Rachelle Ayala's Blog, page 94
April 15, 2012
King David, Romantic Hero
FREE EBOOK, MICHAL'S WINDOW, April 15-16 at Amazon!
King David, Romantic Hero by Rachelle AyalaIf you’re looking for the perfect romantic hero, look no further than King David, the greatest king of Israel. A handsome charmer and yet, inherently good, a man after God’s own heart, David was a man of contradictions, a lover, a criminal, a poet, a warrior.
Why was David, whose name means “beloved”, adored by swooning women everywhere? Let’s examine David’s character from a romantic point of view.
David the Rock StarIt’s 1000 B.C. A handsome young musician tours the King’s Palace with his harp and soon, the entire capitol city is in love with him.
Physical beauty is the hallmark of every romantic hero. Make it a basic requirement. But David wasn’t just looks. He was also the first rock star in history. A cunning player of the harp, his music wooed a princess, and calmed a mad king. He had a large following among the village women as well as the king’s own servants.
But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.
As if being a rock star wasn’t enough, David was also a real hero. When danger threatened the nation, and men of war cowered in their sandals, David defeated the giant Goliath and won the princess’s hand. The people accorded him a hero’s welcome and upstaged their king. “Saul has killed a thousand, David ten thousands.”
David the Rogue
Ah... but every romantic hero needs a flaw, something to further endear him to the reader. After all, who wants to read about Mr. Perfect Dudley Do-Right? And thankfully, David was also a bad boy. Oh yes!
Forced from hero to outlaw by the king’s jealousy, David survived by his wit, grit, and appeal to women. His wife, the princess Michal, loses everything to aid his escape by lying to her father. Another woman, Abigail, literally falls at his feet, defying her husband and giving him food. Not surprisingly, David immediately offers marriage when Abigail’s husband conveniently passes away.
Who doesn’t like their romantic hero with a few rough edges? David, the rogue, swindles the Philistine king out of a city by pretending to kill Israelites. After collecting women like seashells on a tropical beach, David becomes king and tears his first wife, Princess Michal, away from her second husband.
A consummate alpha, David would not take the back seat to anyone. And herein again, is a trait for romantic heroes. Power, lust, and dominance.
David the RomanticBut, deep inside our hearts, we want our romantic heroes to be lovers, to have a soft side, and to become vulnerable to that one special woman. Is this possible with a man like David? A warlord with a burgeoning harem, a king who killed a man to take his wife?
We turn to David’s psalms, the poetry he wrote to God. David was a romantic. He believed in the ultimate triumph of good over evil, and the love of God for a repentant sinner. He writes of his yearning for God in flowery language.
As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land.
David had that winsome spirit, emotional and repentant. He swam in his bed of tears and cried out to God, sorry for his sins. Unable to forget his first love, he brought his princess back even after she had been a wife to another. He comforted his wife when her baby died, and at the end of his life, he told his son, Solomon, to love the wife of his youth.
Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
David in Michal’s Window
David is the only man in the Bible that is recorded as being loved by a woman. This excerpt from Michal’s Window captures the kindling of that love:
“So you’re a man of peace. Very good. What about love? Do you wish for love?”
He took my hand and traced my palm with his thumb.
Oh, my soul. A thrill shot straight to my heart. A lone hawk screeched, banked and crested toward the tip of the disappearing light.
“Tell me, Michal, have you ever been in love?” He raised my hand to his lips but dropped it without kissing it.
Crickets serenaded the darkening sky with scratchy chirps, accompanied by the throaty croak of a persistent toad. I trembled, and David wrapped his arms around me. His scent pulsed hot with sandalwood, raking me with a newborn sense of longing. And his hands, oh, so firm, tightened around my waist, and his prayer shawl entangled my fingers, and his body, oh, the press of his body… made me want…
Michal ended up sacrificing her comfortable life as princess, her relationship with her parents, and ultimately David, as she saves him from her father’s wrath and he escapes into the wilderness.
Is David Your Romantic Hero?
Can you resist the magnetism of a man like David? Valiant, yet humble, comely, yet prudent in his manners, a mighty king, but inside, a boy who dreamed great things and loved the LORD God above all. How can any woman resist the sweet psalmist of Israel, the charismatic seducer, the powerful warrior-king? Rock star, Rogue, Romantic. There is a part of David that endears him to any woman’s heart.
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Michal's Window, a novel, imaginatively recreates the love life of this fascinating king. Download it for free from Amazon April 15-16, 2012.
"RIVETING... a heartwrenching romance deftly evoking challenges between the sexes in Bible times."
- Terry Long, Author of The Notorious Proposal
"Never has a story drew me in and took me to the past, but in a present kind of way, as this one has. We get to walk, run, fear, and most importantly, love as Michal does."
- Melisa Hamling, Author of Twenty Weeks
"The heroine of Michal's Window embodies the heated determination of Outlander's Claire. Coupled with the equally intense hero, David, the sparks fly."
- Taylor West, Reader
King David, Romantic Hero by Rachelle AyalaIf you’re looking for the perfect romantic hero, look no further than King David, the greatest king of Israel. A handsome charmer and yet, inherently good, a man after God’s own heart, David was a man of contradictions, a lover, a criminal, a poet, a warrior.Why was David, whose name means “beloved”, adored by swooning women everywhere? Let’s examine David’s character from a romantic point of view.
David the Rock StarIt’s 1000 B.C. A handsome young musician tours the King’s Palace with his harp and soon, the entire capitol city is in love with him.
Physical beauty is the hallmark of every romantic hero. Make it a basic requirement. But David wasn’t just looks. He was also the first rock star in history. A cunning player of the harp, his music wooed a princess, and calmed a mad king. He had a large following among the village women as well as the king’s own servants.
But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.
As if being a rock star wasn’t enough, David was also a real hero. When danger threatened the nation, and men of war cowered in their sandals, David defeated the giant Goliath and won the princess’s hand. The people accorded him a hero’s welcome and upstaged their king. “Saul has killed a thousand, David ten thousands.”
David the Rogue
Ah... but every romantic hero needs a flaw, something to further endear him to the reader. After all, who wants to read about Mr. Perfect Dudley Do-Right? And thankfully, David was also a bad boy. Oh yes!Forced from hero to outlaw by the king’s jealousy, David survived by his wit, grit, and appeal to women. His wife, the princess Michal, loses everything to aid his escape by lying to her father. Another woman, Abigail, literally falls at his feet, defying her husband and giving him food. Not surprisingly, David immediately offers marriage when Abigail’s husband conveniently passes away.
Who doesn’t like their romantic hero with a few rough edges? David, the rogue, swindles the Philistine king out of a city by pretending to kill Israelites. After collecting women like seashells on a tropical beach, David becomes king and tears his first wife, Princess Michal, away from her second husband.
A consummate alpha, David would not take the back seat to anyone. And herein again, is a trait for romantic heroes. Power, lust, and dominance.
David the RomanticBut, deep inside our hearts, we want our romantic heroes to be lovers, to have a soft side, and to become vulnerable to that one special woman. Is this possible with a man like David? A warlord with a burgeoning harem, a king who killed a man to take his wife?We turn to David’s psalms, the poetry he wrote to God. David was a romantic. He believed in the ultimate triumph of good over evil, and the love of God for a repentant sinner. He writes of his yearning for God in flowery language.
As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land.
David had that winsome spirit, emotional and repentant. He swam in his bed of tears and cried out to God, sorry for his sins. Unable to forget his first love, he brought his princess back even after she had been a wife to another. He comforted his wife when her baby died, and at the end of his life, he told his son, Solomon, to love the wife of his youth.
Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
David in Michal’s Window
David is the only man in the Bible that is recorded as being loved by a woman. This excerpt from Michal’s Window captures the kindling of that love:
“So you’re a man of peace. Very good. What about love? Do you wish for love?”
He took my hand and traced my palm with his thumb.
Oh, my soul. A thrill shot straight to my heart. A lone hawk screeched, banked and crested toward the tip of the disappearing light.
“Tell me, Michal, have you ever been in love?” He raised my hand to his lips but dropped it without kissing it.
Crickets serenaded the darkening sky with scratchy chirps, accompanied by the throaty croak of a persistent toad. I trembled, and David wrapped his arms around me. His scent pulsed hot with sandalwood, raking me with a newborn sense of longing. And his hands, oh, so firm, tightened around my waist, and his prayer shawl entangled my fingers, and his body, oh, the press of his body… made me want…
Michal ended up sacrificing her comfortable life as princess, her relationship with her parents, and ultimately David, as she saves him from her father’s wrath and he escapes into the wilderness.
Is David Your Romantic Hero?
Can you resist the magnetism of a man like David? Valiant, yet humble, comely, yet prudent in his manners, a mighty king, but inside, a boy who dreamed great things and loved the LORD God above all. How can any woman resist the sweet psalmist of Israel, the charismatic seducer, the powerful warrior-king? Rock star, Rogue, Romantic. There is a part of David that endears him to any woman’s heart.
-----------
Michal's Window, a novel, imaginatively recreates the love life of this fascinating king. Download it for free from Amazon April 15-16, 2012.
"RIVETING... a heartwrenching romance deftly evoking challenges between the sexes in Bible times."
- Terry Long, Author of The Notorious Proposal
"Never has a story drew me in and took me to the past, but in a present kind of way, as this one has. We get to walk, run, fear, and most importantly, love as Michal does."
- Melisa Hamling, Author of Twenty Weeks
"The heroine of Michal's Window embodies the heated determination of Outlander's Claire. Coupled with the equally intense hero, David, the sparks fly."
- Taylor West, Reader
April 14, 2012
Want Blog Hits? Join me in Triberr
So, what's the big deal about Triberr? First of all, Tribes are hot. Don't take it just from me. Internet marketing guru, Seth Godin, says people, not ads, create social networks. And networks multiply when combined.
So what does Triberr do for you? Simply stated, it is a group of like minded people who band together to read and promote each other's blog posts by retweeting them to their followers.Let's do the math. I personally have only 1800 twitter followers. But look what happens when I aggregate all the followers of my tribemates. If each of my tribemates share my post, suddenly I can reach almost 280,497 twitter followers.
Before Triberr, I would work on a blog post. Then copy/paste the link into a link shortener, and then tweet it to my 1800 followers. Now, with Triberr, the software automates the collection of blog posts from my blog RSS feeds into the Tribal stream and presents it to all my tribemates in all my tribes.
Each member can either "Approve" the post, in which case it gets sent to the member's twitter stream to be tweeted or, delete the post (red X) if it does not meet the sensibilities of a member's followers. A thumbs up is an extra token of appreciation.I can come back later and see how many members shared my post and even how many click-throughs happened. My tribe members are still new at this, so the share rate is still pretty low. But getting feedback from the click-throughs alone is invaluable. I can also quickly see how many people thumbed up my post.
Now Triberr does have a currency system called bones. A new user is awarded 100 bones. Because Triberr's owners want to virally extend its reach to new members, I can invite any new member by simply typing in their Twitter ID into the "Invite" button at the top of my page. New member invites are free.
However if someone is already a member of Triberr, i.e. has signed up before, then it will cost me 15 bones to invite this person to join my tribe. Triberr calls this an "inbreeding" invite. Obviously the system is geared toward finding new members rather than poaching existing tribes.
I'm chief of a new tribe called "Indie Author". We are indie authors who blog and wish to share our blog posts. If you're interested in joining my Tribe, post your twitter ID in the comments.
Testimonial:
Kia Zi Shiru :O someone reblogged last nights blog post :O I've been blogging for over a year and that has never happened to me before, not even with my NaNo posts, and I've had 38 hits already.Funny thing. Because of Triberr, suddenly I feel like blogging more. I've got some great members of my tribe who are already avid bloggers. Will you join us? See you in the Stream!
This is totally new for me :O
Links:
http://smartboydesigns.com/2011/06/15/how-much-traffic-do-you-get-from-triberr/
http://www.momsbookshelf.com/2012/04/how-triberr-has-helped-my-blog.html
http://just-ask-kim.com/getting-started-with-triberr-com/
http://www.amberrisme.com/2012/03/15/what-is-triberr-a-blogging-weapon-for-little-bloggers/
http://alltriberr.com/how-to-assign-your-twitter-rss-feed-to-your-tribes/
April 13, 2012
The writing BFF — essential for a writer by Rebecca Berto
Today’s post is a personal one. Many of you may know what the acronym BFF stands for. For those who don’t: Best Friend Forever. I promise I never, ever, use the term because it makes me feel like a thirteen-year-old girl but the meaning is still important.I separate myself into two categories.I have me. Just me. My normal life.Read more… 843 more wordsREBLOGGED from NOVEL GIRL
April 4, 2012
Top 3 Reader Expectations from Self Published Authors
Today's readers expect no less from a self published author than from the traditionally published big name author. Whether they spent $1 or $25, readers demand a professional product and an engaging experience.1. A Good Story to Tell
This is a basic requirement. Why would a reader devote hours to a story that meanders without a goal, populated with one-dimensional characters that speak with the same voice? Your story should move the reader and resonate with his emotions. It should have a structure that pulls the reader along with an interesting plot that follows well established storytelling patterns: a beginning with a hook, a series of escalating try-fail cycles in the middle, followed by a dark moment and a climax, ending with a satisfying resolution. Whether happily-ever-after or tragic, the reader must leave fulfilled by a damn good story.
2. Edited and Polished to a Spitshine
Nothing kicks a reader out of your story faster than tripping over typos, grammatical errors and amateur sentence construction. Do you and your readers a favor. Have your work either professionally edited, or take the time to pore over grammar books and study the levels of editing: structural, content, copy, and proofreading. A few of my pet peeves? Overuse of introductory present participial phrases, autonomous body parts, head-hopping, and misplaced modifiers.
Don't overlook book formatting. Being self-published is no excuse for surprising font changes, crowded line spacing, paragraphs without leading indents, or a shoddy cover that looks like Uncle Bob pulled it together with a child's first paint program.
3. Professionalism
Just because you're a self-published author does not give you license to behave like a kid in the playground. Readers do not expect Stephen King to roll up his sleeves and join in a brawl about a one-star review, nor do they think J.K. Rowling would get her friends to send e-mail defending her decision to kill off Voldemort. Being a published author means being a public figure. And that means taking lumps with grace, shrugging off the vitriol tossed at you in reviews, forums and blogs. True, no one likes to receive criticism, but never respond to a review even if the reader completely misunderstood your book, or confused it with another author's book that is diametrically opposite to yours. Commiserate privately with friends, or fuggedaboutit.
Conclusion
What can you do to beat the expectations of today's savvy reader?Take classes to learn the craft of writing: story structure, plot, characters, dialogue, setting and description. See SavvyAuthors.com for reasonably priced courses.Join a critique group. See my post The Best Online Critique Group.Hire or find help for editing. See Choosing an Editor and My Self-Edit ChecklistDon't go it alone. Join author communities that can help you learn book marketing and offer cross promotional opportunities. The WorldLiteraryCafe is the premiere community connecting readers and writers.
April 1, 2012
Dont' Read This Book - It's Junk! - Zero Star Review
Ahhh!!!! I'm about to take a swandive out Michal's Window!!! It's so-o horrible!!!Ya know, this is the worst book every written. Michal's Window deserves to be dunked into a forty gallon tub of whiskey BBQ basting sauce and tossed out the window. The heroine(sic?) is a pathetic loser who thinks David is Justin Bieber preincarnated.
David, Grasshopper or Karate Kid, is so wimpy he can't shoot a free throw underhanded. Both of these utterly pathetic returds need to be recycled at the nearest green waste center and all e-copies of the book deleted immediately or risk disk-eating nuclear termination. Believe me, the princess bling only goes so far. She's a horrible kisser and David's fly's down [but don't tell him! hee, hee]I'd give zero stars if I could. And, no, my name is not pronounced "Faulty", you idiots!!!!!
- Phalti the StudMuffin
APRIL FOOLS!!!
March 31, 2012
Get Voted Into a Tribe!
Are You in an Online Tribe?
If all you've heard about tribes was on the reality show Survivor, you're in for a big surprise with Triberr.com. Instead of voting people off the island and whittling the tribe into an island of one, Triberr is all about connecting islands of people into communities of Biblical proportions.Upon landing on Triberr.com you find yourself alone as Chief of a single starter tribe called "My Tribe." Much like Tom Hanks on Castaway, you yearn for companionship and wonder if talking to yourself and reblogging yourself will allow you to survive.
Immediately you begin looking for a tribe to join. Triberr provides you with a series of topics of which you may select one. Voila! You're on a tribe. You peek around and look for the Chief. "Oh, great Chief. I landed here but what do I do now?" Your tribemates are equally confounded. "I haven't even figured out how to enter my Twitter account." "Why am I not seeing anyone's streams?"
So you gather around the Bonfire and look for help. There's the FAQ, News, and of course Tribes looking for TribeMembers. So you click on a few, get invited and invite others. You may notice that it costs "Bones" to invite someone through the Bonfire. Not to worry. If you already know someone's Twitter ID, go back to your Home Page and click the Invite button and enter their ID directly. No bones, and a new TribeMember on your stream. Now you have tribe mates aplenty and content pouring into your stream. Do you just sit around the campfire and hold hands?
You can if you want, but the entire purpose of Triberr is to tweet your TribeMember's stream contents to your Twitter stream and extending the reach for everyone's blog entries to the anthill of followers every tribe member has. So go ahead, "Approve" and you will soon be tweeting away.
So, if you have a Tribe, please invite my Twitter ID @AyalaRachelle. If you would like to be in my Tribe "Writer's Window", send me your Twitter ID. Be seeing you around the Bonfire, and instead of being voted out, you will be voted in.
Some Helpful Articles on the Triberr Phenomenon:
Use Twitter to drive traffic to your blog: A how-to interview with Triberr co-founder, Dino Dogan
Writer's Window Daily
Ever Wanted to Publish a Daily Newspaper?
Paper.li is a content curator service using Semantic Web technologies to allow users to collect content and publish an online newspaper.
This week I started "Writer's Window," a collection of articles that would educate, edify, and entertain writers and self published authors. I chose ten streams to collect information from, and every morning, at 8:00 am Pacific Time, the Paper.li service collects articles from blogs and other online sources and puts together a my very own Daily Paper!
All you have to do to get this paper delivered to your inbox is to visit and subscribe. Me? I just hang out until after eight when the paper is generated, cull some content that is off topic or distracting, pin a few other articles I want to present and write an optional Editor's Note. No getting up at the break of dawn and dragging my little red wagon around the blog, tossing papers into the rosebushes, and dodging sprinklers and running from the neighbor's dog. A few tweets later to notify the contributors and I've got a cup of tea and my daily news to enjoy.
Wanna join me? Please subscribe here: http://paper.li/AyalaRachelle/1332951508 and let me know if you, too, have a paper you want me to subscribe to. Be seeing you!
Paper.li is a content curator service using Semantic Web technologies to allow users to collect content and publish an online newspaper.This week I started "Writer's Window," a collection of articles that would educate, edify, and entertain writers and self published authors. I chose ten streams to collect information from, and every morning, at 8:00 am Pacific Time, the Paper.li service collects articles from blogs and other online sources and puts together a my very own Daily Paper!
All you have to do to get this paper delivered to your inbox is to visit and subscribe. Me? I just hang out until after eight when the paper is generated, cull some content that is off topic or distracting, pin a few other articles I want to present and write an optional Editor's Note. No getting up at the break of dawn and dragging my little red wagon around the blog, tossing papers into the rosebushes, and dodging sprinklers and running from the neighbor's dog. A few tweets later to notify the contributors and I've got a cup of tea and my daily news to enjoy.
Wanna join me? Please subscribe here: http://paper.li/AyalaRachelle/1332951508 and let me know if you, too, have a paper you want me to subscribe to. Be seeing you!
March 30, 2012
Before I Breathe by Jenelle Jack Pierre
Before I Breathe by Jenelle Jack PierreMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A somewhat sad, but ultimately uplifting story. Kalena was an ordinary girl in high school hanging with her friends when she made met a boy who seemed to be a sweet. When she gets pregnant, she falls out with her family and moves in with her boyfriend's family. Things fall apart and Kalena returns to her parents, suffering from stress and depression. A chance meeting with a stranger fills her with the urge to turn her life around.
I found Kalena's voice so authentic that it brought me back to my high school days. I don't particularly blame the boy or any of her friends. They acted exactly like teenagers would act. The author does a great job with details so much so that the reader is sunk into Kalena's skin, feeling her despair and rejection and then rooting for her to succeed. A few structural details with time sequencing tripped me, but this did not distract from the wonderful coming of age story.
View all my reviews
March 28, 2012
My Emily by Matt Patterson
My Emily by Matt PattersonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Dear Matt,
Your story touched me in so many levels. As a parent whose little one died, I understand the endless cycles of hospital visits, the conferences with the doctors, the hope and denial, and the final crushing blow. I went through all of this without knowing God, but at the moment when my son left this world, God put a thought in my mind that he had gone with Jesus Christ. And at that moment, at the lowest point of my life, I knew God's grace had touched me and he had sent my little boy to draw me to Him.
My favorite quote:
From time to time, I hear parents bragging to each other about their "perfect" children. I smile knowing that some would look at Emily's life and think that a child born with Down syndrome has little hope for a meaningful life. Throw in the diagnosis of leukemia and that little hope turns to no hope whatsoever. I disagree.
Patterson, Matt (2011). My Emily (Kindle Locations 775-778). Matt Patterson. Kindle Edition.
I don't look at people as "perfect" or "imperfect". Every person was designed and created by God for a specific purpose that only God knows. If God was pleased to create that person the way they are, who am I to say anything? Every one of God's creation is perfect in His eyes, and I am just grateful with awe that He has blessed us with all the perfect gifts he bestows upon us every day we exist, especially the most perfect of all gifts - Romans 6:23
This is a book to be read and re-read. Your joy and exuberance of discovering Emily and your pure love for her are a testament to God's love for his children. Thank you for sharing your story!
View all my reviews
March 27, 2012
Innocent Little Crimes by C. S. Lakin
Innocent Little Crimes by C.S. LakinMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
A cross between Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians" and William Golding's "The Lord fo the Flies," Ms. Lakin's story is a chilling account of what happens when you bully the wrong person.
The setting: A remote island in the Puget Sound. A brewing storm on the horizon. Five desperate and venial schoolmates, each with their secret sins and back-luck stories, converge on Lila Carmichael's funhouse mansion for a reunion of their Thespian club.
They eat, drink, cast aspersions and pretend to enjoy themselves until a parlor game orchestrated by Lila goes gruesome. Written before the hit TV series Survivor, Ms.Lakin nevertheless presents a highly disturbing account as former friends gang up and turn on each other to ensure their own survival.
After tearing each individual to pieces in the most humiliating manner, Lila Carmichael, like Satan the Devil, then entices the victims with promises to fulfill their ultimate desires if they'd only deliver up one of their own, the chosen sacrifice.
What follows is human nature at it's lowest and most degrading as the story draws to its tragic conclusion.
Ms. Lakin's story held me entralled, without letting me go until I finished it at 2:00 am in the morning. While the action and dialogue grabbed my attention, the longish backstory near the end had me on pins and needles, impatient for the finale. For me, there were too many violins playing to excuse Lila Carmichael for her atrocious behavior, including a stern and unloving father and a weak mother. But that's just me. I don't like making excuses for the villain.
But the ending was totally worth it, sad and pathetic. The moral of the story? If you're cruel to someone, look over your shoulder, and don't ever accept an invitation to a mansion on a remote island.
View all my reviews
