Well, my three faithful entrants, you each got two right. So, here is the tie-breaker. Since I happen to know you all possess a copy of The Famous One, on page 94 there is a girl's name mentioned. Give me her name and what number she is in Joey's list of female liaisons. Hurry! Win James Scott Bell's two newest novels: Try Dying and Try Darkness.
Sometimes when you are not in the direct glare of the light, you see things more clearly. Instead of what you’re gazing at looking all shiny or bright, you can see the details and formations of what you’re viewing with distinctions and clarity. When you think about it, almost anything can look somewhat glorious in the bright light. So looks can be deceiving.
I’m applying my little metaphor to the publishing industry, and, yes, we’re talking Christian publishing. And, no, we’re not going to tear it apart. I’ve had the opportunity, pleasure, and privilege to meet some interesting, genuine Christian professionals in this business of producing fiction both in person and via email conversations and discussions, including authors, agents, and editors. Decent, caring, and thoughtful people. Any business has its good points and its lesser qualities as far as how it’s run or how it serves its customers. Really it’s the intent of a business that ultimately speaks for how it appears in the eyes of its employees and its customers. That’s where the tale is told.
As a consumer, I am disappointed in the demand for smallish novels. The only larger novels seem to remain in some historicals, some thrillers, and some fantasies. This “demand” is from the publishers who insist that the people of today don’t want to read long novels. You could say they’re right if you talk only to those people. I’m not one of them, and I know a lot more voracious readers who don’t care for the shorter books either. Is it the cost of producing the longer novel?
As a writer, I hear the fears of multi-published authors wondering if their sales are going to be good enough to warrant another contract. These authors market, blog, have great websites, interact with readers, visit bookstores to promote their work, attend writers’ conferences, even teach classes at them. They have strong agents. Yet they become victims of “sales” or the lack thereof. If a book is not cutting it, there’s a sense of failure, and yet they’re published authors.
Soooo . . . what am I saying? Being published isn’t the end all, cure all for a writer. There’s a revolving door in the industry. Editors change jobs every so often. Authors get dropped. Demands change. Problematic speculations persist. Authors whimper in fear. Not all bright and shiny, is it?
If you’re striving to break through to the ranks of being published, best be sure your real success is solidified in pleasing the Lord. Otherwise, your so-called success in publishing might be as fleeting as a warm sun in winter.
To be continued . . .
Father, I want my eyes and heart set upon you. Only you. Help me to desire your pleasure. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
CONTEST ENDS AT NOON TODAY! WINNER TO BE ANNOUNCED OR TIE-BREAKER QUESTION(S) WILL APPEAR. FIRST ONE TO ANSWER CORRECTLY IN COMMENT SECTION WINS!
I didn't know Kristy Dykes. Never read her novels because most of them were too short for me, but I loved her take on romance: she was a passionate lady.
You noticed the "was". Well, she still is, only now all that passion can be expressed to Jesus with gratitude for all the joy and painless, unconfused, wonder of perfect clarity. Kristy Dykes has graduated to the beauty of paradise, and this world has lost one of its best. A lady who remained joyful, hopeful, faithful, and triumphant even in a debilitating death march during the final days of struggle with the aggressive GBM brain cancer. She left us sometime July 21st, 2008.
I know some of you balk at "visions", but whether you do or not, it was Sunday night or early Monday morning in my restless sleep when I pictured a large male-like figure carrying this limp woman with his head down, solemn, towards a "man" who, though He was crying, was eager to receive her. He reached out to take her from the angel and when she was transferred to His arms, her eyes opened and she smiled as He set her on her feet. She was whole, and He took His hands and gently grasped her neck, kissing her on her forehead. I had seen this last image once before at the beginning of the diagnosis, but now I see it occurred at the culmination of her wearying journey.
Such amazing class, grace, faithfulness, and perseverance this woman demonstrated during her end of life journey at such a young age. Reminds us that our days are numbered. Kristy was a bona fide Christian who loved God, served Jesus, and obeyed the Holy Spirit nearly her entire life. Yes, she had flaws just like the rest of us. But if you could find them at the end, I don't see how. She taught me how to die. I can only hope if death lingers with me that I could demonstrate such incredible beauty and fortitude in the process. What a lesson she gave us all.
Father, I must rest in that her suffering and pain are over. Thank you for Kristy's life which touched so, so many. Since she is now receiving perfect peace and blessing, I ask that you would comfort her husband, her children, and grandchildren as they have lost their precious one. Let her life remain in them and her legacy of service and devotion to you be a reminder to us all of how we are to participate in this time we have here. Keep them close to your heart as they grieve. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Perhaps the contest rules feel too personal for some. But the dynamite books as a prize should be enough to warrant some guesses, I would think. You must enter now until NOON tomorrow (Wednesday, July 23rd), Pacific Daylight Time, in the comment section. Check yesterday's review down at the bottom to view contest "rules". Win both of James Scott Bell's two newest novels in hard cover: Try Dying and Try Darkness.
Here's a sample from the sequel to Hope Of Glory:
ONE YEAR LATER . . .
It had been a long drive. He was surprised at how hard it was raining even though that’s all he’d heard about this area from the time he’d mentioned he was thinking of trying out this track clear across the country.
“Hutch, you’re going to hate it, I’m tellin’ ya.” He could still hear his cousin Rhett emphatically telling him and then spitting out his chew and shaking his head. “You’re just gonna hate it. You got plenty of mud caulks?”
Well, he was here, and it was midnight, pitch black, and raining hard enough that he had to put his wipers on the extra fast mode.
“Geez,” he said under his breath.
. . .
This part is not trivia--it's gut-level life and death.
Each day prayers all around the globe head to heaven for Kristy Dykes and her family. If you've followed her battle with GBM brain cancer, you've learned along with me how to travel through the valley of the shadow of death with real amazing grace, genuine faith, steadfast hope, sorrow, pain, and a willing spirit to accept healing now . . . or later, permanently. What a journey for this lady of many gifts. She is deeply loved, appreciated, respected, and admired by those close to her and those who've never met her such as myself. She's tough and gentle, true to her Lord and Savior as life ebbs. It's hard to "watch", but it is also an honor to see her bravery.
Please continue to pray for the Dykes' family in the Name of Jesus, Amen.
The CFBA tour has given me an opportunity to read some very good books these past few months. And, if you’ve kept up with my reviews, there have been some fantastic books outside the tour as well. However, today we’re going to take a look at the second in what I presume is a series that started with James Scott Bell’s . I had Try Dying on my TBR list, but Try Darkness came up in the CFBA tour, so I had to take advantage of the offer to read one of the most consistent writers of our day and faith, James Scott Bell. With his legal background, his love of basketball, and his steadfast faith in Jesus Christ, Jim Bell has created quite a collection of interesting novels, but I have to say none more entertaining than Try Darkness, so I’m assuming Try Dying must be just as good since that is where we’re first introduced to the irreverent, and by his own definition “agnostic”, character of Tyler Buchanan. Although I prefer to read series or sequel books in the order they’re written, I can tell you this: Try Darkness can stand easily on its own, and it is well worth any time set apart to read it.
To begin the story, Jim has written two of the best opening chapters I have ever read. Why they had to be two short chapters instead of one is probably due to trendy or formulaic pacesetting notions used in suspense novels by—or so I’ve heard—James Patterson. Nevertheless, a fantastic opening. Technically speaking, the trim size of this hardbound novel is 6 x 9 with a template which leaves ample spacing. He chose what he termed the “cross-cutting style used in current cinema” (to quote Jim) instead of the traditional chapter divisions. These numbered divisions are not separated by blank pages but merely by an extra space, keeping the pace moving while switching locale and action.
Ty Buchanan is not an unfamiliar character to readers. He’s that hard-nosed, cynical and embittered survivor of a tragedy which takes place in the first book, and he has an axe to grind. He’s that smack-talkin’, sarcastic, LA big city ex-high-powered attorney who figures he’s about seen it all. With the typical “Do it to them before they can do it to you” attitude, he has become the no frills lawyer operating out of a coffee shop and living in a trailer at a nunnery. Trying to survive with a wounded spirit and a slowly cracking hard-shell finish which will reveal those heart-of-gold spots, he understands his limitations but refuses to accept them. Even though we’ve read of characters like him before, we love this guy because Jim makes him real and vulnerable, witty and cocky, with a sense of true justice we assume he hasn’t always possessed.
I’ve remarked before that one of the best series on television is “Shark” with James Woods. The dialogue alone is exceptional, and you’re sure when watching it that James Woods must have helped write it because the part fits him like a pair of favorite shoes.
Since dialogue is essentially the crux of first person storytelling, Jim absolutely excels in the characterization of Ty and the flawless descriptions of the supporting characters. When Ty is asked to speak to the jailed son of a parishioner at St. Monica’s, you can hear the Latino dialect from “Gilbert” and feel the condescension from Ty as he listens to the claims of innocence from this man with newfound faith. This situation is a minor plot element preceding Ty suddenly finding himself the guardian of a six year old girl when her mother, his new client, is murdered in a rundown hotel that shuffles its tenants onto the streets illegally every 28 days.
Let me share a couple of incredible clips from this story:
The nun hit me in the mouth and said, “Get out of my house.”
Jaw throbbing, I said, “I can’t believe you just did that.”
“This is my house,” she said. “You want more? Come on back in.”
Sister Mary Veritas is a shade over five and a half feet. She was playing in gray sweats, of course. Most of the time she wears the full habit. Her pixie face is usually a picture of innocence. She has short chestnut hair and blue eyes. I had just discovered those eyes hid an animal ruthlessness.
It was the first Friday in April, and we were playing what I thought was some friendly one-on-one on the basketball court of St. Monica’s, a Benedictine community in the Santa Susana mountains. The morning was bright, the sky clear. Should have meant peace like a river.
Not a nun like a mugger.
. . .
The beat was fully amped. There was dancing and grinding and the smell of the hormonal. . . . McLarty was with his retinue—a blonde mannequin model type hanging on to him, almost wearing a tight black dress.
. . .
If, as a reader, you can’t picture all this, you would have to be without visual capability. The whole book gives you a picture of all shades of LA, including the placid setting away from it all at the nunnery. Adding to this suspense story, the likable and remarkably skilled at basketball Sister Mary, Father Bob who plays the drums on various setups of coffee cups and jars in his trailer, adorable six year old Kylie orphaned by the murder, an equivalent to “Q” in the James Bond stories, a high-end gangster type, not to mention the innocent Gilbert, and some wonderfully odd tenants at the hotel where Kylie’s mom is killed, and you have one terrifically told tale which ties up the loose ends of the caseload but leaves us hoping with an open ending.
The clever way Jim maneuvers the setting and conversations to include the gospel is masterful and natural. This is a great story told very well. This one’s a keeper, a gift prospect, an excellent book.
Father, I ask that you continue to give Jim many stories to tell. I pray, Lord, that you would assist him in all of his endeavors done to honor you. Thank you for his desire to help other writers, to be a friend to many. Bless him as he follows you to new places in his life and keep him strong in you and in your mighty power. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
To add to the prospect of reading this novel, I have a contest going on to win both Try Dying and Try Darkness, published by Center Street, Hachette Book Group USA. You may give your answers to the following questions in the comment section to try to win these two novels by James Scott Bell. Enter by NOON Wednesday, Pacific Daylight Time. One entry per person. Tie breaker if necessary will appear later Wednesday and the winner will be announced Thursday by noon PDT. (USA addresses only, please.)
1.Guess the color of my eyes.
2.Guess my height.
3.Guess how many horses I have.
4.Guess which actor loosely inspired The Famous One.
ADDENDUM to contest:
Even if your guesses are the same as some of the others, it doesn't matter. Just guess. We'll have a tie-breaker if necessary. Have fun with it. It's just a silly contest with a great prize.
**Please remember to pray for Kristy Dykes and her family.**
But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs [high priests] as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.
For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. . . .
By calling this covenant "new", he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
Hebrews 8:6-7,13 (NIV)
*Please continue to pray for Kristy Dykes and her family.*
TWO BOOK GIVEAWAY!!
How can you fiction readers resist this? Two books by noteworthy author James Scott Bell, his latest novels: Try Dying and Try Darkness will be given away to the person who wins this easy little contest. Rules are listed on Friday's post following "Full Disclosure, Part Two".
My review of Try Darkness will be up for you to read on Monday for the CFBA tour. It's a great read for you suspense fans. I plan to read the first in the series within a couple of weeks. Jim Bell has outdone even himself with this series, so I hope you'll enter by Wednesday noon, Pacific Daylight Time.
Enter by NOON Wednesday, Pacific Daylight Time. (One entry per person. :) )
*Please remember to pray for Kristy Dykes and her family during this ordeal. They love her so much, and if the Lord takes her home, this world will have lost a beautiful Christian lady.*
Here are some of my particular struggles: there is this gnawing conviction about the marketing gig which I cannot seem to overcome. There is no getting around the fact that it involves self-promotion. I don’t have anything against talking up our work—on blogs, websites, with other interested people in the biz or out of the biz, and certainly with those we’re close to. But when I say “talking up” our work, I mean how much we enjoy the story, care about the characters, how the story came to be, what we hope will happen with readers, why we write—all that kind of stuff.
The Gatorade slogan “Is it in you?” . . . the answer is no. Not in the sense of thinking up “new” ways to sell a book which has a particular audience. How many books appeal to all readers? How many novels have their niche people? The easiest way to identify your own market is to have a few authors which have a similar approach to writing stories as you do, a few books which address the general theme you’ve chosen, some way to compare your novel to others which have done well.
Master marketing authors like Karen Kingsbury and Tricia Goyer go the extra mile and spend their own dollars to provide contests, opportunities to meet their readers, gifts, and website updates as to how to cash in on all their offerings. Mary DeMuth works very hard at the process and has a mentoring heart. In the end it’s still the stories or the impact/perceived need of Tricia’s and Mary’s non-fiction books that produce sales.
If you believe as I do that you don’t ever set aside the spiritual aspect of any endeavor, then you know you have to determine what God has for you to do before you decide if you’re going to do what man is requiring of you. They don’t have to be in disagreement, but neither is it guaranteed they’ll agree. This is the conflict. I have no doubt that Karen, Tricia, and Mary are all about the Lord’s will in their lives. And they make a concerted effort to both serve and attract their readers. But I also know that what God has for them or for you or for me might be in total contrast to one another.
When does one more author sponsored book giveaway or contest to win their books or a gift basket or something turn into saturation and/or create a greedy reader? I belong to CFBA. Bonnie Calhoun operates this huge mutually beneficial to authors, readers, and potential readers alike, gig with incredible expertise. She’s a joy to work with in receiving the books or avoiding catastrophes of late-arriving books. It’s easy to belong, and I get free books, a chance to interview authors of my choice, and really don’t even have to post my own reviews although I wouldn’t do it any other way. The advantage to this is there are no gimmicks. It’s a straight shot: publicize the books you read. If you do, you get them free. It’s a fantastic deal for voracious readers like me.
I just can’t be someone else. I can speak in front of a crowd. And I can talk about my novels. Tell you to buy one? Only if I know what you like to read or what I think you like to read—otherwise nearly impossible. Have gimmicky giveaways for my books? Not gonna happen or very unlikely. So, do you hear what I’m saying? My future in this marketing-crazed publishing arena is limited at best. Unless I can figure out a palatable way to effectively “sell” my books to readers, seeking out publishers is a moot point.
To be continued . . .
**Okay, having said all that about marketing, it’s easy to market someone else’s books, so are you ready for my first DOUBLE BOOK GIVEAWAY CONTEST?!**
Center Street, Hachette Book Group USA, has agreed to give away both of James Scott Bell’s newest novels. Monday I will review the second in the series Try Darkness which will head up next week’s CFBA blog tours. I would’ve liked to read Try Dying first, but time and circumstance has me reading them in reverse order. If the first is even close to the second in the series, it will be a very good read.
So, if you would like to be the winner of both Try Dying and Try Darkness, here are the contest “rules” (you know how I love rules):
1.Guess the color of my eyes.
2.Guess my height.
3.Guess how many horses I have.
4.Guess which actor loosely inspired The Famous One.
There you have it. The one who comes the closest to getting them all right will win the books. Leave your answers in the comment section. Oh, sorry: USA mailing addresses only, please.
Winners will be announced on Wednesday unless there is a tie-breaker.
*Please continue to pray for Kristy Dykes and her family.*
Father, thank you for the opportunity to write this blog. Thank you for the blessing of being able to give away good books. Thank you for all you do in my life. I’m desperate for you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Over the years people have said to me that they don’t pray much or enough. Truth is we can never pray “enough”. I’ve been told I’m a prayer warrior, and sometimes I am. Not as often as I need to be.
The Lord has given me fair discernment most of the time and intense discernment at other times, but I make mistakes in spiritual evaluations on occasion like most Christians sometimes do.
I know people who have endured the presence of demonic beings and others who have seen magnificent angels, and most likely we all have “entertained” or been assisted by angels, unaware of them.
If you attend a church that is full of the Spirit of God with a pastor who celebrates and preaches the Gospel with joy, fervor, and Spirit-led insights, then you have experienced the priceless presence of the Living God in your midst.
Some balk at seeing visions, hearing the whispers of the Spirit or the audible voice of God, disbelieve in the baptism of the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues or the use of the spiritual gifts in an orderly way within a service, and some even decry contemporary worship in music. Others will not pray out loud, raise their hands in praise and worship, or tolerate those who do.
There are those Christians who walk an anemic faith and remain satisfied with their powerless version.
Switching gears a bit now . . . If you visit this blog, you might have noticed that if I don’t feel passionate about something—one way or another—chances are it won’t appear here. There is a spiritual side to every event in our lives because our God does not slumber or sleep, and His eyes roam to and fro over the whole earth. He loves us, He created a plan for each of our lives, He gave us unique characteristics, looks, personalities, and He enjoys us. I know: hard to believe at times.
He designed something for us to feel passionate about, but I’m convinced the farther we are away from His designs for us, the closer we are to feeling passionate about the world and what it offers us. In fact, it seems the farther away we are from pursuing Him and His plans for us, the more frustrated, the angrier, the more depressed and distressed we often become. And the odd part about it all is that we blame God, projecting our anger and depression upon Him and His decision not to fix our problem(s).
It’s true we don’t always want to do our life His way. He pushes us to accept less to gain more of Him. He prods us to let go when we hang on with a death grip. And we will face humiliation if we don’t choose humility.
Accepting suffering and trouble in this life isn't easy for most of us. Yet we are exhorted by the Lord Jesus Christ that He has overcome the world, and we are reminded to be like Him, we must also share in His sufferings. This life here on earth will not be perfect regardless of what some insist.
So where am I going with all of this? Farther . . .
God, you are perfect and so are your plans. Help us to yield to you. Help us to humble ourselves before you and welcome what you have for us. Apart from you, we can do nothing. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
*Please pray for Kristy Dykes and her family.*
This from Brandilyn Collins' blog:
Zondervan Fiction Writers Contest
Announced at the Christy banquet on Saturday night: Zondervan is sponsoring a contest for unpublished novelists. Full guidelines will soon be posted on the Z website. When they are, I'll let you know. For now, here are the basics.
Unpubbed fiction authors, start getting your manuscripts ready now. There will be three rounds of judging for the contest. In the first round each author will submit a proposal for a novel. These will be judged and winnowed down. Those who make it through the first round will be asked to submit the complete manuscript. These will go through a second round of judging and be narrowed down to finalists. (Not sure how many--the guidelines will say.) The finalists will be judged by selected Zondervan authors to determine the winner.
The winner will be announced at next year's Mt. Hermon Writer's Conference, held over Palm Sunday weekend. Winning prize: publication of the novel by Zondervan.
Start polishing those wips!
. . .
If it can be arranged, Center Street, Hachette Book Group USA Inc., will be offering two free copies of James Scott Bell's newest novels, Try Dying and Try Darkness, right here on Into the Fire coinciding with my CFBA review of Jim's latest Try Darkness which will be posted here on Monday the 21st of July, 2008.
Details for my contest to win these two books will be presented on Friday and entries will be taken on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Winners will be announced late on Wednesday, July 23rd. If I need a tie-breaker, it will be posted on Wednesday.
A sidenote to these books: I'm less than 20 pages away from finishing Try Darkness, not having read Try Dying yet but plan to. I hope those who enter this contest plan on reading these novels themselves because Jim outdoes himself with these stories. It isn't so much "just" the protagonist or "just" the story--it's the total experience of the novel. So, please, if you enter, determine to spend time with these books. You won't be disappointed.
*Please continue to pray for Kristy Dykes and her family.*
