Another Novel!

Hey there, don't die of shock when you see I'm actually posting something. It's been over three years since I did so!

Anyway, I wrote another historical novel. It's available here for $2.99 on Amazon. Below are the cover and blurb:

Born with a red mark emblazoned across her face, seventeen-year-old Madge is lonely as she spends her days serving guests and cleaning rooms in the inn her father keeps. 

One day, she meets an unusual minstrel in the marketplace. Moved by the beauty of his song and the odd shape of his body, she realizes she has made her first friend. But he must go on to the next town, leaving her behind. Soon after, while she herself is singing in the woods, she is startled by a chance meeting with a stranger there. Though the encounter leaves her horribly embarrassed, it proves she need not remain unnoticed and alone forever.

However, this new hope is shattered when she overhears a few quiet words that weren’t intended for her ears. Heartbroken and confused, she flees her home to join the minstrel and his companion, a crass juggler. As they travel earning their daily bread, Madge secretly seeks to rid herself of the mark upon her cheek, convinced that nothing else can heal her heart.

Set in England in 1681, With Face Aflame is the tale of a girl who risks everything in hopes of becoming the person she desperately wants to be.  

Give it a read through and, if you like it, please post a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Alright, now please excuse me as I continue the process of writing my third novel. Thanks! 

A Novel Satisfaction

Please don't die of shock when you see I actually posted something on this seemingly forgotten blog of mine.  If you look two posts (and nearly a year!) back, you will see that I mentioned I was writing a book. Well, I am extremely gratified to textually holler out that:

IT IS FINISHED AND AVAILABLE!

Before I tell you what it's about, I'll tell you the really good news that the ebook is FREE at smashwords.com, and it's only $0.99 for the Kindle version at Amazon. "Why so little?" you may be wondering. Well, because I want to make it accessible to anyone who wants to read it, that's why. (For the paperback copy, Amazon required me to charge a certain amount, so you can find it here for $14.00 plus shipping costs.)

Here is the cover:

Ahh...isn't it lovely? My friend Tony was able to design it well according to my vision of an old looking book.

Instead of going into a long detailed explanation about the novel's contents, I'll just post the back cover blurb below:

Young Jonathan Clyde causes mischief for everyone at Whitehall, the stately home of his privileged ancestors. As he matures, however, he comes to despise the vanity and conceit surrounding him. 

Misfortune requires Lydia Smythe, an exceptionally clever farmer’s daughter, to seek employment at Whitehall. As a parlor maid, she feels stifled and harried by those over her. Still, she refuses to relinquish her independent mind and spirit. 

From the moment Jonathan catches Lydia reading the books she is supposed to be dusting, he is intrigued by this unusual servant. Thus begins a clandestine relationship that is simultaneously amusing, confusing and enlightening. Just as it is evolving into something neither of them expected, an unforeseen truth comes to light, and the two wonder if their unconventional bond will be forever lost. 

Set in England in the mid-eighteen hundreds, A Girl Called Foote is the coming-of-age story of two similarly impressive people leading very different lives.

So there you have it! If you read it, I would greatly appreciate if you would then post a review of it on Amazon, Goodreads and Smashwords. 

Thanks! 

Thankful for the Chance

This morning during our church service, I had the delightful opportunity to read the following poem that I wrote. Read it aloud if you'd like to hear the meter and alliteration.

The Fullness of Forgiveness

At dying day, the shining sun cast final rays of light

Through lengths of linen gently falling ‘round the young girl’s waist

Creating there a silhouette of Mary’s thickened form

Distinctly seen as months had passed since Gabri’l spoke her name

The maiden now was swollen with the breadth and bulk of Grace

Made manifest within a womb untainted by a man

Betrothed Joseph, being just, decided how to act

Until an angel quelled his fear and charged him with a task

“Not Mary, no!” wept those who loved the highly favored one

Recalling what it seemed the scrolls directed them to do

While others snickered, pleased to utter scriptures to themselves

Reminding them of their upright and honored ways of life

They thought to reach for rocks as hard as any blameless heart

Despising Flesh'd Salvation that was forming in their midst



 

The Myth of Christian Fiction

I'm writing a book!

This actually isn't huge news as some of you know I've been writing said-book for about four years now. And now that I'm starting a physics college course AND an anatomy and physiology college course next week I'm sure I'll have tons of time to devote to writing. Yeah, the book's really coming along. Stay tuned...for another four years, perhaps.

Anyway, a while back, someone asked me what I was up to and I mentioned the whole snail-paced book thing, unsure I wanted to share about it since it's so slow going. Excitedly, she asked me, "So it's Christian fiction?"

Well...no...

You see, I think that phrases like "Christian fiction", "Christian movie" and "Christian music" are misnomers at best and marketing ploys at worst (not always, mind you, but sometimes).

People are Christian, not things. A book has no soul that it can hand over to God when it realizes it doesn't want to do life on its own. A movie can not realize its need for Christ's grace. A song might be filled with Jesus-praising lyrics, but the song itself is not "Christian".

I'm not so uptight about these distinctions that I won't (out of laziness) refer to them by their common societal names, so don't drop your coffee if you ever hear me say something about a "Christian bookstore". (Just know that as I'm saying it, there are quotation marks around it in my mind.)

So, the real question is: Am I writing this book with hopes of honoring and glorifying God throughout the process and result? The answer to that is a resounding YES. I hope to do that in all I do.

However, I want to clarify (just in case my work is eventually available on Amazon and other fine retail sites) that my attempts to honor and glorify God through literature may look a bit different than some of you might expect, and I want you to be ready for that.

I have a major gripe with the vast majority of "Christian fiction" that I've read: The authors seem to have sterilized their characters so thoroughly in order to appeal to a Christian audience that their heroes and heroines hardly resemble real people. That's one of the things I love about the Bible itself: It's full of genuine, messed up people just like me! People that God pursued, loved and helped.

If I read a book and can't relate to the protagonists then I don't care how beautiful the descriptive language is nor how accurate the historical research was. I'm left feeling like I've just wasted my time, like a farce was just laid before me as an example of how to live life. A good fictitious story reaches out to its readers and helps them feel known and understood, helps point them in a realistic and helpful direction. For me, that connection is missing in most "Christian" stories I've read or watched. (Songs are different; a lot of content resonates with me in those.)

Now if you love certain "Christian books" I have no desire to ruin that for you. Read them. Enjoy them. My opinion's really not too important and I don't want to mar a good thing for you.

However, I take stories very seriously and if they don't seem genuine to me then I don't care for them. 

Life is dirty and ugly. I am not afraid to include dirt and ugliness in my book because I want it to be realistic, authentic.

I know Christians who won't watch some productions that I consider very powerful. I have no desire to convince them otherwise. If they have a conviction about something then it's not my place to pull them over to share my convictions. "Let everyone be convinced in their own mind." Still, I will say that a TV series like Band of Brothers was life-changing for me, not in a hugely reverberating way, but it opened my eyes to war, courage, evil, love and a host of other real-life things. Yet, it contained profanity, sexuality, gore.

"Geez, Aimee, what's in this book you're writing?" you may be wondering. Well, it's certainly not on the Band of Brothers level of profanity, sexuality or gore (or on BoB's level of quality for that matter!), but there are a few words in my book that aren't part of my every day vocabulary, not gratuitously so, but realistically so.

In fact, there isn't anything gratuitous in my work. Everything I include is meant to develop characters, propel the story forward, make readers think. You know...good stuff.

There is no casual, tasteless titillation whatsoever.

Maybe soon you'll be able to see for yourself.

"Soon" is a relative term. :)

Choose Your Own Adventure

You may remember this post from nearly two years ago and have been wondering what happened with those plans. Well...this ain't the Vietnam War Era any more. Now, if you change your mind after enlisting, they don't hogtie you and throw you on the back of a flat bed truck that's headed for the frontlines.

Yes, Tobias decided against becoming a 92M in the army afterall, but recently he signed up for a different kind of service. This morning before 6:00, I cooked him up a hot breakfast while he finished throwing some vital belongings into a couple of duffel bags, and then we hopped in the car while the sun was still rising so he could start his newest chapter. Because of my desire to keep this blog not-too-personally-specific I won't name organizations or locations, but I will say that he has elected to dedicate the next couple of years to service of the outdoorsy-hardworking sort.

It's going to be some serious physical labor which he isn't afraid of. It will open multiple doors of opportunity for him later in life as well as bulk up his resume beautifully. In his own words, "I look forward to this huge step in my life. It will give a foundation, increase my independence...and teach me loads." I'm thankful he sees the many benefits in this opportunity and values them for what they are.

So, even though he will be spending much of his time running a CHAINSAW in the coming months, we are genuinely glad that he is moving in this direction and that he's willing to dedicate himself to honorable and beneficial, though exhausting, work.

Last week he got to meet the crew he'll be living and working with. Thankfully he really liked them. One of them told him, "We don't have friends up on the mountain. We have brothers." That was music to this mother's ears. 

None of the pictures I took this morning turned out that great because I didn't want to ask him in front of his peers to 'smile for Mommy', but what's a post without a photo? So here you go:

Now if he gets through it with all of his limbs intact, I'll really rejoice. Do chainsaw-proof coveralls exist?

We love you, Sonny. Learn all you can and enjoy yourself.

And So It Ends...

I'm happy to report that my crusade has come to a happy conclusion.

You may remember the exhilaration of  our first capping after my Christmas wish
was fulfilled.

After the flush of that excitement wore off, I felt a little sorry for the third and final hubcap. Each time I situated grocery bags around it in the trunk I wanted to pat it gently and say, "Your time will come, Little One."

Well, it's time was approximately 9:05 this morning.

As I was pulling up in front of my friend's house, I noticed a silver Corolla across the street. I made a quick assessment and immediately heard the cap in my trunk calling out to its three, perfectly matching siblings.




Danica and Karen--Thanks for offering moral support as I tried to pound that thing on (and for not ridiculing me when I gave up and simply placed it on the hood) and for photographing this momentous occasion. ;)

Public Service Announcement

I nearly got hit by a car recently.

I don’t mean that a sedan almost crumpled my car's back left door.

I mean a huge SUV almost plowed into me--my vulnerable, slightly-squishy, 5' 4", endoskeletal self. 

Some lady was steaming along at maybe-I-can-make-a-Starbucks-run-and-still-make-it-to-work-on-time speed, slowed slightly as she approached a stop sign, whipped her head around (looking for other cars, I presume) and gunned it. Meanwhile, I was jogging up to the crosswalk next to said stop sign at my I-hate-this-but-I-love-chocolate-cake-so-I'd-better-keep-stumbling-on speed. I was just inches from her hurtling-through-space passenger door.

Yeah, it was pretty close. If I was talented and quick enough, I could have done a blow fish on her window.

 

(Not me in the photo, in case you were wondering. I don't possess such pneumatic skills, nor am I a dude.)

She never did see me.

So what saved my pre-carcass from getting smashed into a bodiless spirit? 

One thing and one thing only...

...my awareness.

My fellow joggers know what I’m talking about. 

You see, there are people driving cars all over our cities who are NOT looking out for us. Can I hear an amen from the running crew?

It's not that they're trying to kill, maim and smash us. It's just that their minds are on other things. You know, things like how they haven't had a bowl of chili yet this season, or how they'd really like to replace their doorbell. These things are not of much consequence but they're enough to distract drivers from paying proper attention at the wheel.

So, as a jogger I've learned to watch out for myself. I slow down at intersections or even stop and wait even though the ol' Garmin is ticking away.

Let me ask you: Whose fault would it be if that lady had slammed into me throwing me thirty feet or if she had rolled over me with one of those $250 tires?

Hers, of course.

However, who would be the worse off for it?

Duh...me.

That's why I'm aware: not because I don't want to be at fault but because I don't want to be injured or, you know, dead.

All of this is true, however the real reason I'm bothering to type about it is to give myself a proper intro for a different topic...

You see, I recently read an article which implied that telling people to avoid certain situations where they might be sexually abused is the equivalent to blaming them if they are victimized.

For example: To tell a provocatively dressed young woman not to walk down a dark alley is the same as telling her that she deserves any abuse she might suffer while doing so.

I ask you: Whose fault would it be if she was raped?

The rapist's, clearly.

But, who would be worse off for it?

Obviously, her.

Please don't misunderstand me. Any person who is preyed upon should feel no guilt and I certainly don't want to make any excuse for predators, nor give them any leeway to ply their evil. They should be prosecuted and punished for any crime they commit and hindered extensively from committing more. Unfortunately though, that is all after the cruel reality of whatever happened.

So I think a better question than "Who is at fault?" is "How can this be prevented in the first place?"

The fact is that encouraging people to be aware and to avoid dangerous situations will keep some abuse and crimes from occurring.  Unlike distracted drivers, sexual predators are aiming to harm others. Why wouldn't we warn people to be on the look-out and avoid them?

I understand that there's a slope here that we don't want our society to slide down. Some cultures declare people who are sexually attractive as dangers and force them to cover themselves from head-to-toe or require them to only go out into society with a "proper" escort. These social norms grew out of a very twisted and hyped-up version of "We don't want people to be victimized". Still, swinging so grossly in the other direction and calling it "not making the victim feel blamed" is seriously flawed, as well.

All of that to say: Be aware. Avoid danger.