Wednesday, June 27, 2012

BOOK REVIEW: When God Whispers Loudly by Chris M. Hibbard


This apocryphal story is about what happens when a busy man hurries home to attend his daughter's piano recital while his mind is on the disappointment of not getting a promotion at work. He considers whether he would have had more career success if he hadn't spent so much time with his family. He feels they don't appreciate the sacrifices he makes for them. His rage grows as the weather worsens and when he calls out to God for answers, to the wrong questions, he ends up in the hospital after his car goes off the road and turns over several times.

When God Whispers Loudly reminds me of the classic movie, It's a Wonderful Life, starring James Stewart, in that the husband in both stories gets a chance to look into the future to see the past.

I was moved as I read the story because I remember how my three children grew up so fast while I struggled with my job. I justified my time away from them by telling myself I was doing it for them. If I had it to do over, and with what I know now, I would do it differently.

This story is available as an e-book only and would be about ten pages if printed. However, as I read it, I couldn't help thinking it has the feel of a longer book. I could see it being expanded into a novella or even a novel by fleshing out the characters and gradually introducing the plot.

When God Whispers Loudly reminds us there are more important things in life than our jobs.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

BOOK REVIEW: Save the Cat by Blake Snyder


I bought this book based on the recommendation of a member of one the book writing groups I belong to. It tells how to write movie scripts, but the friend who told me about it said the same principles could be used to help make novels better. Since I was about halfway through my latest book, I decided to hold off on writing until I studied the techniques described in this book.

Snyder, a successful screenwriter who died in 2009, describes how every good movie script is organized. It is an easy-to-understand description of 15 beats along with a description of each beat and how many pages one should have for each beat. Examples are included to make the material even easier to understand.

I could see right away how to apply the techniques to novel writing. However, there are two follow-up books, Save the Cat Goes to the Movies and Save the Cat Strikes Back, that I think I better read before finishing the novel.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

BOOK REVIEW: Common English Bible with Apocrypha


I bought a Kindle when it first came out and I'm on my third one now. The first book I bought for my Kindle was a Bible. I remember at the time I ordered it how nice it would be to have a digital edition of the Bible, one that would allow me to search and quickly find readings to follow along with my pastor. But, as it turned out, I couldn't use it. Why? Because it was organized like a book, not a Bible. It worked fine for those who read books from start to end. We don't normally read Bibles that way. I looked around for another, but finally gave up. Soon after, I found a Bible app that worked fine on my smart phone.

Recently, my church introduced its members to the Common English Bible and my Sunday School class began to use it, too. I took a chance and checked for a Kindle edition. I was pleased to see that this one contains easy-to-use navigation. The table of contents allows you to link to any book. At the beginning of each book, there is a link to each chapter in the book. With the Apocrypha, the table of contents is pretty long, but it is fairly easy to navigate. You can also use the next chapter and previous chapter toggle when needed. Overall, I'm quite pleased with this Kindle edition of the Bible.

Friday, June 22, 2012

BOOK REVIEW: The Heretics Daughter by Kathleen Kent



This is the story of Martha Carrier and her family, and how Martha was charged with witchcraft and hung in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts for refusing to admit she was a witch. The story is told through the eyes of Martha's ten-year old daughter Sarah.

We've all heard about the Salem witch trials, but often what we hear is so whitewashed we forget the seriousness of what happened. Though fictionalized, this account of the trials and the events leading to the arrests was taken from historical documents and stories the author, a  descendent of Martha Carrier, heard from her mother and grandmother. Even though you may be uncomfortable reading it, all Americans should read it so that we don't forget what happened.

The hardships of the time, independent of the charges of witchcraft, were eye-opening and made me thankful for growing up in a time of comfort and leisure. At the time, even the youngest children were expected to pull their load in the field as well as in household duties. The parents had more children to provide more  workers, and because so many died because of disease.

The squalor of the prison where the Carriers were kept was unbelievable. Martha, her three sons and one of her daughters ended up in prison, leaving her husband Tom to care for the younger daughter and the farm. He also had to provide food and clothing for his wife and children in prison. Prisoners had to pay for the manacles they were forced to wear. The crowded conditions made the filth worse.

As a Christian, I found it difficult to read about how the Puritans crucified the men and women accused of being witches in the name of the church. Prominent ministers added credence to the allegations. What was ironic about it was that the reason the Puritans came to the United States was to escape intolerance. The witch hunts didn't last long, but twenty people were put to death because of the mass hysteria and misunderstands of the time.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

BOOK REVIEW: Military Orders by Martin Roth


This is the story of what happens when Dr. Jeremiah Raphael Harel, a California University art professor, searches to understand why his brother Matt was killed in Dharamsala, Northern India. Matt had been a Christian missionary in Dharamsala where he lived with his wife and child. Luckily, Matt's wife, Sue, was in the states to have their second child when the attack occurred. Harel goes to Dharamsala at the request of Sue and his parents to get details about the killing and to clear Matt's name. The police claimed Matt had stolen Tibetan religious antiquities and smuggled them out of the country.

Rather than clear Matt's name, it's not long before Harel is attacked and also suspected of being involved in the smuggling of antiquities. The police tell him to leave the country or be arrested. He leaves, but now he must clear his name, too. The only thing significant he learned before being booted out was that Matt had been asking questions about the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. (The book is set in the future, two years after the death of the Dalai Lama.) Based on what Harel had learned from a former student who was now studying to be a Tibetan Buddhist priest, the reincarnation was expected to happen in Australia.

Harel goes to Australia, along with many other characters, both good and bad, and the action gets more intense. The story involves Chinese, Korean, Australian, American and Indian characters. We get a look at Buddhism, militaristic Christians, the making of a Bollywood movie and Aboriginal art. Characters include Buddhist priests, Christian missionaries, academics and students. I enjoyed learning details about a variety of subjects, but mostly I liked following the characters along the emotional roller coaster on the way to the conclusion.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

More First Sentences From Novels – Answers to Matchup


Last week we provides sample first sentences and asked you where the sentences came from. If you haven't looked at it, do that before continuing to read the answers below. Click on: http://christianbookmobile.blogspot.com/2012/06/more-first-sentences-from-novels.html


Here are the answers. How'd you do?

Albert, Susan, Bleeding Hearts (China Bayles Mystery)

What’s happened in Pecan Spring over the last few weeks has given us all a great deal to think about—especially me, since the tragedies struck so close to home.
Reichs, Kathy,  Bare Bones

AS I WAS PACKAGING WHAT REMAINED OF THE DEAD BABY, THE man I would kill was burning pavement north toward Charlotte.
Tolstoy, Leo, Anna Karenina

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Rachman, Tom, The Bathtub Spy

I consider this body, mine, refracted under the steaming bathwater: my swaying chest-hair, legs bent to fit the tiny tub, lumpy kneecaps thrust near my chin, elegant feet concluding in inelegant toes, a row of potatoes at a group photo.
Mills, DiAnn, Breach of Trust

Librarian Paige Rogers had survived more exciting days dodging bullets to protect her country.
Diaz, Junot , The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Our hero was not one of those Dominican cats everybody’s always going on about—he wasn’t no home-run hitter or a fly bachatero, not a playboy with a million hots on his jock.
Kent, Kathleen, The Heretic's Daughter: A Novel

THE DISTANCE BY wagon from Billerica to neighboring Andover is but nine miles.
Stockett, Kathryn, The Help

MAE MOBLEY was born on a early Sunday morning in August, 1960.
Karon, Jan, Home to Holly Springs
A preacher with a lead foot, driving a red Mustang convertible with the top down, could make a state patrolman pretty testy.
Bunn, Davis , Lion of Babylon
He exited the church’s double doors and surveyed the gathering.
Lickel, Lisa J., The Map Quilt

Sasha Edwards crouched behind the huge maple, its burnished, drying leaves rustling in the night wind.
Williams, Shawna K., No Other

Stop shaking. Crouched next to his small oak desk, Jakob clenched its side to steady himself, and took in a deep breath. (Sorry, I had to include two sentences for this one.)

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

COTT's New Contest!

Clash of the Titles' monthly clashes 
have received a makeover! 

Our focus is now on novels new to bookstore shelves. COTT's readers will always have the most up-to-date information on the best and newest Christian literature. 
Also...
Thanks to you, our faithful readers, Clash of the Titles’ new unpublished authors literary contest has been christened—

THE OLYMPIA

The path to publication in novel length is the most difficult a writer will embark on. For most, it’s a steep, uphill climb littered with deep crevices and seemingly insurmountable boulders. Often, it feels as though the summit of that mountain is on the move, keeping one toehold ahead of even the most relentless writer.

Ancient Olympia, Greece *Attribution
In classical times ancient Olympia was the site of the original Olympic Games. It sat at the foot of Mount Olympus, the tallest, most formidable mountain in Greece. The first Olympic Games were held in honor of Zeus, but at Clash of the Titles, we give all honor to the Most High God and wish every contestant His greatest blessing!


Authors, submissions for The Olympia pen October 29, 2012. For preliminary details, please visit The Olympia page.
If you would like more information on how to be a part of our monthly New Releases Clashes, 
please visit our Submissions page.



*Attribution: This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. United States Public Domain.


Monday, June 11, 2012

INTERVIEW: The River Rose: A Water Wheel Novel by Gilbert Morris







About The River Rose     
Life hasn’t been easy for Jeanne Bettencourt, a widow approaching thirty and struggling to provide for her eight-year-old daughter. But hope arrives in the form of the Helena Rose, a steamboat she unexpectedly inherits from a distant, departed relative. Jeanne’s father had captained a similar vessel and taught her how to pilot a steamer along the banks of Memphis. She’s looking forward to a renewed livelihood on the mighty Mississippi.

However, as plans are made, news comes of another heir to the Helena Rose -- a tough man named Clint Hardin -- and a clause in the will that says claimants of the estate must live aboard the boat. Jeanne, a Christian woman, makes it clear she won’t stay with a man who is not her husband. But both are desperate for work, so they agree to keep their distance as Clint occupies the lower deck and Jeanne takes the captain’s quarters.

As they restore the Helena Rose, the slowly softening Clint becomes attracted to Jeanne -- who is now being courted by a wealthy plantation owner. With her family and future at stake, the desires of Jeanne’s heart are duly complex. Only her simple faith can navigate her through what’s about to happen.

About Gilbert Morris       
Gilbert Morris is among today's most popular Christian writers, his books having sold over seven million copies worldwide. A former pastor and English professor, he specializes in historical fiction and won a 2001 Christy Award for the Civil War drama Edge of Honor. Morris lives with his wife in Gulf Shores, Alabama.




Q and A with Gilbert Morris
                           
What is your writing method? Do you write in the morning? At night? All day? How long do you write in a single session?

I have no set schedule for writing a novel. While I am working on it, sometimes it goes easily, and I just pour on the coal. If it goes badly, I have to spend more time on the text. Naturally, I love it when the words seem to flow!

How do you do your historical research?

I think it can be easy to do too much research, just as it can be a mistake to do too little. Some writers are so anxious the give the historical background, that they forget the story. My own problem is to do a good job with research and with the story.

How do you manage to keep your dialogue true to the time period without allowing it to sound stilted?

Reading a great deal of Dickens, for example, will carry over into the writer’s work. There is a danger that all of a writer’s characters will sound alike, which makes for bad fiction. I always try to find some characteristic that will set a character apart, perhaps bad grammar or a pronounced regional accent.

You used to follow the same storytelling technique of the late Sidney Sheldon—told your stories on tape to get the rough draft down, and then had them transcribed to start your writing process. Are you still using this technique for your current books?

Yes, I do dictate all my books. I take the outline and the list of characters, and put each chapter on a cassette. Then I have a lady take the tapes, type them out, and send them to me. Of course, when I get the hard copy, that’s usually when the hard work of revision rears its ugly head! My daughter Lynn, who has written some fine novels, helps me with this stage, for which I am profoundly grateful.

In many of your books, you feature a strong female main character that suffers from flaws and weaknesses. Why do you write about women in this way?

I try to give all characters, both male and female, young and old, flaws and weaknesses. That is human, and if a character is perfect that is totally unbelievable!

Look at the great classic novels by the great novelists. All of them set forth characters, who, in one way or another, are flawed. It is the job of the novelist to dramatize the characters as they attempt to overcome these flaws.

Your novels have a number of female characters with red hair and green eyes. Is that based on a real person?

Got lots of red hair in my family, so I always like redheads! No green eyes. I just get tired of trying, in a book with forty characters, to give them eyes that differ. Blue, brown, green. What other colors can eyes be?

I did say of one shady character, “He had eyes the color of spit.” Now, really, that character had to be evil!

What fascinates you most about 1850s Mississippi?

It was a dramatic time in American history. The Civil War, the rise of modern transportation, the beginning of our industrial growth.

How did you decide to set your story on a steamer?

When I was a boy, I lived for a time in Helena, Arkansas. The river then was still thick with the sternwheelers, and I would sit for hours on the bank of the river and watch them, and riding on one was a thrill.

When you’re writing a series such as the Water Wheel series, how do you decide which characters to carry over into the sequels?

I usually make this decision before I begin the first novel in the series. Some generational sagas lend themselves to stepping from one book to another, others I like to confine to one book.

I have a signed a contract to do a trilogy about San Francisco in the 1850s. That opens up the door for a family to go through (1) the gold rush of 1849, (2) the rise of rich people and how they are brought down, and (3) the earthquake and how the family survives and strengthens.

What book project are you working on next?

I am working on Book #2 of a series called Western Justice. These three westerns are set in Oklahoma Territory shortly after the Civil War. Judge Isaac Parker had 200 marshals to keep order, and many of them were killed in line of duty. The most famous of these is Heck Thomas, but if you’ve seen TRUE GRIT, you get the flavor of the series. Romance, action, Christian doctrine!

What is the one thing that you want to leave readers of The River Rose pondering over?

As in all my books, I want my readers to see how vital it is to serve God no matter how difficult that might be.

Do you have a long-term plan for your novel writing? Are you planning to retire, or can we eagerly anticipate dozens more Gilbert Morris stories?

I am working on three series at the present time. One will deal with the men and women who serve in different branches of the service.

Another is the second novel about a young woman, Jordan Lee, who serves in the military, then in the House of Representatives.

The work I most enjoy is a series of mysteries featuring a man and a woman—and two cats. I’ve written three of these, and have had a blast! They are my favorite novels. The next one will be entitled Desperate Housecats.

And no, I will never retire!

How can readers find you on the Internet?

           My website and blog are at http://www.gilbertmorris.com
Subscribe to my blog’s feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GilbertMorris

Sign up for my e-newsletter (for subscriber-only giveaways and advance notice of my upcoming novels): http://gilbertmorris.com/news.htm
Twitter: @gilbert_morris - https://twitter.com/#!/gilbert_morris






Friday, June 8, 2012

BOOK REVIEW: The River Rose: A Water Wheel Novel by Gilbert Morris







This story begins in Memphis, December 18, 1854. It is about what happens when Jeanne Bettencourt and Clint Hardin each inherit half the riverboat Helena Rose.

Jeanne, a widow with a six-year old daughter, Marvel, was working as a chambermaid in a hotel, and just barely making enough money to get by. Her parents died in a tornado that destroyed their steamboat before Marvel was born and her soldier husband was assumed dead.

Clint was a machinist, singer, and boxer. He had seen Jeanne and Marvel when he sang for a town Christmas festival, but was surprised to see her again in the lawyer's office when they learned a distant relative of theirs had died and left them the cargo steamboat.

With Jeanne's experience as a pilot on her parent's boat and Clint's experience as a machinist, they go into business together delivering mail and carrying cargo. The business becomes successful quickly, partly because of help from a gentleman friend of Jeanne's, George Masters, a frequent guest at the hotel. The rest of the crew consists of Ezra who had worked on the boat for the previous owner, Vince, a friend of Clint's and Roberty, an orphan boy Jeanne rescued from a beating. A stipulation of the will was that they had to also take the dog, Leo, which they all loved.

There were many complications in the story which made reading even more interesting. At one point, when I thought the story had reached a satisfactory ending, another major problem popped up. It was difficult to put the book down because I wanted to find out what would happen next.

This is a Christian novel and there are references to God, the Bible, and Christian life. I appreciated the way this was handled and I liked that one of the main characters was further along in spiritual development than the other. This allowed the reader to observe the growth and, yes, there were a few tears along the way.

Overall, an excellent read and I highly recommend it.


Read Chapter 1 of The River Rose

I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from B&H Publishing Group. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255. The book was then donated to my church library.



Wednesday, June 6, 2012

More First Sentences From Novels


This is a follow up to Pulitzer Prize First Sentences published by the Christian Bookmobile not long ago.

Writers look for ways to grab readers and the best place to start is with the first sentence. This time, we're showing the first sentence of other books and letting you the book and author. The only prize for getting them all right is that you will have read a bunch of good first sentences. I'll post the answers next week.


  1. What’s happened in Pecan Spring over the last few weeks has given us all a great deal to think about—especially me, since the tragedies struck so close to home.
  2. AS I WAS PACKAGING WHAT REMAINED OF THE DEAD BABY, THE man I would kill was burning pavement north toward Charlotte.
  3. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
  4. I consider this body, mine, refracted under the steaming bathwater: my swaying chest-hair, legs bent to fit the tiny tub, lumpy kneecaps thrust near my chin, elegant feet concluding in inelegant toes, a row of potatoes at a group photo.
  5. Librarian Paige Rogers had survived more exciting days dodging bullets to protect her country.
  6. Our hero was not one of those Dominican cats everybody’s always going on about—he wasn’t no home-run hitter or a fly bachatero, not a playboy with a million hots on his jock.
  7. THE DISTANCE BY wagon from Billerica to neighboring Andover is but nine miles.
  8. MAE MOBLEY was born on a early Sunday morning in August, 1960.
  9. A preacher with a lead foot, driving a red Mustang convertible with the top down, could make a state patrolman pretty testy.
  10. He exited the church’s double doors and surveyed the gathering.
  11. Sasha Edwards crouched behind the huge maple, its burnished, drying leaves rustling in the night wind.
  12. Stop shaking. Crouched next to his small oak desk, Jakob clenched its side to steady himself, and took in a deep breath. (Sorry, I had to include two sentences for this one.)
a. Bunn, Davis , Lion of Babylon
b. Kent, Kathleen, The Heretic's Daughter: A Novel
c. Stockett, Kathryn, The Help
d. Williams, Shawna K., No Other
e. Karon, Jan, Home to Holly Springs
f. Tolstoy, Leo, Anna Karenina
g. Lickel, Lisa J., The Map Quilt
h. Diaz, Junot , The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
h. Mills, DiAnn, Breach of Trust
j. Rachman, Tom, The Bathtub Spy
k. Reichs, Kathy,  Bare Bones
l. Albert, Susan, Bleeding Hearts (China Bayles Mystery)

Monday, June 4, 2012

COTT -- A New Literary Contest Comes To COTT

Get Ready to Spar!

Dust off those swords (in the Spirit, of course) and put on that literary armor, 
because Clash of the Titles has an announcement.

The Laurel Award is expanding, and we know you’ll be excited about it.

We are creating a NEW annual literary contest, and it’s strictly for unpublished writers! 
Also, authors will no longer need to be a previous Clash Champion in order to compete for the crown. 

Submissions for this contest open October 29, 2012
but first we must name it. That’s right! We want your help naming this exciting, new branch of Clash of the Titles. After reading about it, please take a moment to click on which name you think most fitting for this contest—The Spartan OR The Olympia. (Use survey below.)

About this new contest:

All never before published writers of Christian fiction may submit their work.
$10 Entry fee.
First two chapters will be judged.
Final scoring by a select panel of beta-readers.

Prizes: 
Special feature on Clash of the Titles' blog.
Tour through COTT’s Blog Alliance.
Page on our site for a full year.
Podcast interview with Author and CAG board member, Cynthia L. Simmons.
A beautiful plaque.

The outcome is in the hands of readers, not industry professionals.

You’ve written the book of your dreams, now what do readers think? Enter the arena and find out. 

Stay tuned for further dates and details by 
subscribing to our blog and “liking” our Facebook page.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Friday, June 1, 2012

CONTEST: The River Rose by Gilbert Morris

Win a Free Copy of 
The River Rose by Gilbert Morris


Contest opens June 2, 2012 and 
ends June 25 at midnight EST


Winner must have a U.S. 
non-P.O. Box address


Click here to see Gilbert Morris Interview

Click here to see The River Rose Review