights of Pearlbelle Park …
Claire Knight‘s two youngest sons have come down with a mysterious illness just before Christmas, and she can’t focus on a thing but them, despite her many duties. Everything is so utterly overwhelming—yet relying on others, especially her husband, for comfort and aid seems impossible.
Lois Chattoway is finally married to the love of her life and expecting their first child. She should be perfectly content. If only her husband were as enthusiastic about their upcoming arrival as she is. When her niece, Posy, arrives at Pearlbelle Park with her neglectful father, Lois longs to convince her husband to adopt the child. Yet she knows he’ll never agree to it. Not likely.
Ned Knight is frightened. His mother is afraid, and there’s only one person he can tell—Mama. Oh, not his mother. He means Mama, who Ned never properly met but whose portrait hangs in a locked bedroom all by itself. Finding his place in the family is hard, but she makes it easier because she always listens—always. If only everyone else wanted to remember Mama as much as Ned does.
Buy on AmazonAdd on Goodreads
Are you a Gossip?If you’re not a part of my street team, Mrs. Roth’s Society Column, consider joining in the next week!
We’ll be having a Christmas party celebration on the 28th (next Wednesday) with giveaways and time chatting with my characters (no, really, they’re sentient beings) running throughout the rest of the week.
If you’re like to join, FILL OUT THIS FORM. That’ll get you in. Make sure you check the “add to Slack” option so you don’t miss out on the party.
Mrs. Roth’s Society Column is such a fun place to be, and we all have a lot of fun! Particularly, because my characters join and get in trouble, but also because I really like my street team and spend way too much time trying to make things fun.
Like the awkward, needy, trying-to-be-fun-but-hardly-succeeding auntie I am.
I’d love to see you there!
TTFN!
~Kell~
P.S.I have some fun things coming up in January, including the launch of Wild Blue Wonder Press which I can hardly wait for! Are you excited?
December 14, 2022
An In-Depth Look at the Movie Version of Redeeming Love
I never know what y’all will get upset about and what you’ll be supportive about, so today I’m taking a risk. I have no idea how this post will be received. But that’s okay.
So let’s dive in.
When I heard that there was going to be a Redeeming Love movie, I frankly didn’t care. I’ve never read the book, and I probably won’t (just … not interested), and there just wasn’t anything about the movie itself that looked particularly appealing to me.
Then the controversy started. It’s all died down (at least in my circles now), but at the time, it was overwhelming. At least for me. I refrained from taking a definitive stance, but I must say, I thought both sides of the argument were being somewhat silly.
And I’m sorry if when I say that, you’re offended, but goodness, y’all. It was dramatic. It was either “you are a prude who can’t enjoy a good movie with a deep theme because purity culture has blinded you to seeing sex in a healthy light” or “you are actively watching pornography and therefore destroying your chances of having healthy sexual relationships with your husband.”
Both sides thought healthy sexual relationships between married Christians were at risk (either because you watched the movie or because you didn’t), though, which interested me because I believe in healthy sexual relationships between married Christians.
And it further interested me given that I had a somewhat vague idea of what the book was about. And it didn’t seem like a plot that should worry about that too much.
But I still didn’t care and still didn’t want to watch it. Unfortunately, one day a couple months ago, now that all the controversy has died down, I was bored, and when I am bored, I do strange things. Like watching awful movies.
And I’ll give you a spoiler alert: though I fall into neither of the exact camps precisely, I saw little that was redeemable about Redeeming Love. So if that’ll just rile you up, this is a good post to avoid.
However, if you’re interested in a post discussing, in depth, exactly what happens in the movie and what inherent worth I (some random chick on the internet who knows nothing about nothing) thinks it has, well, you’re welcome to read on.
Let’s start with a plot summary.
NOTE: this plot summary is inaccurate, but it’s what I observed while watching the movie. If I missed details or added details that weren’t there, I apologize.
(NOTE: this is meant to be taken in a tongue-in-cheek manner.)
The story opens on a western town during the Gold Rush. A huge crowd of minors are essentially drawing lots (picking numbers) to decide who gets to sleep with the most popular prostitute, “Angel.” She apparently takes a certain number of patrons a night and is owned/prostituted out by a madam (later found out she’s called “the Duchess”) who cares about her not one mite.
Here, Angel flashes back to her childhood where she’s actually called Sarah. Apparently Sarah’s “Papa” is not married to her mother (has another family) and sends presents but hates that Sarah’s mother gives Sarah the presents rather than keeping them for herself. Sarah’s “Papa” then has an argument with her mother after sending Sarah away during which he tells Sarah’s mother she should’ve had an abortion and slaps her around. Great thing for a kid to overhear, right?
Sarah is of course upset because … well, everything. She even asks her mother if perhaps it would be best if she died so “Papa” could hang out with Mother again. Mother, of course, rejects this notion because she loves Sarah.
Then we come back to Angel in “present time” who is hanging out with a couple prostitutes, some of which are trading tales of abuse/how they became prostitutes. It’s not terribly graphic, and it made me feel bad for the other prostitutes. (Not so much Angel, but meh.)
We’re also introduced to the main male lead who we later find out is called Michael. He’s your typical Christian good boy. I personally didn’t find him super interesting (here or later). He’s introduced working hard on his farm and hanging out with his dog with a golden filter placed over the scene.
He goes to a church and prays within the first 30 seconds of his introduction in a rather cliché way—and he asks for a wife or at least some guidance/a sign on how to get one. Because you know. It’s very, um … well, it’s typical of this kind of story but not necessarily of how Christians actually act. But it’s perfectly fine and is an example of a character seeking the Lord’s guidance on something. At least.
This whole thing takes too long, in my humble opinion. I was ready to get into the plot because we were almost 15 minutes in at this point.
When Michael goes into town, he sees Angel walking through the streets (since she goes walking twice a week with a bodyguard to show off the wares). A storekeeper dude who Michael knows explains that Angel is a prostitute and that there’s a lottery to sleep with her.
And Michael, being so smart, suddenly goes, “That’s the girl.” While gazing dreamily at her. Yeah, I … I am very interested to see how cringey this can get. Because this is already a pretty cringey understanding of romance.
I do understand theoretically that God CAN hop down from Heaven and tell you what to do in this way, but something about the portrayal of the characters and the way Michael went about winning Angel after this made me feel like God would not approve of this. But whatever. That’s just one woman’s opinion.
Then we flash back again to young Angel/Sarah who is having a conversation with a servant lady who tells her that her Papa is an evil man, “nobody cares about anybody in this world,” all men just want to use you, et cetera. The servant lady terms this as “God’s truth.”
Then we seem to skip forward a mite in the flashback. Apparently Sarah’s mother has now been tossed out by her lover/Sarah’s “Papa” and is having to support herself and Sarah with further prostitution which is shown pretty vaguely. (By the way, the actress who plays Young Sarah is adorable and pretty talented for a child of that age. Totally bought her performances. She is the best actor in this film.)
Then Sarah’s mother is dying now as mothers are wont to do. She coughs a lot and Sarah tries to nurse her to health. Sarah’s mother encourages Sarah to pray, repeating The Lord’s Prayer. And then she goes ahead and dies. Again, as mothers are wont to do.
Then we flash forward to the present where Sarah/Angel gets drunk and is manhandled by her bodyguard. He swears she has something she’s hiding (this just confused me?) and tosses her into a tub and attempts to drown her and/or teach her a lesson (while she’s like, “do it” which is what I’d say in her position, too—but girl, are we ever going to address the constant string of suicidal thoughts coming from your mouth because …? You sound really depressed). She then gets slapped around by the madam.
So far neither Angel nor Michael have really made me like them, but maybe that’s coming. 22 minutes in, and I don’t care about anything.
Then Michael just shows up in Angel’s room while she is naked. We see her naked back and then her naked front with her hair hiding a small portion of her breasts to keep that PG-13 rating. After all, modest is hottest. Meanwhile, Michael just stands behind and acts all pure in a secular sense when really a true Christian man would be a: averting his eyes out of respect to this absolutely naked woman and b: considerably more awkward especially as presumably this is the first time he’s seen a naked woman. But whatever.
But apparently Michael just wants to talk. They have a kind of pointless conversation for a bit while Kell impatiently waited for the plot to start. Michael really sucks at getting to the point. Which Angel clearly thinks too because she’s like, “Can we just get this thing over with?” But Michael proposes and won’t stop insisting she should marry him until Angel kicks him out.
Michael, you see, is convinced that Angel should marry him. In fact, that it is God’s will that he marry this prostitute that he knows nothing about and has only just met. He pays double in the lottery to get to see her again the next night. They talk and Michael repeats his offer. (At least they’ve talked some at this point, but he’s still annoying, so healthy relationship? Nope.)
And Michael hasn’t given up because apparently “no” is not a word a real Christian man understands. It’s supposed to be romantic that he’s willing to pay that much gold to see her night after night, but really it’s just creepy and overbearing.
I suppose you could say it’s a theological quibble, but my personal belief is that sometimes God closes a door and you can tell because you keep banging on the door and it doesn’t open. Michael could stand to learn that.
Also, in another scene where Angel is talking with the other prostitutes, we’re shown that Angel is an utterly unlikable jerk. Really helping the plot along.
Then the next night, while Michael is on the way up to Angel’s room, another prostitute approaches him but Michael shakes her off and goes up to Angel. He seems to be mad at her because she sicked said other prostitute on him. (I can’t even with this man’s entitlement. What a jerk.) Anyway, he snaps at her, reminds her that she’s the best he’ll ever get, and then kisses her. Then when she of course is like, “Okay, cool, let’s do it and get it out of the way,” he tells her to stop like it wasn’t his idea.
He feels so unsafe. I’m just … so scared of him? He seems to have a temper, he doesn’t care what she wants, and he won’t take “no” for an answer. I actively dislike him AND Angel now.
So anyway, she insults his farm, and he walks off all angry because he is a pouty child. As we have another flashback to where Angel/Sarah is young and being taken care of by someone else after her mother has died, I remind myself that Michael is the stand-in for Hosea and therefore God. And I giggle with amusement.
So anyways, we have a scene where some man pretty much sells Angel/Sarah (who is a baby of maybe eight at the time) into prostitution even after someone begs him not to. It’s sad but not really graphic. I mean, the guy who brought Angel/Sarah is strangled by the New Bad Guy, but it’s pretty PG in my opinion. Dark but PG.
New Bad Guy then pours perfectly good brandy on said strangled man. Then the New Bad Guy asks baby Sarah/Angel to come over and I went, “Oh, this is it. She’s gonna get raped.” I was so worried for her! He has her sit on his lap and calls her his “Little Angel.” But he basically just says she has to do what he tells her and they’ll get along. However, it is of course implied that he’s going to groom her/abuse her/etc.
Then we see “Little Angel” learning to read. It looks like she’s put in somewhat sexualized costumes and groomed by the New Bad Guy (he has her do things for him, earns her trust by treating her fairly well, and when she grows older, he begins using her at his classy prostitute joint).
Unfortunately, one of her first patrons (?) was her Papa (?!?! oof) who kills himself immediately afterwards once he finds out who she was. We pretty much see the suicide up to the moment where he kills himself (he has bad form, by the way—that’s now how you shoot yourself to actually be painless) … and then we see Angel sitting next to a bed crying but pretty much clothed in our modern terms. Not terribly graphic but certainly dark. Not that dark is a bad thing.
Then the nice prostitute, Sally, who mentored Angel (?) encourages Angel to run, and she does and gets on a ship. Then Sally is seen dumped on a street, dead, after one of the Bad Guy’s henchman tells the Bad Guy she was the one who helped Angel run.
On the ship, Angel meets two other prostitutes who encourage her to also be a prostitute on the ship so to earn money, telling her they might “take it for free” otherwise. So Angel does. Not much graphic about this. We are seeing an awful lot of the top of this actress’s breasts, but oh well. Gritty Christian movie must gritty Christian movie.
As soon as they get off the ship, the other two prostitutes violently knock Angel out and steal her money, then leave her lying on the street. You do see some blood on her face.
Back to “present day.” Angel has a headache. (Sidenote: I’m going to stop commenting on the sheer amount of different angles of Angel’s twin angels that we keep seeing, but suffice to say, you get everything but the nipple in this movie. It’s a lot and oftentimes it’s just for the heck of it? I don’t mind it if there’s a reason, but there rarely is other than to sexualize this young woman. In a movie whose point is the exact opposite of that. But whatever.)
So anyways, Angel asks for “her gold” from the Madame so she can leave and get her own place or maybe even get married. Which Madame says is ridiculous because Angel can only “make a man happy for thirty minutes” whereas if she were married, she’d have to make a man happy all the time and have sex with him whenever he wants which is … worse than prostitution? Hmm. (I’m just saying, Angel presumably has a multitude of patrons a night, and yet one man would only …? Okay, I’ll stop, but I fault the lady’s logic is all.)
Angel then gets super angry and insults the Madame (her name is “the Duchess” but I’m not using tons of names here so I think I’ll stick with what I’ve been calling her) which was a mistake because it gets her slapped around, insulted, and then raped (or at least beat up badly?) by her bodyguard dude. Basically, bodyguard dude drags her to her bedroom and beats her because she won’t stop provoking him like an absolute idiot.
So this wakes Michael up in a cold sweat (?!!) and the next morning, he runs up to Angel’s room and finds her lying in bed, all beaten up. He literally pulls money out of his sleeves (lol why is it there Michael) and hands it to the madame to BUY Angel from her then asks the half-conscious Angel to marry him AGAIN.
That’s coercion.
So anyway, he puts her half-conscious self in his wagon and drives off.
Also, they have really beaten her into utter unrecognizable swollenness at this point.
So Angel wakes up in his cabin, and apparently they’re married (consent?), and he provides her with his dead sister’s clothes. Then he tells her he didn’t marry her for sex, and we flash forward to three weeks later when she’s pretty again.
Oh, and able to walk, but you know, I’m just reading between the lines.
So he’s off doing something, so she gets dressed and walks off with, apparently, no appreciation for the fact that he MARRIED her. Like, girl, you need to think about the legalities here. Not to say that she didn’t do the right thing, though, because Michael is scary, manipulative, and she did not agree to this.
Also, Michael rides his horse abusively. You can tell a lot about a man …
So Michael chases her down, and she slaps himself (deserved). He then gives her a coat and water and tells her she has two options: going back to prostitution and abuse or coming home with him.
No third option is offered so she ends up coming back.
Let us just remind ourselves that romantic relationships should not be based on an either/or fallacy.
He then washes her dirty, calloused feet. It’s actually … somewhat sensual? Not much, but enough that I was weirded out. Which is followed by him combing her hair and her offering sex and him refusing and them talking about God briefly. Including restating Angel’s untrue belief that God is evil and Michael’s untrue belief that God told him to marry Angel.
The next day, they enter into a few fantasy scenes in which farm work is charming and would actually help someone fall in love. Anywho, we see his bare chest because #handsomehunk—and he is still resisting having sex with her still. “Cold showers” (dips in a lake) and all.
Then Angel has a dream about the dude who groomed her in which he tells her she can’t escape and is still his. When she wakes up screaming, Michael drags her out of bed and forces her to go on a sunrise nature walk, saying she has no choice. Super charming. And gives her a little speech about how he’s going to make her life so good.
Then she equates sex to love, and he smooches her. They get back to the cabin and have sex, and basically, we see some passionate kisses, the undressing, her leg hitched up over his back, them falling back on the bed, and there is panting and all that super uncomfortable stuff.
Then we fade to black.
It’s too much, and should’ve been cut off sooner, but it’s definitely a mild PG-13.
This one wasn’t awful, but it does eventually get worse, so hang in there.
My main problem with that scene, though, is that … well, y’all can say “we need more healthy relationships in fiction with healthy sex” but this isn’t a healthy relationship or healthy sex? Healthy sex is non-obligatory and not equated to love but rather an expression of love. It’s basically the works vs. fruits argument in which sex should be a FRUIT not a WORK.
So like? I don’t know. It doesn’t work.
On the other hand, since love is a choice, you can theoretically have a healthy sex life without being madly in love. However, there’s something about this that feels icky. I can’t express it—it’s not just the sex. There have been secular romances that have featured this much content and not felt icky.
This feels icky.
Anywho.
Michael’s brother-in-law, Paul, stumbles in. Michael introduces Paul to Angel who recognizes her. He doesn’t let on to Michael, but when he talks to Angel alone, she provokes him because of course she does. Of course, Paul isn’t really pleased about seeing Angel in his wife’s clothes—he feels like she doesn’t deserve the life she has now. And he’s just … threatening.
So Paul tells Michael things he already knows—and Michael defends Angel and then punches Paul in the face because he has anger issues. Also, I’m beginning to realize that Michael has unlimited cash because he is constantly throwing money at problems—such as when he offers to pay Paul whatever he wants if he just leaves.
Anyways, we flash back to Angel being forced to have an abortion back when she was a prostitute, triggered by Michael saying he wants children with her. (It’s not graphic, but we see some of the instruments they used to remove the baby and hear her screaming at them to not kill her baby.) Back in the current timeline, Angel then hops in the wagon with Paul, intent on going back to the town with him.
Angel then continues to provoke Paul, who tells her that she owes him for the ride to town. Angel agrees and off screen, it’s implied they had sex or … well, there was an exchange of sexual favors. I’ll leave you to determine the rest. *coughs* The good news is her hair still looks amazing afterwards.
I would like to note I’m not blaming Angel for any of this when I say “she provokes someone,” but she does tend to get herself into situations. Which feels unrealistic for an abuse victim and makes you wonder why, if she’s that brave already, she isn’t able to extricate herself from some of this nonsense.
I just feel like it’s not realistic for abuse victims, but correct me if I’m wrong. (Legitimately. I’m curious to know if anyone who has done a more in-depth study of sexual abuse victims has insights.)
Paul then drops her off outside of town because he “won’t be seen with her.” Angel insults him one more time just for the heck of it because it’s worth her time to tell him what a hypocrite he is. When Angel gets to the town, the place she used to work is burnt down, a couple prostitutes and the bodyguard dude are dead, and the madame is gone. Another dude offers her work, and Angel agrees as long as she handles the money.
I said I wouldn’t but I’m going to comment again on just how much of Angel’s body we keep seeing for no discernible reason.
When Paul gets back and tells Michael where Angel is, Michael tracks her down to the new place where she’s living. He finds Angel who is with a man and asks her if she wants to stay—she says “no” (heat of the moment, much? I’m not sure why she agreed to go with Michael this time, especially since presumably her situation is financially better). Anyways, he beats up a couple dudes.
Michael knows that Paul and Angel had sex, but he insists he loves Angel (not sure he knows the meaning of the word—really, he’s obsessed with Angel in an unhealthy way—even if he were a stand-up guy, this is NOT love) … and yeah, they go home.
Angel finds Michael crying in the barn that night. The next day, he finds her in a creek, self-harming (rubbing rocks all over her skin to try to “clean herself”). Michael drags her out and tells her he forgives her (because that’ll fix her obvious trauma response). Angel tells him that he needs to stop having expectations of her (fair) and Michael refuses to listen because he doesn’t listen to people.
This is a safe man to be in a covenant relationship with. Not.
Michael then tells Angel how his dad was a plantation owner, beat him, and told him that the slaves were animals, but an old slave told him about God. Michael’s dad sent him a slave girl to use as a prostitute one night, which was the final straw for him, and he packed up and left. Michael pulls a message of faith out of this, which would feel a lot more earned if he was a decent guy, but he’s not.
I am reminded once again as to how it is the duty of Christian fiction writers to make some sort of nod to the fact that they are not racist, and like, why do we always have to do this? I mean, I get it. I do. But it feels so performative. We all know slavery is evil. We don’t need ALL our characters to state this fact in every book.
Anyways, Angel starts settling back into farm life and seems to be doing better because, I don’t know, it’s time for that to happen in the movie. A traveling family shows up with a very pregnant mother and two daughters. Their dad needs help fixing up the wagon, so they stay with Angel and Michael and make friends and decide to stay forever.
There is singing. The plot has stalled.
The baby has come with no drama, thank the Lord.
Apparently Michael forgives Paul even though the right decision would be to never forgive the man who slept with your wife. According to me, I mean. (To be fair, my husband would probably have already committed some homicide at this point, so I never will have to worry about that, but meh.)
Angel is reminded by the baby that Michael wants kids. She is saddened. She tells Michael she can’t get pregnant because she was sterilized after her first pregnancy. He tells her he loves her, and later, they have sex on a hilltop out in the open. Mostly clothed, granted (she just pops off her top like a normal person having sex out in the cold—literally why, Angel? Look, not to get too graphic, but there is literally nothing that is more of a turn-off than COLD), but we get the whole thing—the faces, the panting, the movements. I’ve seen less in MA-rated shows. It wasn’t fade to black.
So that was just heavily disturbing.
Anyways, after this, Angel leaves one of the daughters who is staying with them a note saying she can have Michael (why do women always act like they can just pass men around?) and yeets, this time going all the way to San Francisco. And this time, Michael refuses to go fetch her, for some entirely unexplained reason. He’s also bitter, but this time he’s not doing anything about it.
So in San Francisco, Angel works serving food for a while, but then the place she works gets burnt down and the Bad Guy from earlier finally finds her.
Meanwhile, Michael keeps asking “Jesus” to “let him go after Angel.” I love how it’s not explained that Jesus told him not to go after Angel, nor that He’s told Michael to do anything, nor is it convincing that Michael has anything but a delusional relationship with God, but whatever.
This is giving Christianity a bad name. To quote my sister-in-law, “We’re not all crazy like Michael.”
So anyways, the Bad Guy takes Angel back to his prostitution parlor where he is grooming a child who is maybe eight or nine. Angel calls him out on this because provocation is a good idea. Granted, that is such a baby, and I would be defending that baby, but … Angel has never been accused of being smart. I would stealthily steal the baby and gave her safe. Poor babies.
The Bad Guy leaves and we hear little girls screaming in the background while Angel collapses to the ground, sobbing and probably having another PTSD episode, but the film will probably not address that PTSD in a healthy way, so let’s not think about that.
Anywho, they dress Angel up and drag her to the stage again. She prays for God to save her and the girls (children and teenagers) who are being made to perform. Then she tells the crowd what the Bad Guy has been doing with little girls and with her.
The Bad Guy drags her off the stage and wants to kill her, but a guy from the crowd pins him down so Angel can run. On her way out, she rescues the two little girls who the Bad Guy currently has in his rooms.
As Angel runs out with the girls, the crowd realizes that she was telling the truth and storms the building. They find the Bad Guy and hang him (his body is shown dangling on screen).
Three years later (YES THAT MUCH OF A TIME JUMP), Paul sees Angel in San Francisco where she is running a house/school/sanctuary for former prostitutes. (My sister-in-law says it’s not that, so before you @ me, read on) He comes there and sees her. We find out that Paul married the daughter Angel wanted to marry Michael while Michael remained single.
Because he’s still waiting for Angel, of course. This dumb—
Anyways, Angel tells Paul that he should go tell Michael she’s dead so he will move on. Paul bursts into tears and tells Angel he’s changed and is sorry for all he’s done and wants forgiveness. (Forgive, yes. Forget, never.) And yeah, she forgives him, because trauma is not a big deal, right?
Paul asks Angel to come back and end Michael’s suffering. Angel refuses because she’s needed at San Francisco. Which is true! The place she’s working now seems both safe and healing. (I don’t know how she afforded that, but you know. Whatever.)
I’ve just been informed, after making the above comment about affording things, that it’s just a school that she works at, not a safe house or anything. I am less impressed. Though I’m not sure if my sister-in-law or I are more right, so I’ll leave it up to y’all who read the book/paid more attention.
So anyways, Angel arrives back at the farm as a Lauren Daigle song plays and both my sister-in-law and I scream, “Noooo.”
Sorry, I just can’t get behind Lauren Daigle because I am not an emotional Christian by nature, and her songs breathe emotion to me.
I’m lame like that.
Anywho.
Angel tells Michael her real name is Sarah and apologizes, and Michael gives her the ring she left behind back because he’s apparently been wearing it on his pinky finger all this time. They pledge eternal devotion to each other. Michael again says he loves her even though I will repeat that this is not true.
If she wakes up some time to him making a sculpture of her out of her hair, I would not be surprised.
Then we flash forward to them with a baby son and her pregnant again. But like, I thought we established that she can’t have children? Whatever.
End of Movie. Thank The Lord Above That This Is Over.
So that was … an experience I would not trade for all the world. I have lost some brain cells, and I love movies that help me lose brain cells. Because, you know, I am depressed and enjoy pain.
I came into the movie with an open mind, really wanting to like it because I’m obstinate, and so many of my friends disliked it. Further, so many of my friends called it sinful, evil, etc., that I couldn’t help but decide that that was an extreme view.
On the flipside, a lot of reviews from people who loved the movie were really judgmental about people who hated the movie, Which I, you know, also was all over.
I expected it to have vaguely sensual scenes, but we got sex scenes that I swear I have seen less of in MA-rated shows. I expected it to be mildly toxic, but we had creepy men and incorrect views of Christian marriage for days. I expected it to be somewhat badly-written and moderately low on plot, but it practically a dark Hallmark movie.
What I didn’t have a problem with? The accurate depiction of the trauma caused by sexual abuse, the evilness inherent in sex trafficking and sexual grooming, and all related aspects of the story. I thought it was tasteful and gave just the right amount of detail.
The problem is, the story didn’t go the extra mile to portray realistic healing from PTSD, the people around Angel were never safe people, and there weren’t a lot of proffered resources within the film to realistically address the situations at hand. I feel like the only thing that was really offered was “pray about it,” but that’s really not enough.
As I mentioned in the summary, they were forcefully given that “perfect ending” that felt both unearned and unrealistic (especially given that no explanation was given in the movie itself as to what kind of “sterilization,” effective or not, Angel went through and how that just magically resolved?! It feels like instead of healthily representing infertility, the movie just chose to let the main characters “pray it away,” and like, yes, the movie didn’t have to deal with infertility, but neither did it need to create artificial drama for like a few scenes only to immediately dismiss it? I guess I’m too sensitive about this topic, though).
Another aspect to address is that I have heard the book is supposed to be based on the story of Hosea. However, the movie did NOT get that across. I haven’t read the book. It probably got that across perfectly and is a great book.
But as an objective piece of media, this movie does not work in that way. There is no pointing toward God. There was no real belief in me by the time the credits rolled that there was an analogy, and I was actively looking for it. I can’t even imagine what it would look like to someone who didn’t know, all along, that Michael was supposed to be God in this story, and Angel us, the fallen bride.
Or you could argue that Michael is supposed to be Hosea, but that in the Bible itself is a prophetic analogy used by God to describe His relationship with Israel …? Hosea was a prophet, not some random dude with a troubled wife?
Because we are not God and husbands are not expected to do everything for their wives in the same manner God did everything for Israel. Husbands cannot forgive their wives’ sins. Husbands cannot stand in place for God to their wives; husbands cannot be a high priest for their wives.
In addition, the story wanders greatly from the original storyline of Hosea by including the child trafficking thread, correct? Therefore, why can’t the story just be something on its own? “Inspired by” is one thing, but I’ve had a lot of people tell me that it’s a retelling, which is a different matter entirely because then, again, it puts Michael in the position of either the Lord or a prophet of the Lord, in which case …
You are saying that the Lord needs us in the same way a man might desire to have sex with a beautiful woman. I’m sorry if that’s a little too crude an interpretation, but this is not a media excluded to the high-thinking amongst us, and as such, it needs to try a little harder to not make those direct comparisons.
At best, though, it puts God in the place of a human man, which is an analogy used in the Bible, after all. Marriage is one of the best representations of God’s love for us and relationship with His bride, the Church. But it’s not a perfect analogy.
To quote a reviewer of the book, “The popularity of this book and some of the comments are representative of the “God as love” or some kind of “divine romancer” beliefs that are prevalent, as if God needs us and is desperate for us, rather than the other way around. The author writes that God says, “Though you deny me, I love you with an everlasting love.” That is not in line with Scripture, where God does not love with an everlasting love those who deny Him. God hates sin (and sinners) and demands obedience. Yes, God loves us and forgives us when we sin if we approach Him through trust in Jesus, but that doesn’t give us a licence to sin or to presume upon His grace. Redemption (the supposed theme of this book) should lead to a complete transformation of heart and life.” (See review.)
Okay, I’ll stop. I can’t sort it out. I am not a wise woman. I am a simple one, with simple beliefs.
And I simply decided that this movie fails to be a good movie and therefore does not have the right to hid behind the “it’s a RETELLING of a book of the Bible” excuse. If anything, that means we should scrutinize it more closely, not give it free license to do what we want.
This is just not my type of romance. I love masculine, I-would-die-for-her, godly men who chase down their women and do what men are supposed to do—love them.
But I dislike men who treat women like chattel. Yes, that’s a thing, and yes, it’s bad!!! Michael treated Angel like a man treats a woman he doesn’t respect. Because all life deserves respect.
Is respect a necessary element of a man’s love for a woman in a Christian marriage? Yeah, it is. We both need and crave love and respect, just to differing degrees as we are, in fact, different. But women need to know that they are wanted for something more than their body, and they need to be brought into a relationship willingly.
And what about consent? That’s the buzz-word amongst non-Christians. Is it even important in a Christian relationship?
YES. In fact, it is even more vital amongst Christians because we should have higher standards. Not to the “you have to ask your wife every time you kiss her” way because that’s nonsense. In fact, if you’re doing that, well, either you’re dealing with some trauma responses (valid) or you might want to rethink your relationship.
But sexual relationships should not be an obligation. There should be no room for guilt in the marriage bed. And women should not be dragged back, kept inside, MADE to submit.
If you’re a Christian man, ask yourself, is her unwilling, fear-based submission really what you want? And if you’re a Christian women, if he makes you feel like that, how can I help you run?
Anyways.
TTFN!
~Kell~
P.S.Well, what do you think? I’m legitimately curious, and I’m up for hearing all sorts of opinions! Though if you know me at all, you know calling me a prude is gonna get them eye-rolls.
Kellyn Roth, Author
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