Leya Delray's Blog, page 5

Belle’s Blue Peasant Dress

My goodness, is it 2019 already?

This past year was crazy for me. I can hardly believe it’s over. So many things happened all at once, and there was hardly time to catch my breath (let alone keep up with this blog). I published a book, traveled all over the country, was part of multiple theater productions, and did all kinds of fascinating costume design projects.

Speaking of which…

At long last last, I’m finally starting my new blog series on costumes design! Every since I wrote my post about the “Portfolio Life” last March, I’ve been wanting to branch out and cover some of my other artistic endeavors (besides writing). But I was too swamped last year. Today marks the first of multiple posts in which I’ll be writing about the costumes I designed this past summer for a fantastic local theater production of Beauty and the Beast.

First up: Belle’s 18th century peasant dress.

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Picture taken during dress rehearsal. (Photo credit: Amy Burns)

When I volunteered to make these costumes, I knew I would NOT be patterning them after the original, animated film. In my opinion, trying to make live actors look like cartoon characters is both difficult and pointless. It always comes off looking unoriginal and a bit overdone. I’d much rather enjoy the special opportunity that live theater brings. It’s a medium where every show, actor, and costume can add something fresh and creative to the familiar story.

Inspiration, Concept, and Fabric




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My first step was to look around for inspiration, and I found it in Jacqueline Durran’s fantastic costumes in the new live action movie (made in 2017). I LOVED those costumes! Lush, spectacular, and amazingly detailed, they did a fantastic job capturing the time period. I knew I wanted our theater production to have the same textured, historical flavor.

The first costume I started on was Belle’s blue dress. I love how Jacqueline Durran’s left behind the historically-inaccurate, blue A-line dress and white apron of Disney’s original, and instead took the same color scheme and created a much more historical, textured look. However, I still didn’t want to just copy someone else’s idea. This was not cosplay, it was theater. So I pulled out my colored pencils and sketched out my own concept for an 18th century French peasant girl.

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Since I grew up doing colonial reenactments, I already have a lot of experience with making and wearing period accurate clothing from the 1700’s. However, theater costumes need to be much simpler to take on and off than period correct clothing is. The outfit I sketched, for instance, if constructed “correctly” would be at least 4 pieces. The white blouse/nightgown (called a “shift” or “chemise”) would be a bottom layer, followed by an underskirt then the blue over-skirt, and finally the laced bodice. But that kind of thing would never work for quick costume changes. So I had to brainstorm.

I remembered seeing a “costume” version of 1700’s clothing years ago, carried in the fantastic Townsend’s catalog (which is an amazing resource for re-enactors). Basically a one-piece shift/skirt combo, with just a separate laced bodice. But the look was not quite what I wanted. For simplicity, they had made the skirt only as wide as the shift. And it just looked wrong to me. I wanted more fullness. Finally it occurred to me that I could make just the “top half” of a shift, then stitch on a fully-gathered underskirt/skirt, and pull it in with an elastic waistband.

But the first step was finding fabric!

We had a modest costume budget, considering the elaborate nature of this kind of production ($500). So there was no way I was getting all the fabric new. But it’s amazing what fun and beautiful fabric you can find at thrift stores in the form of sheets, curtains, and table-clothes!

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For the shift and petticoat (underskirt) I found some white curtains edged with pretty eyelet lace ($2). The main skirt was made out of a patterned bed-sheet, which came with a lovely printed boarder ($4). For the bodice, I found some nice , textured blue garment fabric in the back room of a thrift store, already cut out into a dress but never sewn together ($1). And finally, I used a blue&white striped pillowcase ($0.99) to make a quick apron.

Construction




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All the pattern pieces were just simple squares and rectangles. So easy!

First step was the shift, which I made using a very simple pattern from this book. All the pieces are cut in easy squares and rectangles. (The full-length version had some triangles as well, but I was only doing the top half). Since the pattern in the book was marked out in inches, I was able to measure and cut all the pieces using my quilting mat, ruler, and cutter. No tracing required! I intentionally cut the sleeve at the curtain’s edge, using the already attached lace so there was no need to worry about adding a casing and ruffle. I simply wove some white elastic cording through the eyelets at the top of the lace, and BOOM! Instant sleeve ruffle.

Everything went together fast until it came to finishing the neckline. In period clothing, the neck would be gathered with cotton cording or ribbon. But I wanted to use elastic cording for the sake of quick costume changes. The problem came in when I was trying to figure out how to attach it (along with a lace ruffle). First I tried making a bias-cut casing, but it ended up looking bulky and awkward. Then I tried surging the raw edge and simply folding it over around the elastic to make a self-casing. But that didn’t work either. It puckered badly on the curve of the neckline, and ended up so tight that the elastic would hardly move. FINALLY it occurred to me that I could use the top of edge of the same lace that I used for the sleeve. I cut about an inch off the top, did a tiny rolled hem on it, and sewed it onto the serge-stitched neckline. Then I ran the elastic cording through the eyelets just like I did for the sleeves. Voila! The half-shift was complete.

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Neckline
(Weaving in the elastic cording.)



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Sleeve Ruffle



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Finished Half-Shift

Next came the underskirt. Since I had multiple panels of the lace-edged curtains, I decided to do a lace-edged petticoat that peeped out at the bottom. To make sure I got plenty of gathers and fullness, I used quite a bit of fabric. No hemming was required, as I just used the edge of the curtain that was already finished withe lace. I gathered the top edge down small enough to fit the raw edge of the shift, and sewed the two together. This gave me a rather odd, billowing white garment with a very wide, low waist.

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Next step was the blue over-skirt. I loved the wide strip of contrasting fabric along the top edge of the sheet, and thought it would make a great hemline. But there was one problem. I wanted the skirt very full, which meant I needed a hem TWICE the length of the twin sheet’s top edge. I thought about just cutting the strip off all together, but I so loved that fun contrast! So I ended up removing the double-sided strip, cutting it in half length-wise, backing it with more of the main sheet fabric to give it weight, re-attaching it to the skirt edge, and re-hemming. It was a lot of steps, but worth it.

For the the waist, I created a casing and ran elastic through the top of the skirt, tightening it up just enough to match the width of the shift and sewing it on like the petticoat (but higher up). Then I tightened the elastic the rest of the way to create a normal waist.

But…it didn’t work right. In the first place, the bulky, narrow waistband was not going to lay smoothly under the bodice, and in the second place, I realized the skirt needed to start a bit higher up (above the natural waistline) overlap underneath the bodice and not leave a white gap between them.

Thankfully, I was able to solve both problems at once by loosening the elastic again, folding the edge of the shift down to cover the casing, and stitching it in place. This hid the waistband and acted as a deep tuck in the shift, raising the waist up an inch or two. Once I re-tightened the elastic, the main dress was finished!

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Front and back of the hem boarder



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Original, bulky waistband



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Waistband covered

For the separate bodice, I used this historical pattern purchased years ago from Townsends. I opted for the French version (naturally, since the story is set in France), and made both the exterior and lining out of the blue dress fabric. It was nice and thick, which gave the bodice the stiffness it needed to lie smooth.

[image error]This bodice pattern went together extremely fast. The only complicated part was finishing the front. I always like to use boning in laced bodices, to help the edges lay smooth instead of pulling and puckering when you tighten the laces. I never buy actual boning though. Somebody pointed out to me years ago that I could I just use cheap plastic zip cords from the hardware store. (I’ve saved a lot of money with that trick!) To make a casing, I sewed a deep seam when I stitched the lining and outside fabric together there, then ran another seam closer to the edge of the fabric. This built a casing into the seam itself. Before hemming the bottom edge, I slid a zip-cord into each casing and cut them off short enough to fit, making sure to trim the ends into curves so there would be no sharp corners to rub holes in the fabric.

Last came the eyelets for the laces. I’ve never bothered with store-bought metal eyelets. They aren’t historically accurate, so I grew up hand-stitching every eyelet on every bodice I made for re-enacting. BUT… as I started mentally counting up how many eyelets I would need for all these costumes, I knew doing it by-hand wouldn’t work. Thankfully, I discovered it is quite possible to make eyelets using a home sewing machine. (There are multiple tutorial videos like this one on youtube.) I had to practice for a bit before I got confident enough to work on the actual bodice but it was so worth it!

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These eyelets still weren’t perfect. But I got much better as I went along.

Though my original drawing didn’t feature an apron, I ended up making one out of the blue-striped pillowcase I found. It was faded and a little yellowed, but after-all, a peasant girl’s apron is not going to look spotless and new! I cut off the wide hem around the pillowcase opening, but instead of ripping the side-seam and opening it up completely, I just made the apron the same width as the pillowcase, leaving it two layers thick for weight. The raw bottom edge I finished with my serger, then folded over and hemmed with a zigzag stitch. The top edge I gathered and pinned inside a long strip of hem tap that I folded in half and stitched down to create the waistband and ties. The whole thing probably took less than 30 minutes to make.

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(As a side note, my serger was incredibly useful during this entire costume adventure. I’m certain I could not have accomplished what I did without it, and I’m so grateful to the friend who gifted it, and to my gracious Lord who put it in her head just in the nick of time.)

The last step involved shoes (pun intended). My original drawing I had Belle wearing blue ballet flats like the animated film. But as it turned out, I had the perfect pair of period-correct, leather shoes left over from re-enacting days. They ended up being just the right size, and were a nice neutral beige color (which meant she could wear them with both of her costumes).

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The only problem was that they were never actually finished, and didn’t have the buckles they were supposed to. So I ended Jerry-rigging them with a lot of electrical tape and come small, rectangular buckles we had on hand. (I had to tape two together and cover up the tongue in each buckle since the leather had no holes to poke them through). I also used tape on the inside of the shoe to hold it closed, since the buckles didn’t actually do anything and were only decorative. They ended up looking really good on-stage!

Finished Costume

I was extremely happy with how the finished costume turned out. It was even better than I had pictured it in my head! Here you can see the completed version on my mannequin (her name is Mandy and I got her for $15 at a thrift store. Did I mention I like thrift stores???)

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I was so glad I took all the extra time to do the contrasting boarder at the hemline. I love how the bottom of the dress is so layered, with the mixture of different blue fabrics in the skirt, and the lace petticoat peeping out underneath.

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I LOVE that contrasting boarder!

At first I had to keep reminding myself this was THEATER, not a re-enactment. Otherwise I would have been hamstrung, trying make everything period correct. And that would have meant no eyelet lace (hadn’t been invented yet), and probably no patterned fabric for peasants (only checks, stripes, and solids were cheap enough for the poorer classes. Other patterns had to be block-printed by hand. Kind of like using giant ink stamps.)

I used white ribbon to lace the bodice (and tied knots in the ends to keep it from pulling out during costume changes). I had originally planned to use more elastic cording (and I did later for the Silly Girls and Babette), but there was so much thick fabric around Belle’s waist that she needed the ribbon to pull it in firmly. Elastic stretched too easily.

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Mandy’s measurements are bigger than the actress who played Belle, so the bodice doesn’t quite come together in the in these pictures. But it fit the actress perfectly.

I considered sewing the apron onto the dress, (like I did later with Mrs. Pott’s costume) so there would be only two pieces to keep track of. But I’m glad I didn’t, because it allowed Belle to have two slightly different looks. (She took off her apron part way through the performance when she went to “get cleaned up” after the wolves attacked her.)

I was also very happy about how the neckline turned out, with the narrow lace creating a slight ruffle. And as you can see, the zip-cord boning did it’s job beautifully! The bodice front is smooth and straight.

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I also loved the sleeve ruffles. So simple to make, and yet so pretty! It was such a blessing that the lace came with that nice row of eyelets along the top. A perfect fit for the elastic cording!

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One of my favorite things about this costume is how all the different patterns and shades of blue and white give it so much depth and texture. Especially since it cost a total of maybe $10 (counting the shoe buckles, ribbon, and thread, which I actually didn’t have to purchase). It turned out even more unique and detailed than I had imagined and made me SO excited to move on to the next costume and see what else I could create!

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Speaking of the next costume…I’m trying to decide which I should post about next. Lumiere? Cogsworth? Gaston? So many to choose from. Do you have a favorite character/costume you want to see? Let me know in the comments!

 

It’s HERE!

I can hardly BELIEVE IT!!! [image error]

After over three years of research, writing, more research, re-writing, and editing Lily and Fred’s beautiful, real-life love-story is an honest-to-goodness printed book!

Where Daffodils Bloom  is a labor of love that I am so excited to be able to share with the world. And it’s been wonderful t to see how many people are just as excited to read it as I was to write it!

It’s now available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

AND for a limited time, the e-book is also only $0.99!

If you haven’t got your own copy yet,  be sure to go check it out! And if you have, and loved it. I’d like to ask you to do something for me. Please take a few minutes and leave a review on Amazon. It’s one of the most powerful things you as a reader can do to help make sure the world finds out what an amazing story this is.

Thanks so much in advance for helping to make Where Daffodils Bloom a success!

And don’t forget to share this post!

Book Cover Reveal!!!

Well ladies and gentlemen. My upcoming book, Where Daffodils Bloom, finally HAS A COVER!!!

Whoohoo! Drum-roll please…

I commissioned a professional cover design company, called Damonza, to create it for me. They took the information I gave them (synopsis, important symbolism, character descriptions, etc) and created two different cover concepts for me to choose between.

One looked a lot like a standard historical romance cover (with two people’s faces on it, etc) and the other leaned more toward a biographical novel design.

They were both very beautiful, and I really wasn’t quite sure which I liked better until I shared them with my Book Launch Team and asked for votes. Then the biographical novel version won almost unanimously. The main reasons were:

It had a more eye-catching cover combination.
It was more unique.
According to some of the team, the other cover looked like pulp historical romance. Whereas this cover captured the powerful essences of the true story better.

So, I went with the second one. I made a few minor tweaks to the original version, adding more information in the subtitle and a tagline at the top, and making one of the fonts more readable. But at last it’s finally finished and ready to share with the world.

Ready to see it?

Here you go:

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I am SO excited about finally having a cover.  And it’s such a beautiful one, too! The color combination is stunning, and the single daffodil is so eye-catching. I can’t wait to get some book-marks and post-cards designed to match. (Come to think of it, I believe I’ll go work on that right now…)

What do you think of the cover? Let me know in the comments!

Release Date and Title Announcement!!!

It’s ALMOST HERE!!!!!

After over three years of work, Fred and Lily’s story is finally almost ready to be released! Are you as excited as I am? Do you want to be part of making sure the whole world reads this book? Then keep reading after the title announcement for a very special opportunity below.

As some of you may already know, the title and cover which I originally used last year have both been changed. I’m currently in the middle of having a professional cover designed (can’t wait to show you all as soon as it’s finished!)

The title, however, has been an interesting journey. I had originally decided to call the book “All My Love Forever and Ever”, based on the phrase Freddie always used when he wrote cards to Lily. However, there turned out to be two problems with that. For one thing, it’s quite long (not in itself a clincher, but does make marketing more difficult). More importantly though, there is already another WW2 era book with almost the identical title. And that is a HUGE problem when it comes to marketing.

So I wrestled and wrestled with the story, trying to come up with another title that would solve those problems. And it wasn’t until last month that I finally came up with something that was short, meaningful, and unique enough to make me happy. What did I come up with?

This:

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And as you see, I also now have a RELEASE DATE!!! October 5th! I will be having a book signing that day at the Currahee Military Museum in Toccoa, GA, during their annual WW2 event: Currahee Miliatary Weekend. (More info on that coming soon.)

Now, I know a lot of you are wondering why “Where Daffodils Bloom” is a meaningful title. And what daffodils have to do with anything anyway. Well, all I can tell you is….

They have a LOT to do with a LOT of things in the story, and once you read it, you’ll understand. *secretive chuckle*

So… are you excited about it? Would you like to get your hands on an early copy, before the release date, and be part[image error] of a special team working to promote the book and make it a smashing success? Then check out this page about how you can join my Book Launch Team! You’ll get to participate in the back stage process of a book launch, read and review an early edition of the book, brainstorm promotion ideas, and earn an exclusive coupon code for the hardback! In exchange, you’ll help make sure the whole world hears about this story. Are you up for that? I’d love you have you on the team!

And if you aren’t ready to commit to being part of the launch team, but still want a special discount on the book when it comes out, then be sure to join my mailing list. You’ll be the first to know when the book is available, and get a special discount only for subscribers! (And if you’ve missed any of the Sneak Peeks, you can find them all here.)

Hold onto your hats everyone. The release date will be here before you know it! Meanwhile, I hope you all enjoy speculating about those daffodils…

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And if you’re even the tiniest bit excited about this book….SHARE THIS POST!!!!

The Portfolio Life

“For the past century, we have been told a story about work that says we must commit to a certain path in life, spend most of our career doing that one thing, and not veer too far from our area of focus. This, we think, is what mastery is all about. But is that really what great artists do? Is mastery made up of one craft…or many?” -Jeff Goins

I could feel it coming.

That uncomfortable question again. The one perfect stranger were always asking, completely unaware that they had just catapulted me into internal panic.

Like a frantic file clerk caught off guard, I was mentally scrabbling [image error]through cabinets and drawers, scattering papers in all directions, stepping on pencils, tripping over waste-baskets, and generally wishing I could hide under my desk and tell them to try the next office.

All because somebody had the audacity to say: “So. What do you do?”

Now you might think I was panicking because I didn’t have an answer. But that wasn’t the problem. Actually, I had all kinds of answers. The trouble was, I had a pretty good idea they didn’t want to be there for the text ten minutes, listening to the itemized list. They were looking for something simple like “I’m a CEO.” Or “I’m a bank teller.” And I could not figure out how to cram my entire spectrum of interests into a single word.

What do I do? Well, I have a part time job as a medical scribe, I write stories, I create costumes, I act, sing, and dance, I adore cooking and organizing, I love studying and experimenting with healthy lifestyle ideas…and on and on it goes.  But there’s no single thing that stands out as my driving, overarching passion in life, or even my sole source of income.

I didn’t haven’t the simple answer they wanted. My life just didn’t fit that blueprint.

So what was I supposed to say?

Well, as many of you know, for the past few years I settled on the answer “I’m a writer.” It makes sense, right? I DO write a lot. I’ve spent 2 and 1/2 years on a book that lots of people are very excited about, so I have a nice solid conversation piece.

Only problem is…I don’t feel like a writer.

Or at least. I don’t feel like I’m only a writer.

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Of course I am partly a writer. I have a book coming out this summer, I post regularly on my blog, I’ve been published in magazines, and I’ve won a contest with one of my short stories. That definitely makes me a writer…right?

But last fall, when a friend said innocently, “This is what you want to do for a career, right?” guess what I did?

I stammered.

And all of the sudden, I was tripping over waste-baskets and trying to hide under my desk again.

Because honestly, I don’t want writing to be my career. Not the kind of career where you do just one thing for eight hours a day, five days a week, and have no time left for [image error]anything else. There are several other things I enjoy just as much as writing (costume design, for instance) and I wouldn’t want to give them all up to do nothing but write all day. The idea of having to choose just one thing to be my “career” for the next fifty years sounds about as appealing as grabbing a hammer and nails and permanently boarding myself up in my house.

Lovely.

Yet everything around me, especially those well-meaning questions from strangers, told me that’s what I had to do. Much as I hated the idea, at some point I had to buckle down, follow the blueprint, and start pounding those nails.

But then, one day, Jeff Goins came along.

I first heard him speak on a podcast I was listening to, and then came across an article about him in a magazine. A few months later, I got my hands on a couple of his books (The Art of Work and Real Artists Don’t Starve), and inhaled them like a fresh spring breeze.

And that’s when something changed.

Within those pages, I discovered the concept of “the Portfolio Life” and suddenly realized I’d been trying to cram myself into the wrong blueprint.

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The portfolio life is different. It’s whole new way of living.

You still absolutely pursuing training and excellence, but you don’t need to pick just one thing to pursue them in. You can make money at more than one thing. You can explore whatever talents God has given you. And if somewhere along the way you discover a new talent or interest you didn’t know you had, you can go after it full-throttle, even if it turns your life in a whole knew direction.

That’s the amazing thing about a portfolio. It’s never complete. There’s always room for another skill, another business, another dream.

It actually kind of amazed me that I had never thought of this before. Because really, don’t we all live portfolio lives on some level? Even those people who are perfectly comfortable calling themselves CEO’s or bank tellers or waitresses aren’t JUST those things. They have families, hobbies, and friends too. They have clubs they are part of and charities they volunteer for. Their lives are not defined by just one thing, even if their career might be. Everyone’s life is multifaceted. Everybody has a portfolio.

So readers, I want to give you a little head’s up. If you thought I was just a writer, well…I’m not. And now that I’ve made up my mind to admit that, this blog may change a bit. You might find I’ve written a post on costume design, or culinary explorations, or organizational tips, or healthy lifestyle ideas.

But don’t worry. It doesn’t mean I’m giving up writing stories. It just means I’m letting you peek at another page of my portfolio.

And yea, it might be a little messy.

But creativity always is.

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What do you think? Do you like the idea of a portfolio life? Are you already living one? Is there something you’ve always dreamed of doing but haven’t had time for because it wasn’t your “career”? Let me know in the comments! And be sure to subscribe to the blog if you enjoyed this post.

February Sneak Peek – Forever and Ever

New sneak peek today! (If you missed any of the others, you can find them all here.)

All was dark and silent when Lily crept up the stairs and tiptoed back into the bedroom.

The rain had slacked off at last, and the thunder was only a distant rumble as she hung her dripping dress in the wardrobe. Spreading a towel underneath for her squelching wet shoes, she hoped both would be dry enough by morning not to arouse any questions.

Slipping back into her nightgown, she wrapped an afghan around her shoulders to keep the damp hair off her neck. Warmth began to creep deliciously into her fingers and toes once more, and she was suddenly overwhelmingly drowsy.

Even still, her bare feet were almost dancing on the smooth wooden floorboards. Such a light, airy feeling of relief had followed her home from Lowther Gardens, that she could hardly keep from swing-dancing around the room in the dark. Too bad she had to be quiet.

In a neat stack next to the lamp, Freddie’s letter lay tied with a crimson hair ribbon. The telegram was still lying by itself, off to the side. Sliding it onto the stack with the others, she stood just looking down at them a moment, tracing the ribbon’s outline, her fingers brushing softly over familiar pages. Dear Freddie. How many hours he must have spent writing all these letters! She was not nearly so consistent about writing him back.

[image error]On impulse, she scooped up the whole stack and carried it back to bed with her. Sitting there in the dreamy hush of earliest morning, while the rest of Lytham lay silent and sleeping, she unfolded one letter after another, tracing the lines with her finger in the watery moonlight. Though the clouds were beginning to clear off, it was still too dark to make out more than a word here and there.

Except when it came to the last line. The one that was always the same.

With all my love, forever and ever .

She could read those words clearly at the end of every letter, bold and powerful as the promise they held.

Happiness throbbed warmer and stronger in her chest. How wonderful it felt, just to read that beautiful sentence again and again. And to feel that at last, at last, she could truly promise him the same. All her love. Not just almost all, with a tiny slice held back for the old dreams and plans. But all of it. Every breath. Every moment. Every heartbeat.

Clutching the last of the letters to her breast, she smiled into the darkness.

“I choose you, my sweetest Freddie.” she whispered, happy tears pricking her eyes as she pressed the paper to her lips.

“I choose you. For ever and ever.”

 

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Pssst. Did you enjoy this sneak peek? Do you want a special, insider discount when the book comes out?  Then make sure you subscribe to the mailing list! You’ll be the first to know when the book is available for pre-order, and you’ll never miss a blog post!

Be sure to drop a line below if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions!

 

Happy Valentine’s Day! Love, Freddie

Valentine’s Day is the time we set aside, every year to celebrate love and romance. And this year I want to celebrate by sharing with you a very special treasure, discovered tucked away in a stack of cards Lily had saved.

It’s a Valentine from Freddie.

There’s no date on it, but I have to wonder if it was from some special year in their lives. It’s the only one she saved, and it so perfectly captures the forever love they shared.

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Sharon has told me more than once how particular Freddie was when he picked out cards for Lily. He would stay in the card isle for an hour if necessary, reading one card after another, getting teary-eyed with emotion, as he searched for the one that truly said everything he wanted to say. I wonder how long it took him to find this one?

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My favorite parts are the words added in, with Freddie’s own hand.

When I was writing the story, sorting through cards and letters and family lore as I tried to make it as true to Fred and Lily as possible, I remember noticing that Fred always called Lily “sweetheart” in his letters. And so of course I used that as his name for her in the book. 

And of course, at the end of the card are the familiar words he always used. “With All My Love, Forever and Ever.” As you probably know, they were my inspiration for the book’s title.

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One of the most beautiful things to me about their love story, is that it’s not the kind that just ends with “And so they were married. The End.” leaving us to wonder how they actually got along once real life set in.

Theirs was the kind of love that lasted beyond the first blush of youthful romance. The kind that shone brighter with each passing year.

I’m so honored to be the one trusted with writing the story of that love. It’s been an incredible journey. And I only hope I can do it justice.

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Happy Valentines Day, Everyone!

Before you go…

Want to be the first to know when Lily and Freddie’s story is available for pre-order (and get an exclusive, insider discount)?  Join the mailing list!

Avodah – A Word to Live By

Learning a new word doesn’t usually change your life.

But this was no ordinary word.

Most words are just labels. Useful handles, you might say.  We attach them to objects, actions, or ideas, so that we can easily hand them off to others. You know. Words like ‘cotton’ or ‘jog’ or ‘angry’.  They have simple meanings, carry little in the way of nuance, and are easy to translate from one language to another. Very useful words, to be sure, but not the sort that would change your life.

And then there is another kind of word.

These words are special. They are deep. They are so powerful that they can actually rewrite your entire outlook on life, and sometimes redefine your very existence.

Last week, I ran smack into that kind of word.

What was it?

Avodah.

And no, it’s not English. It comes from ancient Hebrew.  So ancient, in fact, that it’s root word, “Avad,” appears all the way back in the second chapter of Genesis (Avodah shows up later, in chapter 29). Throughout the Old Testament, variations of this word root are found over 1,000 times.

Wow! That’s a lot. So…what does it actually mean?

That’s where it gets interesting. You see, it doesn’t mean just one thing. In the English version of scripture, it has been roughly translated into three different words: “Work,” “Worship,” and “Service.”

Wait a minute. That’s a bit confusing, isn’t it? In the English language those seem like three rather different things. How could a single Hebrew word mean all three? Well, that’s what makes Avodah special. It actually takes all three of those concepts, combines them, and creates a whole new way of understa[image error]nding life.

When I discovered this word, it was like tearing back a veil. All at once, things I had glimpsed only dimly before was suddenly clear, bright, and breath-taking.

For years I’ve had a vague grasp of this concept. (I scratched the surface of it in this post.) The longer I have worked on Lily and Fred’s story, the more I have realized my job as a writer is not just “work.” It’s part of how I am serving God and investing my “talents” for the Master.

But I did not even begin to grasp the fullness of this idea. Until discovered Avodah. And suddenly the lights came on.

You see, the English language separates “work,” “service” and “worship” into three very different categories. Especially worship. If you’re like me, you probably associate worship with some special chunk of time carved out of “real life” so we can do “spiritual” things (like praying, singing, reading, scripture, etc).

But Avodah defies those separated categories. And in so doing, it both expands our understanding of “worship”, and elevates our idea of “work” to a whole new plane.

You see, God doesn’t divide our life up into categories and say “Look. See this hour on Sunday? That’s the worship hour. It’s mine. Now over here is the work week. That’s your thing. And oh, by the way, you ought to carve out a few hours for serving other people too. Don’t forget to work that into the schedule.”

God doesn’t think like that.

He wants every part of us. Our work, our service, and our worship. It’s all intertwined because it’s all part of living our lives devoted to Him. The Puritans actually had a really good grasp of this concept. Unlike the Catholic view at the time, which [image error]separated “holy” things and “secular” things (i.e. living a holy life in a cloister vs. the secular life of a spouse/craftsmen/parent etc.), the Puritans believed they were to serve God in all areas of their life. Rather than “career” or “job”, they preferred the term “calling” because they recognized that whatever we do, we are to treat it as a calling from God, and do it for His glory. Check out this quote from William Perkins that seamlessly expresses the concept of Avodah:

“The main end of our lives…is to serve God (worship) in the serving of men (service) in the works of our calling (work).”

Boom. There you have it. Work, worship, and service, all woven together.

Avodah means that every day, every hour, every moment, we are living for Him. Whether we are working or serving, whether we are missionaries or plumbers, whether we write books or mow lawns. Whatever we do, we do all for the glory of God. This changes everything. No task in life is too hard, or too menial, when we know Who we’re doing to for, and Whose strength we are doing it in.

Work is worship. Service is worship. LIFE is worship.

Live like you know it.

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Have you ever heard of Avodah before? Have you ever found a word that changed the way you look at life? Comment below! (And if you enjoyed this post, be sure to subscribe to the blog so I can let you know whenever I write a new article.)

Whatever Happened to Words? – Why “Symbol Swapping” is freaking me out.

I was texting when it happened.

My headphone case had gone missing, and I was asking a couple of people if they’d seen it. Now, normally I love the little word-replacement feature at the bottom of the phone screen. It’s very handy, since typos are easy to make using just two thumbs on a miniature keyboard (And I HATE sending typos in a text. Perfectionist writer here).

But this time I didn’t need a word replacement. I had spelled “headphones” just fine. [image error]Yet, the word-replacement box still tried to help me. And what it offered wasn’t a word replacement at all. It was a PICTURE replacement. A tiny little headphone emoji. This happens regularly now. Almost any time I type a  noun, it offers me a picture to replace it.

And you know that? I think that’s scary.

Why? Well think about it. What do I need a picture for, when I’ve already gone to the trouble to type out a nine-letter word? Maybe if the phone could read my mind and offer one-click replacement images BEFORE I’d typed out the word, it might actually serve a purpose (increased speed). But to replace it with a picture AFTER I’ve written it? What is the point?

You’re probably thinking. “Ok, Leya. You don’t like emojis. So what? That’s not really worth writing a whole blog post about.”

Bear with me. This isn’t really about emojis.

Actually I like face emojis. The ones that express an EMOTION. They really serve a [image error]purpose, if added to your words. (Because unlike verbal communication, it’s impossible for the person on the other side of the text message to read your facial expression and interpret how you meant the words.) I use those emojis all the time.

What I’m talking about is using emojis (or other symbols) INSTEAD OF words. And the reason it bothered me on my phone is because of a strange new phenomenon that has been creeping up on me from all directions.

I call it “Symbol Swapping.” And it’s scaring me.

All of the sudden, everywhere I turn, somebody is replacing written words with tiny picture symbols. Emojis are just the tip of the iceberg. A month ago, when I was visiting friends in Idaho, they were trying to turn on their new heating unit in the guest room. It came with a remote, but the remote was useless if you didn’t have the instruction manual at your fingertips because nothing was labeled with words. Just symbols. And since we weren’t familiar with this new device, we had no idea what the symbols meant. If there had been WORDS (i.e. heat, air, fan, auto), changing the settings would have been no problem. But instead we were presented with an assortment of tiny symbols we had never seen before, and had to look up in the manual just to understand. Great.

And it didn’t stop there. I came home to find we had a new CD player/radio at my house. When I tried to change the play-mode settings, I ran into the same problem. Our old one used words (mix, repeat, repeat once, repeat all, etc). The new one just had symbols. Twirly arrows going in different directions, with a number thrown in here or there. I couldn’t for the life of me tell what half of them meant. (Somebody had thrown out the manual).

[image error]And have you noticed what’s happening to the dash in your car? The words are disappearing. You don’t get “check engine” anymore. You get a mysterious little outline of something that looks like part of a space-ship. Instead of “tire pressure” you get a exclamation-point in a pair of parentheses.  I drove a diesel truck for the first time in my life last week, and was told to wait for the “coil” symbol to turn off before staring the engine. Well, I never did see a symbol that looked anything like a coil to me. The only thing close was a lightening bolt inside some inverted parentheses. Still not sure if that’s what they were talking about or not. (But the truck worked fine, so I guess maybe it was).

The point is, it’s happening everywhere. The whole world seems to be intent on replacing perfectly legible words with mysterious symbols that require reading a manual to understand.

I’m staring to feel like I wandered into an episode of The Twilight Zone.

As  a writer, this is crazy to me. Since when are words not good enough? After all, if you think about it, words ARE symbols. Or actually, they are made up of symbols [image error](letters). Twenty-six simple symbols that can be combined to express any thought or idea in the English language.

And yet, for some reason, that beautifully simple system isn’t being used. Now every company that comes out with a CD player or an air conditioning unit or a vehicle is swapping out those familiar 26 letter symbols for their own set of mysterious picture symbols that nobody recognizes unless they’ve read the manual.

And I’m worried this may be symptomatic of the state of our entire culture. Reading is becoming a lost art. According to a recent study, the statistics on reading in this country are scary. Researchers found, among other things:

The average American young adult spends 2 hours per day watching television, and only 7 minutes reading.
Employers find 72% of high school graduates are deficient in writing English.
The number of adults with bachelor’s degrees who are ranked “proficient in reading” is down to around 30%
American teens ranked fifteenth place in reading scores when compared to around 30  other industrialized nations. Behind Poland, France, Korea, Canada, and others.
Reading scores for all American adults are dropping, notably among the best educated groups.

If you this does not concern you, it should. Because this isn’t just about reading. The same report found that “literary readers” are much more likely to “exercise, visit art museums, keep up with current events, vote in presidential elections, and perform volunteer work.” In comparison, those who spend their time watching TV and playing video games (i.e. pictures instead of words) are far more passive overall.

[image error]Or in other words, the study suggests that the decline in reading corresponds with a decline in education, initiative, and cultural involvement, and that “The majority of young Americans will not realize their individual, economic, or social potential.”

That doesn’t just concern me because I’m an author. It concerns me because it effects our entire society.

And that’s why I think headphone emojis are scary. To me they are a symbol (yeah, see what I did there?) of a culture that is forgetting the beauty and power of the written word. And in the process, committing cultural suicide.

So the next time you’re texting, and the helpful little replacement bar at the bottom offers to swap you a symbol for a perfectly good word you’ve already typed out…

Just ignore it. And send the written word.

You might be helping save a culture.

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Oh by the way, if you’re one of the shrinking number of Americans who DO still love to read, (either books or blog posts), then don’t forget to subscribe to my mailing list! You’ll be the first to know about new blog posts, PLUS you’ll get access to exclusive, insider discounts when my new book comes out in August.

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January Sneak Peek – AWOL

New Sneak Peek today! (If you missed any of the others, you can find them all here.)

It’s winter of 1944, and Fred is trying to sneak back onto onto base after going AWOL to visit Lily. It’s going to take some doing to get past the MP’s though….

The sky was clear and studded with stars as Fred got close to the bus-stop.

He sucked in a lungful of chilly air and told himself just to keep walking straight. This was the dangerous part. Once he got past the MPs, sneaking back on base was as simple as rolling off a log.

If he got past the MPs.

He pulled the headscarf a little further forward, trying to shadow his face. Why did the stupid thing have to be so slippery? If it wasn’t sliding one way it was sliding another. Off to one side, or backwards, or straight down over his face. He’d tried tying it tighter, but then it just started cutting off the circulation to his ears and nearly choked him. How did women wear these things, anyhow?

He could see the MPs now, two of them, standing there talking in the watery light from the crescent moon.  The butt-ends of their cigarettes were dull red coals, [image error]glowing brighter every time they inhaled.

Good grief it was cold! The icy wind nipped at his legs, sticking out the bottom of the coat as they were with nothing but socks over them, since his trousers were rolled up to his knees to keep them out of sight.

One MP glanced briefly in his direction, probably picking up the sound of his footsteps crunching in the snow.

Steady now. Just keep walking.

He hadn’t wanted to worry Lily by telling her, but there was a very real possibility the MPs weren’t just standing around watching people. They might actually be watching for him. Somebody could have noticed he was missing by this point. Maybe not, of course, but there was always the chance. Especially since he’d made such a big deal about asking for an exception to the blackout. All it would take was one person getting suspicious and sending somebody to find out if he was still on base…

He hunched his shoulders and bent over a little to disguise his height. There weren’t a whole lot of women as tall as he was. He tried to take smaller steps and keep his eyes down. Thanks goodness he’d stopped wearing a mustache lately!

Almost up to the bus-stop. They’d have a clear view of him now.

[image error] Photo Credit: PhotosNormandie. Edited and used with CC License

Blast it! This was never going to work. He didn’t look one bit like a woman. And the closer he got to the MPs, the brighter that sliver of a moon seemed to be shining. If those guys couldn’t see through his disguise, they had to be blind as bats!

He kept his head lowered and stared straight down in front of him. Oh boy. Just look at those hands! Any woman with hands that big was probably in a circus side-show. He shoved them into the coat pockets to hide them. But there wasn’t a whole lot he could do about his feet. Those shoes….they were pretty obviously man-size and military issued. And all the mud he’d managed to cake them with on the way back from Lytham still couldn’t hide that.

He stole a quick glance from the corner of his eye as he passed. One of the MPs was looking right his way now, watching him go by. There weren’t many people out this late. Especially on such a cold night. Fred hunched his shoulders a little more and stared straight ahead at the steamy cloud his breath made in the moonlight. That cloud was starting to puff faster than a steam engine.

Small steps. Remember. Small steps.

That’s what Lily had told him, right before he left. If he wanted to pass as a woman, she said, he had to remember to walk like one.

Ok, so he could take small steps. But they had better be fast ones. The sooner he got past, the less time the MP’s had to notice anything…

And that’s when his trousers started to unroll.

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Uh oh! Sounds like Fred might be in trouble. Too bad the rest of this chapter is classified until the book gets released. (Muhahaha. ;-))

Did you enjoy today’s sneak peek? Are you looking forward reading the rest of the book? Then don’t forget to subscribe! That way you’ll never miss an update, and you’ll be the first to know when the book is available to pre-order. (Plus, I’ll let you know about exclusive, subscriber discounts!) So what are you waiting for?

And be sure to comment below if you have any questions, suggestions, or memories of Fred and Lily to share! Do you remember Fred telling this part of the story? Did I miss any important details? Let me know! (Just don’t give away the ending! ;-))