Tag: Christian Fiction

I Have a Secret

Michael Bolton
Let’s Chat!

I will tell you a little secret about myself. I’m a Michael Bolton fan. It’s been several years since I last had a chance to see him in concert, so when a friend called me last fall to let me know he was going to be in Jacksonville this past Friday, I was more than a little excited. The day tickets went on sale I was texting another friend to see if he wanted attend the show with me. He never got back to me, so when I went online and found one seat on the front row, I admit, I ditched my friend. If he really wanted to go, we could find him his own seat somewhere else in the theater.

I’ve had the ticket for close to six months and yet it still seems like just a few days ago I was ordering it. The show was at the Florida Theater, a venue I never had a chance to visit during my college years in Jacksonville, but had always wanted to. The theater itself is gorgeous. I arrived just as the doors were opening and had time to enjoy the architecture, feeling like I was in one of the grand old theaters on Broadway.

The show was phenomenal, of course. I was sad that I didn’t have a real camera with me, only my iPhone, which never seems to take great pictures when I really want it to. The lady next to me was on her own as well and we chatted about the theater and other shows she’d seen there. Afterward, I got up the nerve to ask her if she would email me a couple of photos. She had a nice camera and had gotten some excellent photos. She took my email address and I really hope she sends me even just one picture. It seems a shame to have been so close and not have a photo to prove it.

I was close enough for eye contact!!
So happy to have my CDs signed

I’m amazed at how much social media has changed the rules at concerts. Another show I went to before Christmas was not only encouraging photo taking, but provided a hashtag to share the photos so the radio station sponsoring the show could do a photo round up. I will certainly be better prepared for my next concert.

Since I was in Jacksonville anyway, I decided to make a weekend of it, staying at a friend’s condo right on the beach. Something about being able to open up the patio doors and hear the ocean makes me feel free of all the entanglements of life. I was able to whiz through ten chapters of edits on Jessie and read a good portion of my mindless chick-lit book. I feel more energized and ideas about how to promote this next book are starting to take shape. A good concert, a great view, and I’m feeling refreshed and ready to take on the riggers of publishing again. Be sure to check back soon for a sneak peek at the first chapters of Jessie.

beach
Evening on the beach

 

 

High Hopes

 

High Hope
Writing Life

Last week I started two new projects. One is a new novel, called, Roxy, and the other is my spring 2014 herb garden. I’ve really changed my approach to doing things. At one time, I read everything I could get on a subject and talked to people about how they did things. I tried to follow steps and instructions as closely as possible. I was anxious and uptight about how things were going to turn out and I often became stressed over them. I also felt as if someone else cared how I did it and was looking on judgmentally. That didn’t help at all.

It’s a good thing for us to have some idea what we’re doing, to read, do research, and take lessons, but at some point, we just have to launch out and see what works for us. What I’m doing now is an amalgamation of everything I ever read, thought, knew, and felt.

Last Monday I got out some notes I’d made by hand on Roxy and started putting the story on my computer. I used Victoria Lynn Schmidt’s Book in a Month, Raymond Obstfeld’s, Fiction First Aid, and Leigh Michaels’s, On Writing Romance, for prompts and inspirations, but I read only until I lost interest and then went on to something else. Also, I’m pacing myself, and it’s making my writing entertaining to me. I’m putting TLC into my characters and I can hardly wait to see what they do next. I’m taking care to see that each chapter is in decent shape before going on to the next one. The most important thing, the one that makes the difference is, I’m staying connected with my intuition. To me, that’s the same thing as being in touch with the Holy Spirit. The things He does when I attend Him are wonderful.

As for the herbs, Bill and I had strong new wood built into three raised beds for our plants. The beds have been ready for a month, they started calling to us last week and we went shopping for the plants. We bought six plants, all different. They are:

  1. Basil
  2. Tarragon
  3. Thyme
  4. Rosemary
  5. Oregano
  6. Marjoram

We read the directions and we planted them right, but with our own feelings for them, you might say loving each one and wishing it well. We plan to use them on the spot as well as to harvest and freeze-dry them at their peak. They make everything taste so much better, even when we follow our hearts in knowing what dishes to put them in.

On the way out of the store, a song played in my head…“High hopes, we have high hopes, high in the sky, apple pie hopes.” Yes. Hope is one of the most important things in the world, and we need to allow our Lord to set up things in our lives for us to hope for and to work toward. We need big things and small, spiritual and material to occupy our minds and give us the opportunity to be co-creators with our great and mighty God.

High Hope
High Hope by DiVoran Lites

 

#hope #herbgardening #writing #mondayblogs

Jargon, We All Use It

Jargon
Writing Life

 

I’m saved? Are you?

What does that mean? A whole raft of people could tell you, but many more could not. Why? Because I’m saved, is jargon. So what is jargon? It’s a code, a language. It’s quick, it’s easy, and everybody in our circle knows what we’re talking about. That’s fine as long as we don’t mind excluding people who aren’t in the know.

What’s up? Are you working hard? How do you like this weather? Those are okay to start a conversation at the beginning of a chance meeting when there’s not much chance of having a real talk, but specific questions and answers are more

. Here’s a couple of examples: “I remember that the last time we talked you were working on a great project. What stage are you in now? For a traveler, you can’t do better than, “When is your next trip and where are you going?” If we’re creative, we’ll hear much better stories, and possibly be inspired with something exciting to write about.

What lines of jargon are we familiar with? We know religious jargon, and writing jargon. Then we have our music specialties and historical references, maybe you speak politics or sports or entertainment or cooking.  It might be fun to watch our own statements and ferret out things that others will not understand. I don’t know texting, computer, or game jargon, so I’m not the best at communicating with young people and some of the things I say such as, “You’ve got the cart before the horse,” are incomprehensible and weird to them. They are not only jargon, but they are clichéd, and archaic. I hope to root them out of my vocabulary, someday, but until then perhaps I can be more careful about when and where I use them.

Have you ever been to a doctor that told you precisely what you wanted to know in words that you could easily understand? If you have, you’ve been to a good doctor, who knows how to communicate without using medical jargon. He is especially valuable if he doesn’t take a superior attitude and judge you for not knowing.

So what do I mean when I say, I’m saved? Here’s a short explanation. It means that Jesus died on the cross for me because I was too busy ignoring Him and His Father to bother connecting with them. He had to get my attention. He got it in an act of atonement that will never be forgotten. Then he rose powerfully from death, and now because I asked Him to take over my life I’m being healed and living a freer and more abundant life than I could ever have imagined. Because he cast his cloak of righteousness over me, and He is no longer aware of my self-life, Jesus looks upon me as holy and perfect. Maybe I should just say, I’m saved, but what good would that do? What’s the point of saying anything at all if people can’t understand what I’m talking about? If I’m a Christian, I’m a teacher. If I’m a writer, I’m a teacher. Teachers must, by definition, be able to truly communicate.

 

Jargon
By DiVoran Lites

#writingtips #faith #communication #writingideas