Becky Wade's Blog, page 154

The Life of a Table

Once upon a time, about thirty years ago, a young couple on a very (VERY!) tight budget received several hundred dollars for hail damage on a very (VERY!) old car that probably wasn’t worth several hundred dollars. So the husband said to the wife, “You’ve been wanting a new dining table and chairs. This is our chance to buy them.” So they did!

The wife (that’s me, in case you haven’t figured this out yet

Inspired by Scripture

• HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! • 

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The Push & Pull of a Satisfying Romance

I recently received an email from Eileen, a reader who is writing her first romance novel. She said: “I love the way you write romances and how they are so intense, I have few questions that I hope you can help me with.”

The questions were definitely thought-provoking! And since so many of you are romance lovers (readers as well as writers), I thought you could chime in the comments with your advice!

1. How can I make the romance difficult and unpredictable?

Some might say romances are predictable. Probably because the hero and heroine always fall in love and live happily-ever-after (HEA). And yes, the destination in a romance must always land on a HEA. Romance readers will throw the book against the wall (or burn it!), if a writer doesn’t bring the couple together in the end.

However, even if the destination is predictable, the journey there doesn’t have to be. In fact, I might even go as far as saying that romance fans read mostly for the journey—seeing how the couple maneuvers the ups and downs of the relationship-building.

That means a romance writer needs to focus on making the journey memorable and unique, with plenty of romantic sizzle along the way.

The tricky part of the journey is keeping the couple moving forward in their attraction to each other (especially growing in genuine friendship) but at the same time ramping up conflict to hold the couple apart.

If a writer doesn’t develop enough attraction at the beginning, then readers will think the romance moves too slowly. But if a writer allows the couple to fall in love too soon and has no barriers holding them apart, the romantic tension dissolves and readers lose interest.

In a romance, the push and pull energy between the couple is key and needs to be very carefully balanced in order to produce a satisfying romance.

2. What do you do when plotting your romances?

Obviously, the “romance” part of plotting is just one aspect among many I consider in addition to character development, research, external plot, setting details, etc.

But because I’m a romance writer first and foremost, I make a special point brainstorming the romance aspects of the book before I sit down to write. I keep in mind both CONFLICT and ATTRACTION.

First I ask myself, what CONFLICT will push the lead couple apart? I list all of the possibilities: external (from an outside source or antagonist), internal (from emotional/psychological issues), or spiritual (having to do with spiritual growth matters). I always try to have a combination of the three conflicts, relating and intertwining them.

I don’t actually end up using all the ideas, but the list helps ensure I have believable and sustainable obstacles. (And not just simple misunderstandings and miscommunication.)

Second I ask myself, what ATTRACTION will pull the couple together? Again, I brainstorm a long list of possibilities. I take into account their personalities and interests, along with the setting and historical context.

For example in my upcoming release, A Bride of Convenience, set in the mountains of British Columbia, I listed things like: hot spring, broomball, snowshoeing, sledding, and many other things unique to that area. Then I turned to that list to create romantic scenes that put my couple together in ways unique to the book.

The simple truth, however, is that no matter how much I plan ahead, the story always takes a life of its own once I begin the writing. My characters often surprise me by doing and saying things I don’t anticipate which takes the story into different directions I didn’t anticipate but that are even better than I could plan.

All that to say, my biggest encouragement for budding romance writers is to READ a zillion romance books and start paying attention to the push and pull of the lead couple and how authors handle the balance between conflict and attraction. And then just WRITE. There’s no better way to develop creative muscles than by working them hard. Your creativity will thank you for it!

YOUR turn! What’s YOUR advice for romance writers? What do you think a romance novel needs in order to be satisfying?

History in Fiction

History was my least favorite subject in school as a kid. Yet historical fiction has been my favorite genre since my days of reading Little House on the Prairie in elementary school. How can both of those truths live within the same person?

For me, it’s all about the emphasis. In school, history focused on wars and politics and world powers. None of that interested me. What spoke to my heart were the stories of the everyday people. How they overcame hardship, found love, and made lives for themselves in centuries past. That is why when I write, I don’t focus on major political events in history but on individual people making their way through life the best they can.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t do a ton of historical research, however. I research settings, occupations, clothing, railroads, medical treatments, etc. Anything that would touch the ordinary person’s life in the course of my story, I do my best to base those descriptions on researched facts. This is the kind of history I love to learn!

My latest book, At Love’s Command, starts with the hero and his men in the midst of the horrible battle of Wounded Knee. Researching the account of this massacre broke my heart, so it was only natural that it broke my hero’s heart as well. However, I did my best to keep the scene as true to history as possible.

There were other, smaller historical tidbits that were fun to incorporate as well. Like the setting for Dr. Jo’s clinic. I love using old maps to help me find towns that might not still be in existence today. I wanted an out-of-the-way town that would be likely to accept a female doctor simply because they couldn’t attract a male one due to a small population and an unattractive location. As I scanned the map, a name jumped out at me. It was so descriptive, I just knew I had to use it—Purgatory Springs. It was perfect!

Purgatory Springs opened a school in 1877 for seventeen students. A post office operated from 1890 to 1895 then changed its name to Hugo in 1896, three years after the conclusion of my story. Poor Hugo declined after the turn of the century, and the post office closed in 1909. Within a few decades, the community was abandoned. All that remains today is a cemetery.

In addition, the women’s medical college where Dr. Jo earned her degree was also a real place. The Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania was the second medical institution in the world established to train women in medicine and granted the M.D. degree. It was founded in 1850 with the associated Women’s Hospital of Philadelphia opening in 1861. They did not open their doors to men until a century later in 1970.

Do you like learning about history when you read for pleasure,
or is it strictly the escape to another time and place that you love?

Traveling Through Fiction

Over the past four years I’ve complained a good bit about our travel schedule. I accompanied my husband on many of his business trips, mostly because I wouldn’t have seen him otherwise! But I quickly wearied of being constantly on the go.

Enter 2020. The first 11 weeks of the year had me on the road to somewhere (personal or business) some part of 6 of those weeks. Then came the Stay At Home order, and all our travel stopped. Since May, we’ve been to Dallas to see family, and I drove to Boston with my daughter to get her settled in her new apartment, ready for her new job, but nothing more. And now that I can’t travel, can’t experience new places and learn new things, I’ve missed it!

But looking back over my March-April-May-June reading, I’ve realizes I never stopped traveling! Of course I’ve “been” to many interesting American and British settings, both contemporary and historical. But then those are my normal fare. Here are some of the more unusual and exotic places I’ve been through books lately:

The Middle East

In the early days of March I finished reading The Desert Queen by Janet Wallach. This lone non-fiction title in my list is part biography of Gertrude Bell and part history of the Middle East. In this book, I traveled from Egypt to Palestine to Iraq, Turkey, and the Arabian desert, first by camel, later by automobile.

I am also currently in the Middle East in Ronie Kendig’s Conspiracy of Silence, which combines military suspense thriller with Biblical archeology.

India

Two—two!—historicals set in India! Mimi Matthews’s A Modest Independence not only let me experience 19th century India, it let me experience the laborious travel to get there. I loved that! Now I’m in A Mosaic of Wings by Kimberly Duffy and loving the view a different of India via the main character’s 19th century scientific research trip. Both books let me see and smell and hear and feel several different spots in this fascinating country.

Vietnam

Not a place I know much about, but Catherine West’s Yesterday’s Tomorrow set me firmly in Southeast Asia. I felt the heat, the jungle, and also the tension of the Vietnam war. Not always a pleasant place, for sure, especially during the 1970s, but more fascinating than I imagined it would be.

Leningrad/St. Petersburg

My husband raved about David Benioff’s City of Thieves, set in WWII Leningrad, so I finally read it. Just to be clear, this man is an amazing writer and storyteller, but it was much to graphic for my tastes. Still, he carried me through the bleakness of a Russian winter under communist rule while also giving glimpses of the wonder of old St. Petersburg.

Spain

I don’t know much about 20th century Spain, so the novel The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys held me in its grip. 1950s Madrid, under General Franco. I loved the Spanish words peppered throughout, the feeling the heat and color of the city. Even though it was heartbreaking, it put me in that place and time. I’ve never before had any real interest in traveling to Spain. Now I do.

Underground kingdom of talking rabbits

Ok, I know this is kind of a silly one, but was fun to go to a totally make-believe place with talking rabbits fighting for good against evil in The Green Ember by S.D. Smith. This is a middle grade adventure series I highly recommend to those with kids.

In these months of staying at home, where have you traveled through books that you wouldn’t normally go?

Binge watch anything lately?

Okay, let’s start with a confession…

Life simply happened, and I haven’t finished painting the furniture that I mentioned in my last post—and thank you so much for all those fun comments!. I’ve started painting, mind you. The projects simply aren’t ready for the final reveal. I’m aiming for next time!

For today, I would love to know what movies or shows you’ve watched lately THAT YOU WOULD RECOMMEND. The key here being “recommend.”

If you watched something and thought, “Meh…” then this would be a great time to keep that one to yourself—or save it and recommend it to me after we’ve had a tiff! LOL

In turn, I’m going to share some movies and shows that Joe and I watched really and enjoyed—and would definitely recommend.

But there’s a catch…

You have to promise me that if you start watching any of these and think, “What on earth is Tammy doing recommending this to me? This is the absolute worst show/TV series EVER!”—that you’ll take your complaints to Deb Raney and not me.

Deal? Deal! : )

Let’s go!

Joe happened upon WIN THE WILDERNESS and suggested we watch it, and I really enjoyed it. It’s all about couples who are competing for the chance to inherit a very special home (and their very own mountain!) in the Alaskan wilderness.





We just watched this last night and oh, friends, it’s so good! HIGHLY recommended. It’s about a young lawyer who helps people who cannot help themselves.





We’ve only watched the latest season—again, Joe was watching it and I got sucked in! ALONE is about 10 people who are competing for $500,000 and it’s basically a “last man standing” scenario. For this latest season they were in the Arctic. Meaning, it was a little chilly!

The scenery is breathtaking and basically you’re watching how people will (or won’t) survive in the middle of nowhere (and how they might go just a tad bit bonkers from being alone). It’s a cool “study” in human nature and motivation—and what’s most important in life.





Great series about WWII. You already know I love history so this choice shouldn’t come as a shock. : )





We watched MIDWAY recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. A bit melodramatic in a couple of spots, but not annoyingly so. And, again, the cinematography is breathtaking and the characters compelling. And of course, the historical aspects are a draw.





What a movie! Yes, another war movie and so good! I was riveted by the premise of 1917 (two soldiers must traverse enemy territory to warn 1600+ fellow soldiers who are marching into a trap by the Nazis). The characters are superb, the history strongly compelling, then there’s the non-stop action and human drama. Highly recommended!





If you’ve been around me for at least five seconds lately, you’ve likely heard me recommend THE CHOSEN. If there’s one recommendation you take with you today—WATCH THE CHOSEN! It’s phenominal in every way!
Download the FREE APP. now
Check out THE CHOSEN on Facebook.
Start Watching Now on YouTube

Now it’s YOUR turn! What TV shows or movies have you watched and enjoyed recently that you consider “recommend worthy?”

Blessings from Nashville,

Tamera

Have you heard? COLORS OF TRUTH, the second full-length Carnton novel, has been pushed from a release date of July 7 to October 6. Bummer, but there we are.
Click for more . . .





Have you entered this month’s GIVEAWAY on my website yet? If not, enter now!

It’s for a mini waffle maker!

How I became a Daughter of Grace

“I have asked my friend, fellow-writer, and marketing assistant Christine Bierma to write a guest-post for me today. I think you’ll see that her recent experiences have made her uniquely qualified to write about the appalling racial injustice that we’re seeing in America.” ~Lynn Austin

I attended my first political rally in 47 years last week. It was in my hometown, just a few miles up the street. I read about it on Facebook and felt compelled to attend even though I was only 10 days post-op from knee surgery. Why? I went because God has introduced me to the most wonderful group of loving Christian women I’ve ever met about 2 years ago. And they happen to be black. 

Ella, “Peaches” was the first lady I met. She had intentionally sought out a primarily white church and attended a Bible study there. If you ask her retell the story about her experience, she will tell you that it took two weeks to summon up the courage to walk through the doors. She knew she would be the only black woman in the room. However, she has an incredible ear to hear God’s voice and his instruction was “to go.” As she sat in a room full of women who she didn’t know and who didn’t look like her she heard God yet again instruct her to speak. 

Speak to the woman sitting to her right and ask her to teach at the yearly conference Peaches’ women’s ministry was holding later in the year. The woman she asked to speak was my best friend. 

Later that week, my friend asked me if I would come for lunch and meet Peaches. My friend was unsure how she should react to a woman who spoke so powerfully about hearing and obeying God’s voice. It was over chicken salad and lemonade that I met and listened to Peaches tell me about her vision for a women’s group that included white women and black women and hispanic woman; women of all races and colors. She had a vision that one day, this group would come together in unity and praise God together. She was already leading a group of black women from her church who called themselves, Daughters of Grace. Now, she felt she needed to find some white women to join them. And that she told us, is where we came in. 

Instantly I was mesmerized by her passion and her love for God. I never heard anyone speak about race so plainly and I never dreamed of being part of a multiethnic group before, in fact, most of my upbringing was about segregation. I’m not sure my community was inherently racist, but it had been built on the principle of separatism. I grew up in a Dutch family, went to a Dutch conservative church, went to a Dutch school, a Dutch college, married a Dutch man. My whole life had been defined by being around people who looked like, thought like, lived like and worshipped just like me. Even so, Peaches had captured my heart in a way I was not prepared for with her fervor and the way she spoke about the Holy Spirit. It was compelling, unfamiliar and I wanted to know more. 

The first meeting my friend and I attended was at Peaches’ church in a town about 45 minutes away from where I lived. I was nervous not knowing what to expect. As I pulled up to the church, a young black man was standing outside the building and as I looked at him, I realized I was afraid. I am ashamed to even write about my fear because of what I know now. Now when I see this man, I know his name and have held his children. But at the time, I was suddenly confronted with the racism that I didn’t even know existed in my heart. Somewhere during my life I had learned, accepted and believed that black men were dangerous. I do not have one reason, not one experience that led me to believe that except that at that moment, I couldn’t deny it.  

The night at the church was filled with many firsts for me. It was the first time I was one of only two white women in a room. I was very aware of my race and that I did not look like everyone else. It didn’t help that Peaches stood up and told the whole room that she had brought two guests with her, as if everyone there hadn’t already realized who we were! As we sat there and watched, listened, worshiped and prayed my fear began to fade away.  I was still hesitant to let down my guard but that didn’t stop the group from embracing me. They hugged, prayed over and prayed for me with genuine love.  It was overwhelming.  Although I didn’t understand everything that I saw or heard that night, the Holy Spirit was evident and powerful. 

Ella “Peaches” Hill

At the end of the night we stood in a circle around the tiny sanctuary and linked arms and sang, “There’s a sweet sweet sprit in this place, and I know that it’s the spirit of the Lord” As I looked around the room at all of the beautiful women and listened to them sing I was compelled to share that experience with more of my white friends. I saw and felt a unity there that I had never known before. God was so evident in that room that night but in a way that was totally new and different for me and everyone in that room. He was showing us a facet of his beauty we had never seen. 

That is the story of how I became a member of Daughters of Grace. The story of how God introduced me to a community of beautiful believers who have welcomed me and my whole family and included us with open arms.

It is because of those relationships that I went to CVS last week and bought a poster board and spent an hour writing out Black Lives Matter. It is because of those relationships that I limped through my town’s city center with my son and my husband and said the names of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and took time to think about the injustice that many of my friends experience daily that I never have had to confront or name. 

A few days after the protest I was on a Zoom call with the board members of Daughters of Grace and was asked to lead the group in a closing prayer. I took some time to tell my sisters that I loved them and that my heart broke for their sons, husbands and nephews. That I was worried about their safety and that I was sorry that I had never thought about it before. Then I asked about their thoughts and experiences. 

Peaches told us that she is afraid every time one of her sons is pulled over. She is afraid one of them will say something that will put them in danger. I’ve thought about that for days now. I have never been afraid that one of my sons would be in danger when interacting with a police officer. I’ve never been afraid that someone would call the cops on them. Ever. Her story has made me think about how different our experiences are and how unfair that is. 

In John 15 Jesus commands us to love one another and then he goes a lot further and says, “greater love has no one than this; to lay down your life ones friend.”

What is the answer to injustice and racism? Love is. 

What I have been learning with my sisters in Daughters of Grace is that I can not truly love you if I don’t know you. Once I get to know you, you are no longer a stranger. Once I get to know you, I am no longer afraid of our differences. Once I look into your eyes and listen to your hopes and dreams, once I meet your family and hug your babies, I am no longer afraid. And even though we look different and we may worship differently and we may speak differently, we are no longer strangers, we are now friends. If you are my friend and I see that you are being mistreated, misunderstood, misrepresented and that your power, your voice, your life is not being valued, when I see that, I can’t help but stand. I can’t help but cry. I can’t help but pray and long for a better tomorrow. Because I love you! 

As I look at the life of Jesus, he never met anyone he didn’t want to get to know more, unless it was someone misusing their power. He had no time for people who believed they were better than others. What Jesus did have time for were those who were marginalized, forgotten, poor, broken, abused and misunderstood. He went out of his way to be with people who didn’t look like him, didn’t act like him and didn’t come from the same place as him. He loved people so deeply that he would stop everything he was doing to listen. And today, I think that is what we as Christians are called to as well. 

When I say “we,” what I mean is those of you who look like me. White people. We need to listen. Listen without talking. Listen to what our fellow brothers and sisters of color are saying about their experiences. 

Assume a posture of humility for a moment.  Humility will lead us to reconciliation and unity and love. Love is the answer. 

Today, would you take a moment to ask yourself, what would it mean to love like Jesus did?

To learn more about Daughters of Grace visit their website at www.daughtersofgrace.net or follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DaughtersofGraceSisters/

To read more from Christine Bierma visit her blog at www.christinebierma.com

Inspired by Scripture

This Sunday feature is brought to you by ClashEntertainment.com. You may sign up to receive a beautiful photo with scripture in your inbox each morning or view the verse each day online.

Setting Inspiration

Today, I thought I’d take you on a tour of the real-life places that inspired the settings of my books!

I love to travel and I’ve been fortunate to visit the settings of all of my novels. However, those of you who’ve read my books may have realized that the towns I’ve created are fictional. I chose this approach for two reasons…. 1) So that I can make my town every bit as cute as my imagination desires. 2) So that no one who lives in the town can email me to tell me I got a detail wrong.

In all of my books, my characters interact with real places. I use an actual region as my backdrop. And I pinpoint my town in the location of an established town. That way, I can reference a real place if I need to check the sunset time in the middle of November, or the daily high temperature at the end of May, or the driving distance from my fictional town to a real town, etc.

The Misty River Romance Series

The Misty River series is set in the part of the Blue Ridge range situated in northern Georgia.
The town I used as Misty River’s location: Clayton, GA
Just for fun, you can take this quiz to find out which of my characters’ Blue Ridge mountain homes would suit you best!

The cabin where we stayed!



Though I positioned Misty River in Clayton because I wanted it nestled deep in the mountains, Dahlonega served as inspiration for the appearance of my fictional town.







The Bradford Sisters Romance Series

The Bradford Sisters series is set in Washington state, on the banks of the Hood Canal.
The town I used as Merryweather’s location: Union, WA

Photo Credit: All h2o Flickr via Compfight cc



Photo Credit: ra_hahn Flickr via Compfight cc
An “American castle” called Thornewood served as my inspiration for Bradfordwood, the house in which the three sisters were raised.







The Porter Family Series

The Porter Family series is set near where I live, in north central Texas.
The town I used as Holley’s location: Parker, TX

Real-life Southfork Ranch was my inspiration for Whispering Creek horse ranch, the home of Undeniably Yours‘ heroine and the workplace of its hero.











My Stubborn Heart

My Stubborn Heart is set in Pennsylvania, on the Delaware River.
The town I used as Redbud’s location: New Hope, PA

Photo Credit: PhotosToArtByMike Flickr via Compfight cc
I used New Hope as Redbud’s location, but the town of my imagination resembled the town right across the river from New Hope — Lambertville, NJ.







The house called Chapel Bluff in the novel was inspired by real-life Chimney Hill Inn, where my sisters and I once stayed.




Do the above photos resemble your vision of the settings of my novels? If you took the quiz, which house did you get as your result?

My publisher is currently offering a “summer reads” giveaway! One reader will receive the ten novels pictured. If you’d like to enter to win (which is very quick and easy), click here or on the image below.

Shelter-In-Place Activities & Giveaway

We are nearing the end of stringent sheltering in place in Indiana…it’s been a slow move…very intentional and methodical. While I still have no idea what the new normal will be, I thought I’d share a few of the ways we’ve been spending the time since the middle of March. Because we’ve spent three summers in Europe as a family for various lengths of study abroad, the idea of it just being our family wasn’t completely new. But this was the first time we couldn’t go see or do things and then come back home as we wanted. In some ways though I think our summers abroad were a testing and preparation for being largely us for four months.

We love games as a family and filled many evenings with various games. Above we’re playing Monopoly Deal, a card game that is much faster (and thus better) than the board game version. It can be played with a couple people or with six or more. Another game we’ve really enjoyed since Christmas (and had to get the expansion packs as they released at our local Barnes & Noble) was Disney’s Villainous. It’s a strategy game that everyone in our family from the nine-year-old up can play and enjoy. Just a note, said nine-year-old also plays Settlers of Cataan with us, so he is a strategy game playing dude.

My husband also had the brilliant idea to build this sandbox with our nine-year-old and then got out his army men and sets he’d been saving for the boys. A friend sent a bunch of tiny flamingos that were added to the mix, some with painted on camoflauge. Hours spent outside setting up all sorts of battles.

My husband and sixteen-year-old are also replacing the old raised garden beds we inherited with the house. The old railroad tie type wood had rotted, and since we weren’t going to be in Rome for a couple weeks, this was the summer to replace them. As you can see, the tomatoes and cucumbers are very happy. They’ve grown even more since I took this photo. I love that we have beds we can use again…especially since there’s nothing rusty to require a tetanus shot.

I’m also delighted that my various flower bed are producing flowers. This was one of my first bouquets from the weekend. My goal is to have fresh flowers from my garden from June through at least October. We are off to a great start, and most of the big flowers like daisys and black eyed Susans haven’t flowered yet.

Anyone else tackle puzzles over quarantine? This is the latest of the ten or so I’ve tackled. I love that this one has cats and books, but I’ve done everything from a NYC watercolor street to a French village to a fair. One of my other favorites involved all different kinds of coffee…that one inspired a series of instagram live videos on how to make different types of Starbucks inspired drinks at home. You can find those here for your viewing pleasure.

Then there’s reader mail. This was today’s packets of books and envelopes of thank you goodies to readers who have requested my books at a library or left review. If you’ve done either, please make sure you fill out this form, so I can send goodies your way! Thank you!

And if life wasn’t crazy enough, we decided to get a puppy four weeks ago after losing our faithful family dog of 13 years in April. We resisted for a few weeks, and then decided that if we were going to get a puppy eventually, while we were all home wasn’t a bad time. We were in denial about how much work puppies are, but she’s going to be worth it. She’s smart and growing like crazy.

She’s a shelter puppy, so we really have no idea what she is other than an educated guess that she’s a boxer/lab mix. The good news is she’ll be on the smaller side — at least that’s the vets best guess.

I’ve also been reading all the books in addition to teaching, lots of long walks, etc. Eric laughs because I’m often reading my Kindle or listening to an Audiobook while walking. If you have Kindle Unlimited, this summer I have my Ohio WWII series on that platform — start here with A Promise Forged. Happy reading! In the spirit of traveling in a good book, I’m giving away an autographed ARC of The Socialite, J’nell Ciesielski’s latest book that released in April. It takes place largely in Paris during WWII. I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to share it with one of you. Just use the form below. What have you been doing during shelter in place?

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