Sandra Byrd's Blog, page 24
March 15, 2011
Bathsheba
An engaging and sympathetic take on a woman long scorned …
Can love triumph over treachery?
Bathsheba is a woman who longs for love. With her husband away fighting the king's wars, she battles encroaching loneliness–making it frighteningly easy to succumb to the advances of King David. Will one night of unbridled passion destroy everything she holds dear? Can she find forgiveness at the feet of the Almighty? Or has her sin separated her from God—and David—forever?
With a historian's sharp eye for detail and a novelist's creative spirit, Jill Eileen Smith brings to life the passionate and emotional story of David's most famous—and infamous—wife. You will never read the story of David and Bathsheba in the same way again.
"Thoroughly engrossing. Jill Eileen Smith receives my highest recommendation as an author of biblical fiction."—Kim Vogel Sawyer, award-winning author of My Heart Remembers
"Bathsheba is Jill Eileen Smith's finest work to date. It vividly portrays the devastation caused by selfish passion and betrayal, and the incredible blessing of repentance and restoration through God's grace."—Jill Stengl, award-winning author of Wisconsin Brides
"This well-researched and beautifully crafted story will resonate in your heart and mind long after you've read the final page. An excellent read with a message that transcends time."—Judith Miller, author of the Daughters of Amana series
http://www.jilleileensmith.com
http://www.thewivesofkingdavid.com
March 10, 2011
Chekhov's Gun
For every stimulus, you must have a response.
For every response, you must have a stimulus.
This is the classic rule known as Chekhov's gun, after Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. He stated, "If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there." In showing something as significant, you're assuring the reader that there will be a response to that event and that both stimulus and response will be critical to the story.
As a corollary, you can't have something happen "out of the blue." You must have a stimulus to the response or your readers will feel set up and be asking themselves, "Where did that come from?"
In my current work in progress, Queen Kateryn Parr responds with anxiety and dread when one of Henry the Eighth's councilors states publicly that the queen's religious opinions differ from the king's approved Six Acts. Because another woman, Anne Askew, is burnt at the stake for that very same cause some chapters earlier, we understand, without a word, why Parr is filled with dread.
Good writing sets up a stimulus in advance of the response the story demands, and provides a satisfying response to every stimulus presented. So she's got the stimulus. Now I need to make sure she has an appropriate response.
Do you make good use of stimulus and response?
March 9, 2011
Unforgettable
A little about Unforgettable:
Rachel Stanhope tries to see the good in everyone. But even her good graces are challenged when she meets Josh Reegan outside her Arlington, Virginia dance studio on a brisk fall morning in 1951. Admittedly, he's attractive, but she finds his cynicism and cockiness hard to tolerate.
A hard-news journalist and former World War II Air Force pilot, Josh considers distractions like ballroom dancing frivolous wastes of time. He has yet to shed his wartime drive to defend good against evil whenever he can. Yes, Rachel's confident nature is a refreshing challenge, but he wouldn't tangle with her if his newspaper hadn't roped him into covering one of her studio's competitions in New York City.
Between Arlington and New York, between the melodrama of ballroom antics and the real drama of political corruption, between family involvement and romantic entanglement, Rachel and Josh have their hands full. The last thing either of them expects is mutual need and support. But once they stop dancing around the truth, the results are unforgettable.
A little about Trish:
Award-winning novelist Trish Perry has written eight inspirational romances for Harvest House Publishers, Summerside Press, and Barbour Publishing, as well as two devotionals for Summerside Press. She has served as a columnist and as a newsletter editor over the years, as well as a 1980s stockbroker and a board member of the Capital Christian Writers organization in Washington, D.C. She holds a degree in Psychology.
Trish's latest novel, Unforgettable, releases in March, and Tea for Two releases in April. She invites you to visit her at www.TrishPerry.com.
March 6, 2011
Mind the Gap
Londoners, who have a delightful subway system called The London Underground, or the Tube, have an equally delightful saying to warn riders about the potential danger of the space between the train and the platform: Mind The Gap. This gap can be a few inches or up to a foot, depending upon the particulars of the Tube station and the train. The phrase is so catchy that it has now become a part of the common language, used to reference any space that warrants attention, for example, social standings or even budgetary deficiencies.
I, like everyone else, have some gaps in my life that need minding. They are sometimes small and other times intimidating, but they all require attention and provoke a genuine spike of adrenaline. Yesterday I had lunch with a wise friend and told her that, in this particular season of my life, I was struggling with deep trust in God in places where I could not foresee an outcome. As we talked, it became impressed upon me that where I struggled was the "gap" between a needs I knew I had and my complete inability to meet those needs. I can do nothing in and of my own power to bridge those gaps. They are completely out of my control and it's there, then, that I must learn to trust God.
God does not tell us we can do all things through discipline, effort, wikipedia, and human endeavor! Instead, He says we can do all things through Him. I told Him I had fear of someone harming me or my family; he reassured me that if someone digs a pit they will fall into it and that if a person rolled a stone toward us it will roll back upon them (Proverbs 26). I shared our immediate financial concerns; He reminded me that He has promised to provide for all my needs (Philippians 4). I told Him I was working hard and was growing tired; He reminded me that He has provided a way for me to remain energized, if I take Him up on it (Isaiah 41). I shared my hopes and fears for the sales of my books; He reminded me that he delights in blessing those who follow Him (Deuteronomy 28).
It's not that the answers are not there, it's that I have to reach out and believe them, not wasting time in worry but choosing to have faith in the certain knowledge that Someone is minding the gap, and therefore I need not. That's how we learn to deeply trust. Where are your gaps?
March 2, 2011
Springtime of the Spirit
Who couldn't use a little springtime right now? Read on for a prview of Maureen Lang's wonderful new book, Springtime of the Spirit.
The winter of an unjust war is over. A springtime of the spirit awaits.
Germany, 1918
Four years of fighting have finally come to an end, and though there is little to celebrate in Germany, an undercurrent of hope swells in the bustling streets of Munich. Hope for peace, fairness—the possibility of a new and better tomorrow.
It's a dream come true for Annaliese Düray. Young and idealistic, she's fighting on the front lines of Munich's political scene to give women and working-class citizens a voice in the new government. But she's caught off guard by the arrival of Christophe Brecht—a family friend, recently returned from the war, who's been sent to bring her home.
It's the last place she wants to go.
Christophe admires Annaliese's passion, unable to remember the last time he believed in something so deeply. Though he knows some things are worth fighting for, he questions the cost to Annaliese and to the faith she once cherished. Especially when her party begins to take its agenda to new extremes.
As the political upheaval ignites in Munich, so does the attraction between Annaliese and Christophe. When an army from Berlin threatens everything Annaliese has worked for, both she and Christophe face choices that may jeopardize their love, their loyalty, and their very lives.
"Beautifully written, passionate, thought-provoking. Maureen Lang weaves romance and political intrigue like no other. Not only did these characters become part of me, but their love for God and country inspired my own."
––Tamera Alexander, best-selling author of the Timber Ridge Reflections series
A note from the author:
Writing this book taught me some of the political ideals so many people fight either for or against haven't changed in hundreds of years. In light of what's happening today around the world and even here in America, this book reminded me to trust that the future is in God's hands and to pray for His guidance in every decision—even the ones about government.
Maureen Lang is the award-winning author of several novels, including The Oak Leaves, On Sparrow Hill, and most recently, The Great War series. She has won the Inspirational Readers Choice contest and a Holt Medallion Award of Merit and was a finalist for the Christy Award. Maureen lives in the Midwest with her husband and three children. Visit her Web site at www.maureenlang.com.
Springtime of the Spirit can be purchased wherever books are sold or online:
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Springtime-Spirit-Great-Maureen-Lang/dp/1414324375/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1
CBD
Barnes and Noble
A special bonus: Whisper on the Wind, another book in Maureen Lang's Great War Series, is available for a free Kindle download for a limited time through www.amazon.com
Happy Reading!
February 23, 2011
A Dad of His Own
Choose Gayle Gaymer Martin's delightful story to wile away a few hours in these late winter months… it brings hope, just like spring!
One Child's Wish
With his Dreams Come True foundation, Ethan Fox turns wishes into reality. Amazing trips. Meeting heroes. But Ethan has come to care deeply for a sick boy whose dream is…a dad. And not just any dad. Ethan. Though little Cooper has a great chance of getting well, widowed Ethan can't chance loving—and losing—again. Yet he's spending time with the sweet boy and his lovely, single mother, Lexie Carlson. Could a little boy's wish for a dad of his own come true after all?
About the Author
Multi-award-winning novelist, Gail Gaymer Martin writes Christian fiction for Love Inspired and Barbour Publishing, where she was honored by Heartsong readers as their Favorite Author of 2008. Gail has forty-eight contracted novels with over three million books in print. She is the author of Writers Digest's Writing the Christian Romance. Gail is a co-founder of American Christian Fiction Writers, a keynote speaker at churches, libraries and civic organizations and presents workshops at conference across the US. She has a Masters degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan and was a licensed counselor for many years. She lives with her husband in a northwest Detroit suburb.
Gail's Video Interview about A DAD OF HIS OWN and a little about her career can be view on her blog at: www.gailmartin.blogspot.com
Visit Gail's Website at www.gailmartin.com
Gail on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=1429640580
In stores now where ever books are sold or order on line: Click to Order >
February 15, 2011
It wasn't him, it was me!
You can't help but love the talented Charisse Tyson and learn from her honest insight. Read on!
We were already struggling in our marriage when I had the opportunity to buy Johnny's Bar & Grill; it was a lifelong dream to own my own place and without a minute's thought to my husband's addiction, I jumped at the chance. Within three months of owning the bar, my husband Tommy quit his full time, well-paying to job to pursue his dream of being self-employed with his own handy-man business. The acceleration of his drinking and the deterioration of our relationship followed like a house catching fire. I couldn't get my so called handy-man to change a light bulb at the bar without complaining about it. My employees and I drew straws to see who would tell him that something needed repair. And Tommy drank a lot. By the time he he put himself into rehab he was drinking a fifth of Jack Daniels and a fifth of vodka every day. His problem made it easy for me to lose sight of my own issues. I became a manipulative tyrant that ran my husband down to his face and to others almost constantly.
Tommy shattered my world by asking me for a divorce. I was completely devastated; after all, I had been paying all of the bills and taking care of everything for years. How could he want to leave me? Many sympathetic patrons witnessed Tommy's descent into a lazy, complaining drunk and their idea of helping me was to buy me a drink and have me tell them all of my problems. The wide and easy road beckoned. The narrow path led to God and He was there patiently waiting to help me. I am so glad I chose Him because I can't imagine what a mess my life would be if I had gone the other way. I asked God to reveal to me why my husband would want to leave me and He gave me a mental slide show that brought me to my knees. He showed me how I verbally assaulted Tommy's manhood at every turn. He showed me how critical and judgmental I had been. I had caused my husband unthinkable pain. If Tommy hadn't already been a drunk living with me would have driven him to it. Don't get me wrong – Tommy put me through a lot of misery because of his disease – but I could not excuse myself for what I had become because of it.
I begged God to forgive me and asked Him to save my marriage. I told Him that I would do whatever it took to keep Tommy from leaving me. God spoke to me and told me that if I turned my life over to Him, He would indeed save my marriage. His voice was clear and concise and I never doubted what He said. I don't do anything slowly and changing my priorities and turning my life around was no exception. With the help of Alanon and Joyce Meyer; my favorite "tell it like it is" preacher, I began looking to God for all of my answers. He gave me the peace that surpasses understanding and softened my hard heart. For four years He used my husband's disease as His tool to change me into a more Christ like-person. He developed in me the fruits of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control. He didn't begin to work on my husband until He had done a work in me.
I look at my husband today and I am astounded. He has been sober for more than five years; he is on the worship team and in a leadership position at our church. He is also on the worship team at Celebrate Recovery and has devoted his life to serving God and helping others. He is my prize worth waiting for; not always patiently, but I was persistent. We are a miracle and God continues to use our lives for His glory. He uses me right in the midst of our bar. Never doubt God's plan for your life and always be open to Him helping and blessing others through you.
February 11, 2011
The Brotherhood
A thought-provoking police thriller.
Now there are two concepts you don't see shouldering each other often – thought provoking and police thriller. And yet The Brotherhood by Jerry B. Jenkins succeeds on both levels. Boone Drake wants what we all want – to achieve happiness, and the American Dream, to have a successful and meaningful career and family life. He has no reason to believe it can't happen for him.
Until.
Although I am not a police officer, I was sucked into the story and the culture within. But I wondered – what would a real cop think about this book? So I asked my brother-in-law, Tom Kirchmeyer, a longtime detective with the Santa Ana Police Department who is both a reader and a writer, for his thoughts. He said, "Boone Drake's gut wrenching loss slowly and cautiously turned to hope as God worked in his life. The inner workings of the Chicago PD showed the dedication and passion of every good cop across the country. A police officer's desire is to protect the innocent and stop violence and injustice. This played out well in the book."
I love, too, the double entendre of the title, The Brotherhood, for Christian readers.
Tyndale House, which published the book, describes it like this. "Boone Drake has it made. He's a young cop rising rapidly through the ranks of the Chicago Police Department. He has a beautiful wife and a young son, a nice starter house, a great partner, and a career plan that should land him in the Organized Crime Division within five years. Everything is going right. Until everything goes horribly, terribly wrong. His personal life destroyed and his career and future in jeopardy, Boone buries himself in guilt and bitterness as his life spirals out of control. But when he comes face-to-face with the most vicious gang leader Chicago has seen in decades, he begins to realize that God is a God of second chances and can change the hardest heart . . . and forgive the worst of crimes."
Looking for a way to reward yourself this weekend? Run out and pick up this compelling read for insight into the hearts, minds, and lives of those who are sworn to protect us. It has a satisfying romance thread, too!
February 2, 2011
Me and Mr. Hyde
The fabulous Sarah Kidd's engaging and thought-provoking article on what lies within … you can see she's a writer to follow!
I spent a lot of yesterday confessing negative attitudes towards ministry co-workers. They had been festering in me for a while – threatening my relationships. Finally confessing them as sin – I slept that night rejoicing in God's forgiving grace and a restoration of peace.
Then I woke up this morning as Edward Hyde.
In one of the most understatedly terrifying portions of literature I've ever read, the final chapter of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is the last will and testament of Dr Jekyll. In it, he details his creation of an incredible drug. With the first dose he takes, his good, self-controlled nature hibernates, while his evil nature takes over. He physically changes into someone unrecognizable. Jekyll gives his evil alter-ego the name Edward Hyde. In Hyde's form, Jekyll allows himself all the cavorting and disreputable entertainments unmentionable for a proper English gentleman. After enjoying these freedoms, Jekyll takes another dose, returning to his profitable life of self-controlled respectability.
But with the indulgence, Hyde grows less controllable. By the time Jekyll realizes his error, he's too late. Hyde will not be controlled again. Jekyll begins to change into Hyde against his will – without the drug. Ultimately, Jekyll commits suicide – killing them both – because he can no longer control Hyde's growing evil.
Like Dr Jekyll, I indulged my sinful nature – wallowing in negative gossip and secret anger. I thought I could slander in one moment, but go back to my respectable self whenever I wanted. I was wrong.
The morning after I tried – the morning after I confessed my sin and rejoiced in forgiveness – I awoke to the same complaining, spiteful Hyde.
The Apostle Paul warned of this in Romans 6:16: "do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin… or of obedience…?"
In modern parlance – sin becomes an addiction. With indulgence, it becomes a compulsion. We slip into its patterns, its persona without even trying.
I let my angry, complaining, gossiping nature out for too long. Now "I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing" (Rom 7:19). My Edward Hyde has grown strong on his freedom and bringing him back under my Spirit-empowered self-control is going to be a long process.
I wish there were an easier, happier solution. One lending itself to a quick pep-talk. There isn't. My Hyde loses his power the same way he got it: through slow, constant habit. By turning to the cross in confession. By ruthlessly resisting temptation. By constantly crying "Who will deliver me from this body of death?" and finding that the answer is always "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom 7:24-25)
Jekyll killed himself because he couldn't control Hyde. I rejoice that my Savior died to give me the power to be freed from Hyde's evil tyranny.
Are you indulging your Hyde's unholy desires? How? What will you do to bring him back under the Spirit's control?
- Sarah Kidd lives in South Asia, learning Hindi and building friendships. When she's not sipping chai with the neighbors, she enjoys writing (in English!) about her experiences.
January 21, 2011
A Little Oil
Thoughtful writer/editor Jennifer Aulthouse has some good advice on viewing our gifts from God's perspective … and letting Him multiply them when we are obedient.
All I have is a little oil, Lord.
A few weeks ago I encountered this passage in 2 Kings 4:1-7. The widow of a prophet cries out to Elisha that her husband is dead, but her husband's creditor is coming to take her two sons as his slaves. When Elisha questions how he can be of help and what she has to work with, she says she has nothing but a little bit of oil. Elisha tells her to go to all her neighbors and ask for empty jars – not just a few; to ask boldly – and then to pour oil into all the jars. She does as she is told, and the oil keeps flowing until all the jars are filled. Elijah tells her to sell the oil to pay her debts and live on what is leftover.
While I have not had to encounter the death of my husband, nor has the bank come to request that our children work off the mortgage, I have held back from purposefully seizing the "oil" He's given to me as anything I can offer Him because I've judged it as being too little. The oil, of course, is my gift of writing, as well as whatever time I have to put into writing, and whatever meager opportunities I have to do anything of value when it comes to writing. From what I can see, there isn't much of any of these things to quantify.
I recognized myself in this passage, seeing the littleness in my jar and of my jar–the jar symbolizing our everyday lives. I realized I'd been subconsciously explaining to God that there isn't enough oil to do anything with. But the message became clear to me that, like all English majors, multiplication isn't my task, though I do have a role to play. In fact, without my willingness to boldly go and take the steps He leads me to in finding people and places where He can pour forth His words in which to edify the lives of others through me, there will be no harvest for Him.
It was a call to stop making excuses for what I may or may not lack, cast aside my laziness, and live a life believing that God is neither watching Wall Street when it comes to running His economy nor behaving as Simon Cowell when it comes to evaluating talent.
I have made a decision to not show God how little oil I have. Instead, I am letting God show me how little oil I have, but I am also trusting that if He sends me to find jars, He will show me how the amount of oil He's given me has nothing to do with how He can make it flow eternally. My joyful harvest will arise from being chosen to find the jars.
Jennifer Aulthouse is a freelance editor with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Penn State University. She's currently working on various writing projects, is married with two children, and enjoys seeing the Bible's wisdom applied to today's living.
