Do You Write What You Read?

It's a common tip for writers: "Read, read, read!" If you want to write a book that sells and gets readers' interest, it makes sense to read voraciously and know the market inside and out.

The Classics

I have a confession to make: I don't tend to read classics for fun. I may be an English major, but in spite of this (or perhaps--in part--because of this) I generally only read classics under compulsion. My first love is Christian fiction, and that's what I prefer to read. And yet, I've been finding recently that some classics really aren't that bad. (Maybe I just needed to grow up a little!)

There's a reason certain books become classics--they have a lasting appeal that extends beyond the time in which they were written. Right now I'm reading Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897) for my 19th-20th Century English Literature class. And even though it was written over a century ago, I actually am enjoying it. ;)

As I've discussed with my grandpa (who's been talking to me about Dracula and/or Frankenstein for years), Dracula is a very descriptive book, starting out with a beautiful, haunting, vivid setting. And the characters! Dracula is both an intriguing and almost comical (in a creepy sort of way) character, and Jonathan Harker's intelligence endears him to the reader even as the reader sympathizes with his entrapment and doom.

(If you've read the whole book already, please don't tell me what happens! I've only read a few chapters so far...)

Christian Fiction

As I mentioned above, my first love when it comes to reading is Christian fiction. (My favorite specific book, though, is the Bible.) I just can't seem to get enough of it! Plus, it's what I want to work with as my career.

So what is it that we love so much about Christian fiction? (I'm assuming at this point that most of you who are reading this post also enjoy Christian fiction.) ;)

Let's look at a specific example. The book I'm reading right now is Surrender the Night by MaryLu Tyndall, and I am loving it! Tyndall is a fabulous author. One of the best things about her work, and about Christian fiction in general for the most part, is that each book is meant to glorify God and encourage the readers' faith. Each book is hopeful while still being real, showing the evil that is now in the world but also the hope that believers have in Christ.

But as far as Tyndall's work and Christian romance goes, there's also another element to the reading experience. For us ladies, we just love to read about a strong, heroic man protecting his woman and cherishing her. We love those scenes where the hero gently caresses the heroine's cheek, holds her close and kisses her. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong in this assumption. I should also add that in Christian fiction these scenes are tactfully written and clean!)

Also, we want those happy endings, don't we? (I haven't finished Surrender the Night, but I'm guessing the ending is happy!)

Writing What You Read

So where am I going with all of this? Well, I think the more we read the more we realize (even if we don't ever exactly voice it) what it is we want to read. We want stories with heart--stories with characters that are real and understandable. We want stories with soul--stories that speak to us and convey truth and something we can apply to our lives. We want stories that are beautifully written and excitingly told (which I think both Dracula and Surrender the Night are).

And yet how easy it is to forget our readers when we're writing! Perhaps we don't forget them totally, but I think sometimes it might be beneficial to consider a couple of things as we're writing:

1. What do my readers need?
   
2. What do my readers want?

If it is God's will for us to write, then He has some purpose in us sharing our stories. We're not just writing to entertain. But at the same time, people won't want to read stories that aren't satisfying. Reading should be fun!

Don't get caught in either extreme. We should strive to write both meaningful and enjoyable stories to engage and encourage our readers.

When you write, do you occasionally consider what you as a reader would want to see in the story? What kinds of books do you most enjoy reading, and how can you incorporate the elements that make reading powerful to you into your own writing?

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Sunday Devotional

Believe it or not, Max is one heck of a sheep dog. I mean cow dog. I mean. . .

Okay, let me explain. Our neighbors have several cows, and one very large, very mean, very intimidating bull. Every now and then one of the cows manages to jump the cattle guard and winds up happily munching on my grass and eating my landscaping. Seeing one of them destroying a crepe myrtle, I rushed outside, arms waving to shoo it back across the cattle guard into the pasture. I hadn’t gotten far since the cow was a lot faster than me, when suddenly, a brown blur that slightly resembled my dog went rocketing past.

“Ma—” I didn’t get anything else out. Max started barking, weaving back and forth until he herded the cow close enough to the gate to get it to jump across.

“Wow,” I said, huffing, my hands on my knees. “Max, come here.”

Max immediately quit chasing the cow and ran back to me, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

“Good boy, Max!” I said, rubbing his sides enthusiastically to show him I approved. Problem was he took that as a sign. Seconds later, he shot off into the pasture, straight for the bull’s pen.

“Max, no!” I shouted. Too late. Max once again maneuvered back and forth, barking at the bull, snapping and biting until that huge, black animal lumbered off toward the barn. I blinked, unable to believe my eyes. Undaunted by the size of the bull, my tiny, eight pound dog had somehow managed to get that thing moving, and he ran back to me, tail wagging waiting for his praise.

Which got me to thinking.

Many times, we put off doing what God wants us to do because we are intimidated by the size of the task. Daunted by what we view as an impossible obstacle, we decide it’s better not to try and we slink to our corners, ashamed to be doing nothing for God, but too afraid to step out in faith.

Maybe if our desire was simply to please God, we’d find the courage we need to tackle the job, no matter the size, and maybe we’d feel empowered, emboldened. . .everything that God said a child of His should be.

Exodus 4:1-17 (New International Version)

Signs for Moses

1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?”

2 Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he replied.

3 The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.”

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 “This,” said the LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

6 Then the LORD said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous[a]—it had become as white as snow.

7 “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.

8 Then the LORD said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”

10 Moses said to the LORD, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

11 The LORD said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

14 Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”

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Winners!!

It's always so much fun to give away great books!! Congratulations to this week's lucky winners:

gail golden - Love Finds You in Tombstone, Arizona by Miralee Ferrell

Merry (worthy2bpraised)- Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren

Winners of this week's books, please use the button in the upper right side of this page to email me with your mailing address so I can forward your information to the authors. Then, sit back and wait for your book to arrive.

Thank you all so much for stopping by The Borrowed Book and thank you, Miralee Ferrell and Lisa T. Bergren, for your generosity in providing books!

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Weekly Drawing

Entering our weekly drawing is easy:

1. Leave a comment on Fridays or...

2. Sign up to follow The Borrowed Book. Followers will automatically be entered for a chance to win that week's drawing!

This week, The Borrowed Book is giving away:

Love Finds You in Tombstone, Arizona by Miralee Ferrell ~ Love and second chances aren’t easy to come by in a town named Tombstone. When Christy Grey receives an urgent summons to Tombstone, Arizona, she reluctantly leaves her new life in California. The trip goes from bad to worse when three masked men hold up Christy’s stage. She finally arrives in Tombstone to find her mother ill and her brother trapped in a life of gambling. Desperate for money to support her family, will Christy bow to pressure from the local saloon owners and return to the life she thought she’d given up for good?

Nevada Keene has problems of his own. He’s been dodging bullets for years and wants nothing more than to settle down and get married. But he’s on the run from outlaws bent on revenge, and the one woman who captures his interest recognizes him from the stagecoach holdup. Will Christy turn Nevada in to the authorities, or will the outlaws on his trail catch him first?

Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren ~ Gabriella has never spent a summer in Italy like this one. Remaining means giving up all she’s known and loved…and leaving means forfeiting what she’s come to know…and love itself.

Most American teenagers want a vacation in Italy, but the Bentarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives with their parents, famed Etruscan scholars, among the romantic hills. Stuck among the rubble of medieval castles in rural Tuscany on yet another hot, dusty archeological site, Gabi and Lia are bored out of their minds… until Gabi places her hand atop a handprint in an ancient tomb and finds herself in fourteenth-century Italy. And worse yet, in the middle of a fierce battle between knights of two opposing forces.

And thus does she come to be rescued by the knight-prince Marcello Falassi, who takes her back to his father’s castle—a castle Gabi has seen in ruins in another life. Suddenly Gabi’s summer in Italy is much, much more interesting. But what do you do when your knight in shining armor lives, literally, in a different world?

Winners will be announced on Saturday, 03/05/11.

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Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to us as Dr. Seuss, celebrated his 107th birthday yesterday. The man who did so much for children’s literature was born on March 2, 1904. Each year educators hold celebrations in classrooms all across America to honor the renowned author. For years the National Education Association has been a sponsor of this event in hopes that every child on that day will be able to read in the presence of a caring adult.

As a former educator, I have always appreciated the influence that Dr. Seuss has had on children. If you are a mother as I am, however, I imagine you have had your moments that you dreaded reading a Dr. Seuss book to your child. His wacky characters and rhyming words that appeal to children can drive a parent to distraction because one read-through is never enough. Once through only brings a plea to read it “one more time.” How many times did I read Green Eggs and Ham or The Cat in the Hat only to find myself turning back to the beginning for another romp through Dr. Seuss’s book?

Horton Hatches the Egg, Yertle the Turtle, The Lorax, How the Grinch Stole Christmas—are just a few more of the marvelous books that have captivated generations of children. Not only do the stories appeal to children, but they deliver a message for adults as well.

Where else can we find such a lesson in dedication to duty as Horton the elephant who sits on the Mayzie bird’s nest while she flies off to parts unknown? Or the Grinch’s realization that Christmas is more than gifts? And who can disagree with Dr. Seuss’s reminder in Oh, The Places You’ll Go—“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

Yes, I love Dr. Seuss’s books, and I’m happy that his creative mind gave us characters that seem to grow better with age. The following are a few of his quotes. Although they were written years ago, they still serve as valuable lessons we can teach our children.

“A person's a person, no matter how small.”

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go.”

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.”

“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way.”

“Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.”

And then there’s my favorite:

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons.
It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags.
And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.
What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

Join me in wishing a happy 107th birthday to an author whose last book published in 1990 still sells over 300,000 copies a year.

I couldn't end this post without asking you about Dr. Seuss. What are your favorite Dr. Seuss books?

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Author Interview ~ Lisa T. Bergren

Lisa T. Bergren is the author of more than 35 books in many genres—children’s picture books, devotionals, women’s nonfiction, fiction of all flavors—that have sold far more than she ever would have imagined. She lives in Colorado Springs with her husband, Tim, and their three children, as well as a dog who stares at her until Lisa takes her for a walk. For more on Lisa, check out her website www.LisaTawnBergren.com, or find her on Facebook as “Lisa Tawn Bergren” and/or “River of Time Series.”

Did you see yourself becoming a writer as a child? If not, what did you dream of being?

I thought I’d be a teacher or a nurse as a child. But my nose was always in a book. And English/writing was really the only subject I tried my best in. Everything else? B’s sufficed.

How long did you write before you sold your first book?

About 12-18 months. But it was a different time and a far more open market than it is now. Christian fiction was just beginning to come into its own.

Many of the people who follow our blog are aspiring writers themselves. Can you share your favorite writing tip with them?

Read Writer’s Digest. Excellent training material for writers in any genre.

Now for the readers…many times, it’s easy for them to connect with the characters in a book, but not so much the authors themselves. Share something about your day-to-day life that might help a reader to feel as though they know you a little better.

Most people are morning people or night owls. I’m a middle of the day person. That’s when I’m most awake!

Now that you are published, do you still experience rejections? If so, how are these rejections different or similar to the ones you received before becoming published?

Sure. I have another kid’s book I’m supposed to deliver to HarperCollins, but eight different proposals have been given the thumbs-down. Sigh. And publishers pass up my proposals frequently; I’ve just been blessed that they all haven’t said no at once, so I can shrug it off. In this tough publishing environment, however, I get nervous.

Tell us a little about your latest release:

Waterfall is a time-travel YA romance about two sisters who go from contemporary times to medieval Italy. And then fall in love. Big time. And then they’re in the Great Quandary: What do you do when your (literal) knight in shining armor lives in a different time? I wanted to write a great love story, but with lots of action—those tales always come easily for me. I loved, loved, loved writing Waterfall, and the other two in the series, Cascade and Torrent. Did you hear me say loved? Seriously. Loved it. I hope that comes through when readers pick it up.

If you could only share one line from Waterfall, which one would you choose and why?

“I hope you’re the good guys.” It’s that tripping point when Gabi finally recognizes she’s really, really far from home and now dependent on others.

Writers often put things in their books that are very personal—like a funny story that happened to them, a spiritual truth they learned through difficulty, or even just a character trait that is uniquely theirs. Is there something in Waterfall that only people close to you know is about you or someone you know?

A lot of quotes the girls remember from their dad are things that resonate with me. “No way through, but through.” “It is what it is.” Through their memories of their dad, they find wisdom that gets them through the moment. They denote acceptance of hard facts and decisions to forge ahead, one step at a time.

Readers often talk a lot about the hero and heroine of a story, but today I’d like to know something about your villain. Does he or she have a redeeming quality? Why or why not?

Cosmo Paratore is Marcello Forelli’s rival, and they are frequently in battle, because they represent the border line between two enemy provinces in Italy, and both are young lords of their respective castles. Because my book is in first person POV (Gabi’s), we don’t really see him more than as the arch-enemy who threatens everything she loves. But I see that he’s fighting for his land and his “rights” just as clearly as Marcello is. He’s just on the other side.

Lady Romana Rossi is also an antagonist, since she has been long-promised as Marcello’s bride. And if you’re in love with Marcello, then she represents a serious obstacle. But Gabi tends to feel for Romana—she recognizes that she’s caught between familial and social responsibilities and expectations—and therefore feels some sympathy for her.

What kind of research did you have to do for this book? Can you share some articles or website links you found particularly helpful?

Fortunately I had done a ton of research for this era and this region for a previous series called The Gifted (The Begotten, The Betrayed, The Blessed). There is one couple anyone writing medieval needs to study—Joseph and France Gies—they’ve written a number of very accessible books on life in medieval society. A full bibliography appears in the back of Waterfall, which might be helpful to other writers wanting to concentrate on the medieval period.

And I love Italy so of course I HAD to go with my husband to make sure I had details—sights, sounds, smells—ready to go into the books. We had a fabulous week in Tuscany last year. It was great for us as a couple to get away, as well as for the books. I got a lot of research done that ended up in the series—stuff that would be hard to discover in just researching/reading.

Tell us what new projects you’re working on.

The rewrite (third draft) of Torrent (book 3 in River of Time Series) and then diving into research for my next series—books about a group of young people on the Grand Tour of Europe.

The most common thing I hear when people learned I’ve published a book is, “I’ve always wanted to do that.” Faced with this statement, what advice would you give to someone just starting out in this business?

Study what it takes. Study the craft. Then invest the time and energy to get better at it. Critique groups, writers’ conferences, subscription to Writer’s Digest you actually read. It’s like anything…if you want it, really want it, you have to work for it. And I mean work. It’s way more challenging than when I started. Not impossible.

What is the one question you were afraid I would ask…and how would you answer?

I’m pretty brave, so that’s hard to answer. Bring it on, is what I’m thinking. I’ve got Nordic blood in my veins. That’s why I write heroines the way I do. They are feminine and clearly women—but they’re not waiting on their heroes to save them. They wade into the fight beside them.
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Lisa is giving away a copy of her book, Waterfall. Be sure to stop by The Borrowed Book on Friday for your chance to win!

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Writing 101: Why they're not called LIFElines

We’ve all heard about them. At least you have if you are familiar with the writing industry. DEADlines are those little things that are a big deal. Your editor gives you a deadline for a project so she can schedule copy editors, content editors, the printer, those in charge of cover art, etc. Do editors tack in some extra days in case the writer has a melt down and asks (read: begs) for more time? Probably, but I don’t advise living your writing life on the constant edge of every deadlines you are assigned. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth of your editor and, my friends, it's also the reason they're aren't called LIFElines.

Have I ever been late?

Yes.

Once.

It will be my first and last time.

It was a simple accident, really. An oversight, but I was mortified. My editor emails me on the second of the month and asks, in a conversational tone, where’s your manuscript?

Huh?

It was due. Yesterday.

It was? (freaking out now)

I grabbed my contract sure I had the correct date in mind (the 15th) only to find out I was wrong. Dead. Wrong. Total OOPS!

In my contract for my seventh book, there is a new penalty clause. For authors who are late they are applying a 10% penalty. I think it’s more than fair and am really surprised they haven’t explored doing this before.

What’s your take on deadlines? Do you think it’s fair for a publisher to penalize an author for going over deadline?

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