Susan May Warren's Blog, page 30

From Russia with Love

This year marks the tenth anniversary of my first novel being published. Happily Ever After came out in 2003 just as we returned home from the mission field in Russia, and I still remember staring wide eyed at the cover thinking…how on earth did this happen?

See the truth is that I never set out to get a book published. I was a missionary in Russia and loved what I did, had no desire really to do antic else. In fact, when someone suggested that I write a novel I thought, I can no more write a novel than I can be fluent in Russian.

At the time I was struggling to learn the language and the helplessness of being in a foreign country, unable to communicate drove me to books for escape. Oh, the sweetness of my mother tongue! But it was there, engrossed in the pages of a novel, I first felt the tugging, first heard the whispers . . . What if?

If I could learn Russian, perhaps I could also pen a novel.

Oh, my ridiculous attempts at speaking Russian should have scared me off. But I was just desperate and naive enough to believe I could learn this language full of guttural khas and sharp itchkas.

But perhaps that is what it takes to learn something as daunting as another language . . . whether it be Russian or the language of story. Naiveté. And passion.

And perhaps a few other things.



The truth is that all it took to be fluent in Russian is a commitment to the task, willingness to look like a fool and the determination not to quit.

Yeah, that’s all. Right.

But the truth is, one misspelled, then corrected word at a time, and someday you will get there.

This truth slowly hit home as, armed with nothing but a stack of giveaway novels, I would open them in the cold night after my children were ticked tight into their beds. Armed with a cup of Russian tea and a highlighter, I’d go to work, reading, dissecting, tabbing down pages, and noting words that sang to me in my little Russian notebook.

Never, I thought, as I studied these masters, and then put words to paper. Oh, my efforts could make me weep with frustration. How did these authors arrest words into these amazing sentences, create such realizing characters, whittle such intricate plots? I looked at my own sweaty attempts and nearly quit, over. And over.

But, like the acquisition of a new language, the more I fumbled about, the more fleeting success I had putting together a sentence, then a paragraph, then a chapter, the more the desire . . . and dare I say confidence grew, blossomed, and began to bear fruit.

I will never forget the triumphant joy of finishing my first novel. Yes, it was 400,000 words and completely unpublishable, but I had finished it.

Which meant I could finish another. And another until suddenly one day, the words would congeal as if by magic . . . and I’d make sense.

And then . . . someone might listen.

People often ask me what the secret to getting published is: There is no secret, of course. It’s hard work, and pressing on, looking foolish, being misunderstood, frustrated at your own inabilities to get it right until one day . . . you do. And you find that one person who suddenly hears you, understands your story. Your crazy Russian.

The secret to getting #published? There is no secret. @SusanMayWarren
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So, two thoughts I bring from Russia, with love, to my writing friends on the journey:

1. Fluency takes time and practice. It doesn’t come overnight. Keep speaking and don’t despise the little steps, the tiny victories.

2. You will lose it if you don’t use it. Or strive to improve. After the sweat of learning Russian, I’ve used it little since retiring to the states, and although, when I need it, it will come back to me like a favorite song, some of the words are missing. Don’t let your skills stagnate.

What have you found to be the most difficult part of your writing journey?

Ya vero tebe!

C Bogom!

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Winner Announced from My ‘It Had to Be You’ Visa Cash Card Giveaway

Congratulations to the winner of my It Had to Be You giveaway, Heather Young! Heather, you’ve won a $100 Visa cash card and copies of It Had to Be You and Take a Chance on Me! My assistant will be in touch with the details.

Five Secrets of Best-Sellers

Best-selling story will have a hero or heroine who is both strong . . . and damaged . . .

J.K.Rowling, John Grisham, Karen Kingsbury, Tom Clancy, Jane Austen, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkein, Robert Ludlum: all best-selling authors, from different genres, markets, even eras. How? What sets their stories apart from others that make them a must-buy for readers?

They know the secrets to a best-selling story. And you can to.

Secret #1: A Sympathetic Hero or Heroine

Harry. Jack Ryan. Jason Bourne. Frodo.

Who are your favorite characters in a novel or movie? Why do we get addicted to television shows, or buy every book in a series? Because we love to love our heroes and heroines. We love people who struggle, yet overcome. They give us hope and encourage us in our own battles.

But it’s not just their strengths that draw us. It’s their weaknesses, their fears, their broken histories, their obstacles, their wounds. We love a hero who isn’t perfect.

My favorite James Bond movie is Casino Royale. Before this movie, Bond didn’t capture my heart—yes, he was dashing and his movies riveting, but I didn’t love him.

But seeing his back story in Casino Royale—his betrayal and broken heart—I became a fan. No wonder he can’t stay in a relationship; the only one that mattered was stolen from him.

A best-selling story will have a hero or heroine who is both strong . . . and damaged; someone who will win your reader’s loyalty.

Secret #2: A Noble Quest

A Noble Quest is different from a theme. It’s that purpose, that one goal the reader can embrace and pump her fist in the air and shout, “Hurrah!” It’s that one cause that makes the reader forgive the characters for their mistakes, their bad behavior, their quirks, and even iffy choices. The Noble Quest is that one element locked inside the hearts of the hero and heroine that will keep them going forward, over the mountains and through the dark woods to victory.

How do we find Noble Quest? Ask your character what he would die for, and why? His country? Because he believes in freedom? Or, is it because he had a buddy who was killed in 9-11? What if your hero isn’t trying to save the world? What if she’s compelled by a belief that love has to touch a person’s soul? So much that she’s willing to drive across the country, give up her life, her career, her fiancé, and her future for a voice she heard on the radio (Sleepless in Seattle)? A well-motivated Noble Quest will be one a reader can believe in and cheer for.

Secret #3: A Rich Setting

Most of us don’t live on the French Riviera. Or in an Italian vineyard. Or in a penthouse in Manhattan. But maybe, for just a moment, we’d like to. When readers open a book, they want to be transported from their living room sofas into the hero’s world—the future, the past, today’s world, or in a made-up world. They want to see it, taste it, touch it, hear it, and smell it. They want details that make the story come alive: the social norms, the speech, the attire, the political climate. A rich setting embraces a reader and acts as a magnet to the story.

Secret #4: Insurmountable Obstacles

Without obstacles, the reader simply doesn’t care. And the more difficult the tasks, the higher the curiosity of the reader and the more glued they’ll be to the story. Frodo is going to sneak into enemy territory and throw a ring into the center of a volcano? And not only that, but he’s about the size of a ten-year-old? C’mon! That’s an insurmountable obstacle.

Even a story about relationships should have insurmountable obstacles. Pride and Prejudice creates an obstacle in Mr. Darcy’s immutable shyness, the social decorum that holds them all on a tight leash. We want to see a hero overcome his personal, as well as public, obstacles. Because if they can, then maybe we can, too.

Secret #5: A Theme with an Epiphany.

We want more to a book than just a fun read. Yes, reading is a pastime, but books that resonate and keep a reader buying more are those with a theme that touches our hearts, that makes us think, that applies to our lives. We want answers, or at least suggestions, to help us navigate this world, and a good novel can weave a story, borrowing threads from the fabric of life, and create a tapestry for us to examine and learn from.

Writing a book is never an objective experience. It’s about probing deep inside to see what matters to us, what questions we have, what answers we’ve discovered. It’s about journeying inward and pulling those questions and answers out for examination on the page.

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And I guarantee that, as an author, the things that matter to you will matter also to your readers.

A best-selling story doesn’t just drift out of the mind of an author. It’s about seeing characters as real people, giving them a cause, examining the world and bringing those details into the story world, about throwing up obstacles, and finally, connecting us all to a common theme. It’s about writing a book that leaps from the shelves and into a reader’s heart.

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When a Finished Book Arrives in the Mail

I admit it—I love reading my books . . . after they’re published. During the writing and editing process I can get so overwhelmed with every word, every sentence, every piece of dialogue.

But when it arrives, bound, pretty, and finished, it’s done. I can’t fix it any longer. So, I sit down and savor it. (Part of that is choosing to ignore any mistakes I find!)

I also take a highlighter and underline my favorite parts. Why? Because now that the angst is over, I can see God at work in the story. I spot all those nuggets He was trying to teach me through the story, and finally, the story becomes something outside of myself, to nurture me. In fact, sometimes I forgot I wrote it — and just soak in the story, the lessons, the emotion.

Here are some of the nuggets that jumped out at me as I read It Had to Be You this weekend (wrapped in my blankie, with a cup of hot cocoa—the best way to read a wintery book)!

“You don’t have to change the world to earn the applause of heaven.”

~ Ingrid Christiansen to her daughter, Eden

“You can blame God for your circumstances, get angry and turn away, or you can lean into Him and let Him turn this to blessing.”

~ John Christiansen to his son, Owen

“God really doesn’t care if you play hockey at all, Owen. God’s only concern is what you do with the life you’ve been given.”

“We expect God’s love to be all nice and neat packages. But He’ll do what He has to in order to draw us to that place where we need him. Know Him. Are overwhelmed by His love for us. Satan’s plan for our suffering is the destruction of our faith. God’s plan is for life. For love.”

~ John Christiansen to his children

“When life seems to go south, we feel like God doesn’t love us. But . . . Maybe we have to start by redefining how we understand God’s love. My dad says that hope is one part confidence in God’s love for us, and one part our delight in Jesus. And that when we start to hope, it changes us, sets up apart. Makes us see life more clearly.”

~ Eden to Jace Jacobsen

Jace couldn’t shake the sense that he lived a mediocre Christian life. Caught in the no-man’s land between God’s grace and God’s favor. After all, how could God truly delight in a man who had lived Jace’s violent life?

“God’s love simply is. We can’t sin it away — our only option is to accept or reject it.”

~ Eden to Jace

Jace didn’t truly understand grace. Maybe that’s what made him feel like he had to keep checking, keep finding the limelight. Because he couldn’t get his head around the fact that he already had it. A fresh start, in God’s eyes, every day.

And finally, a word the Lord gave me for this story:

“I see you, and My heart breaks for you. I long to heal you. To comfort you. For you to rise up and know you are Mine. I am proud to be your daddy.”

Just for fun . . . here are a couple of my favorite romantic lines in the story.

What Eden had just invited into her world was anything but normal. In fact, she might as well admit it. Trouble just sat down next to her for a five-hour drive.

I hope the story offers you nuggets of hope, grace, and laughter as you read it. Thanks for being a reader, friend, and for sharing the story with me and others!

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Do you want to leave a legacy?

 

You’re invited to a very special weekend: From Memories to Memoir…The Naniboujou Create a Legacy Weekend

Do you have stories from your childhood itching to be told?  Did you come from a legacy of storytellers whose tales have disappeared and need to be preserved for the next generation?  Is there an event in your life begging to be set free?

It’s time to tell your story.

If you like to tell stories, if you long to preserve your heritage for your family, if you have a life story meant to be shared, then you can take your truth, and turn it into art.

This weekend is for you.  (and a loved one – because stories are meant to be shared!)

Join me as I teach you how to put your stories to paper, and craft them into a legacy for your family – and the world.  With step-by-step instruction, easy to implement activities, focused writing time and feedback, it’s a weekend to explore the past…and turn memories into memoir.

(For everyone from musers to accomplished memoirists wondering how to get their book in print.)

Sessions:

What is memoir and why write one?

Different types of Memories

Are you ready to write a memoir?

How to start?  (with discussion topics)

 

Saturday morning:

Gathering the pieces

Finding the right Structure and moving around in time.

Storybuilding

Building the scenes

POV, Storyworld building, Dialogue.

Finding your voice

 

 

Saturday afternoon:

Free writing time

 

 Sunday: 

Discovering truth in Memoir

Legal issues

Dealing with real people

Feedback

Next Steps

Why it matters – encouragement on the journey.

And here’s the best part – well be gathering at the historic and inspirational Naniboujou Lodge!  Built in the 1920s, the lodge is the perfect place to stir up stories!

Join us April 4-5th.  2014
Go to: http://naniboujou.com or call 218-387-2688

I hope you’ll join me – it’s time to create your legacy!

‘It Had To Be You’ $100 Visa Giveaway

I’m celebrating the release of my newest Christiansen Family novel, It Had To Be You, with a $100 Visa cash card giveaway and offering readers a free book club kit.

One winner will receive:

$100 Visa cash card
Take a Chance on Me and It Had to Be You 

 

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on March 29th. Winner will be announced April 1st on my blog. Also, visit this page to learn more about the It Had To Be You backstory and my free book club kit.

Don’t miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to stop by my blog on April 1st to see if you won.

Where I Get Inspiration

I get inspiration everywhere—the news, Facebook posts, sermons, radio talk shows, conversations. It’s always about a question, something that makes me think . . . what if?

I got the story about Izzy (My Foolish Heart), the talk show host to the lovelorn from a Brad Paisely song, Online, about a guy who lives in his parent’s basement, but online he’s awesome (because he’s created that persona). I added to that the idea of falling in love over the airwaves, and whalla! Izzy’s story was germinated.

I got the idea for You Don’t Know Me while sitting on a plane to Seattle. The woman next to me was openly agitated, and when I talked to her (during the food and beverage service!), she told me was flying to Seattle to put her daughter into the witness protection program. Forever. The daughter was twenty-one. The questions surrounding that situation birthed the story.

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I got the idea for Take a Chance on Me from an event that happened in our town—an accident that killed a well-regarded man. In the aftermath the town took sides for or against the person who hit him, and it birthed a slew of ideas about blame and forgiveness.

I always look at the idea and see if I can ask a big spiritual question about it, or touch an emotional issue, or even raise a social question. Then I start exploring the characters interacting with the question and how they might find answers.

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‘It Had to Be You’ Reviews

Just wanted to take this week’s blog post to thank you for all your support of It Had to be You! My publisher has been sending me reviews that have popped up over the past few weeks, and with each review I read, my smile grows wider and wider. Take a look at some of the reviews below, and don’t forget to enter to win a copy of It Had to Be You on Goodreads!

“It is wonderful to find a set of books featuring siblings that lets us into their world. We learn about their work, we watch them explore their hopes and dreams, and we see them in their relationships with the family and in romance. Oh yes. It’s a great thing to discover Susan May Warren’s newest series. . . . Ladies, this one is a keeper.” Found a Christian by His Grace

“I fell in love with the Christiansen family and I’m looking forward to reading Susan May Warren’s other novels.” Cows and Lasers and Everything in Between

“I enjoyed it overall and the ending wasn’t anything I expected.” A BookLover’s Heart

“This one was delightful—a lovely read.” Austenitis

“I am completely in love with this book and was so sad to see it end. . . . Absolutely great job Susan!” Jesus Freak Reader

“Susan May Warren has written another book that you won’t be able to put down. I can’t wait for the next book in this series!” Penless Review

“I absolutely loved this book. In fact, I rank it up there with the O’Malley series by Dee Henderson, one of my all time favorite series, and I’m going to get all of the books in this series as soon as I can.” Servant in Training, Princess in Waiting

“If you’re one of those readers who are a newbie to Warren’s novels, there is no better time to start. This is one author who is only getting better with each book and I cannot wait to find out what joy she has next for us to discover in this memorable Christiansen family saga.” Dreaming Under the Same Moon

“If you have not added this book to your shopping cart by now, check your pulse. It Had to be You is a sigh-worthy, coming-into-her-own romance highlighting the importance of family, the necessity of faith, and how losing yourself for the right reasons can open your heart to something beautiful.” Edgy Inspirational Romance

“I loved reading this book. Susan has a gift for writing brilliant and surprising mentors into her stories. I learn from the mentors right along with Susan’s characters. The messages in this story were especially inspirational to me.” Wildflower Faith

“I’m very glad I had the opportunity to read this book and I’ll be waiting impatiently for the next one in the series. Warren’s writing makes for great pleasure reading, and I love how she includes issues of faith in her stories as well.” The Loquacious Canadian

“I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, Take a Chance on Me, but I absolutely LOVED It Had to Be You. Author Susan May Warren has written an even better novel in this one. She is fast becoming one of my favorite authors.” Millefeuille

“This book is a wonderfully enjoyable read, with many dimensions…” TroutWife

“I absolutely love this book! It’s well-written and I did not want to put it down!” Veronica’s Views

“Even though I am only just beginning to get to know The Christiansen’s, I feel like I’ve known them my whole life and I really feel like I’m a part of their family- or I want to be! I am so thrilled Susan May Warren chose to tell their story! . . . I cannot get my hands on the next installment soon enough!!! I think fans of Karen Kingsbury’s Baxter Family will fall in love with The Christiansen’s!!! This is quickly becoming one of my fave new series!!!” JoJo’s Corner

“In this book, Warren does an incredible job of teaching us about facing our fears, about coming to a place of self-acceptance, and about venturing out on faith. She shows us how to release our control and how to surrender to something greater. This inspired story is about growth and change. It is about confronting self and seeing beyond what is comfortable. Special Remarks: It Had To Be You was honestly one of the most textured and moving books I have read as of late. It was quite touching. I cried. I laughed. I hoped. I learned. I loved this book! Without a doubt, this is a keeper. I am all for the Christiansens. I highly recommend this book.” The Phone Tree Bible Study Group

“It Had to be You was a great second book to the Christiansen Family series. I can’t wait for the third.” Read Me or Bust

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Why It Had to Be Sam

We did everything wrong, and by all rights, my son should have died. When the pain started, low on his right side, we put heat on it and gave him Tylenol. Because we lived in Russia and the medical situation sketchy, we decided to wait and see if perhaps he had an upset stomach.

Twenty-four hours later, I watched as the doctors wheeled my writhing twelve-year-old away on a stretcher. In the lonely, dark cement corridor, a cat lingered in the corner, watching, waiting perhaps for lunch. Down the hall, children dressed in flimsy gowns and threadbare bathrobes played cards in a common lounge. Roaches scurried along the baseboards, dodging our shoes.

I took my husband’s hand, and we sat down, praying.

An hour later, they wheeled my son into a room, and we helped lift his ragdoll body onto a springy bed. The second bed, the size of a cot, contained a grey striped prison mattress. “You can bring bedding and stay with him,” the nurse said.

I covered his frail form, but the nurse came in and, without notice, plunged a needle of antibiotics into his bum. He woke with a scream and I wanted to wail.

“How long does he have to stay?” I asked, barely restraining myself from scooping him up and escaping the hospital at a full sprint.

“Ten days.”

Because Russia didn’t have the ability to give him IV antibiotics, my poor son received four shots in the bum/day. That’s forty shots. He came home more wounded in the backside than his surgical wound.

For ten days I attempted to cheer him up, chased the roaches from his bedding, brought him food, and played game after game as he recuperated. My worry turned to gratefulness, then to weariness as the days drew on. My other three children at home took turns joining me at the hospital. Sometimes my husband joined me. For ten days, our life came to a standstill, consumed with helping our son heal.

As we took him home, healed if not thinner, my gratefulness took my breath away. We had a son to take home. We all survived.

But this memory of the fear, the helplessness, the weariness, the gratitude became the threads with which I wove the character of Sam in my new book, It Had To Be You.

Sam is a single father who owns a sports bar and cares for his only child, a daughter named Maddy. Her mother died of a heart condition giving birth, and Maddy inherited it. As the story opens, she’s already had one heart transplant at the age of seven.

Now, her body is in rejection, and she might need another.

Sam is an exhausted, brave, compassionate father who longs to pluck his own heart from his chest if it will keep his daughter alive. He’s broke and alone and has only his best friend, Jace, to lean on. He’s not sure he can survive another long wait for a heart, emotionally or financially.

Sam is also a strong Christian who suddenly feels forgotten by God, even if his head tells him otherwise. Sam is every believer who is sent reeling in their faith by a tragic moment. Does God care?

As Sam grapples with his faith, he has no idea that God has plans to use him to help everyone discover the answer in my new book, It Had to Be You. I hope you’ll join him in the journey.

Thanks for reading!

Susan May

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Goodreads Book Giveaway


It Had to Be You
by Susan May Warren

Giveaway ends February 28, 2014.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

 

Why It had to Be Jace

We were sitting in the cold grass on a hill above the field, the temperature hovering near forty degrees, the air brisk and still enough to hear the screams as they lifted from the pile of high school football players.

Horrible, gut-wrenching screams, and the crowd went silent, our hearts in our throats as the coaches ran out from the sidelines. I began counting my players—I had two boys on the field—searching for their numbers between the pads.

I found one of them. The other lay on the field, tangled up in the screaming.

Oh please, God, don’t let it be my boy. Yes, I was that selfish.

The referees signaled for the ambulance, and it bumped out across the goal line, the ten, the twenty, all the way to the fifty.

Meanwhile, a few parents ran out into the field.

I stay glued to the hill, watching, nearly weeping when my other boy rose from the tumble, having been caught underneath the injured player.

I learned later that he was the one who’d caused the injury. It happens in football; people trip, fall, and in this case, land on each other’s legs. He’d snapped his teammate’s leg in two places.

I saw him on the sidelines, weeping, and it took everything inside me not to rush down, wrap him in my arms.

The worst part was, we had long feared this moment.

Football players get a bad rap. Many think the game is all about bravado and aggression. Yes, on Friday nights, when it’s fourth and goal, probably. But mostly, it’s about being willing to face your fears and do your job for the team.

I didn’t realize there might be another side until the coach came to us earlier in the season. “Something’s wrong with your boy. He’s just not as aggressive as he used to be.”

Now, in any other context, I’d be happy with this statement, but since the strategy in football is always to hit the other guy harder than he hits you in order to keep from injury, this concerned me.

See, football is half toughness, half smarts. And it’s all mental. Sure, you need to be in shape, but the fact is, it can be a dangerous, painful game, and it’s easy as a player to be psyched out and defeated before you even take the field.

(Not that I know, but I picked up a few things during my years as a football mom.)

So, my husband sat my son down and asked, “What’s going on in your head?”

It took some finagling, but my son surprised me with his answer. ”I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

And my husband shocked me even more with his reply, “I understand. I struggled with the same thing.”

I stared at my son—my big son, who can squat 345, and bench 285—and saw not the big defensive end, but a kid with a gentle heart.

And it was this man who became Jace Jacobsen, hero for It Had to Be You.

Jace is an enforcer for the St. Paul Blue-Ox Hockey team. He used to be a great player, until he got a rep as a bruiser who could carry himself in a fight. Now he makes his living by entertaining the crowd with his fists.

And he hates it. More, too many concussions threaten to end his career—and his life—should he take another hit to the head. But he believes that hockey is all he has. . . .

His mouth fell into a grim line. “I beat people up for a living. How can God possibly like me? I feel like a cautionary tale–look kids, don’t be like Jace Jacobsen, only skidding into heaven under the pads, or worse, due to a technicality.”

Her mouth opened, and he looked away fast, as if embarrassed.

Until Eden comes around, needing him. And suddenly Jace realizes God has a much bigger plan for him than throwing down his gloves on the ice.

Do you ever look at your life and wonder if God is wasting His time? Wonder if you should have done something different with your life . . . if there is anything God can do with it? Join Jace as he discovers that God knows exactly what He is doing in my newest book, It Had to Be You.

Thanks for reading!

Susie May

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Goodreads Book Giveaway


It Had to Be You
by Susan May Warren

Giveaway ends February 28, 2014.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win