I Love to Tell the Story

Posted by the Poet at 6:41 PM 1 comments

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - Psalm 139: 13-14

I love to tell the story,
'twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story
Of Jesus and his love.
- I Love to Tell the Story, hymn

I love to write. If you've ever met me, it probably took all of 30 seconds to realize this of me. I have the tip of an ink pen tattooed on my right wrist. I sometimes confuse things occurring my novel with current events. I've had to refrain from mentioning my fictional characters when someone asks for prayer requests. I write. I tell stories. It's what I do.

But why do I do it? I write because I am inspired to write. I am writing stories because my God did so first. I wasn't there when he made the universe, but I don't think he put pen to paper to do so. I doubt he even had a typewriter. Even so, you've got to hand it to him: he can tell an awesome story.

The world as a whole, sans humanity, would be an epic story in and of itself. But God added us to the mix. Billions of individual stories, all interweaving and linked yet unique and separate. They say that every writer has a set cast of characters in their minds. Shakespeare supposedly had about 20. I think I've got about 5 or 6. God? Yeah, he's had several billion - and he's not through yet. Amazing.

Tonight I was working on a new scene in my novel. Two of my characters were in a new place, having a discussion. My main character said something that could have been pulled straight from my own life. I realized that I am writing a story as a way to pay homage to the one God is writing for me. My life is an adventure. For that, I am thankful. I want to share the amazing adventure my God has blessed me with. He's given me a great way to do so.

To put it one way: I write a story, because he first wrote mine.

Much love,
Sarah

2AM and the Writer is Awake

Posted by the Poet at 12:13 AM 1 comments

It’s 2AM and I'm awake. Awake, but not writing. (Unless you count this, of course.) I managed to get some much needed work done to the novel today yet my word count didn’t budge. Housekeeping, I suppose one would say. It felt nice.
Part of me knows that I should be working on my novel. If I'm going to be awake and alert at this time of night, shouldn’t I be putting it to good use? Alas, my mind is elsewhere.
Tonight, I'm thinking of past. Well, Pasts, actually. We all have one. We all come with something else included. We’re all packaged deals. Some of us come with spouses. Some of us come with children. Some of us come with mountains we have climbed, struggles we have faced and battles we have fought - including some we lost. Accepting the extra weight, the “baggage” is what makes a friend a friend, right?
Me? I come complete with a loving mother and sarcastic brother. But I also am followed by the ghost of my father. If you want me you get all of my enthusiasm and gusto, my playfulness and humor, my creativity and imagination. With all of that you also get my mood swings and my tears, my bouts of immaturity and stubbornness, my manic periods and my off-kilter sleep cycles.
“No man is an island.” Yes. But I would also add that, “No person is simply a piece. We are all a puzzle, to which every event, person and personality quirk contribute.” To love, we accept - past and all.


“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” Romans 15:7

Low Visibility - Day Two

Posted by the Poet at 1:27 PM 1 comments

Monday was groovy.

Usually it takes all the patience I can muster just to sit through a 50 minute lecture, listening to a professor drone on and on about Russian Formalism or The past exploits of WB Yeats. On Monday morning I sat through 3 hours of the same speaker and was simply left asking for more.

Steven James, who's written some apparently good fiction that I've never read, spoke about hoe he crafts stories and works action, adventure, mystery and suspense into his Christian novels - and keep them from sucking. He was a very intriguing speaker. Thankfully I brought my voice recorder along. I fully intend on listening to all three hours again when I have some time.

I've made some lovely friends as well. Sarah, from Colorado. Lily-Bea, from Indiana (I think) and Angie, from a tiny town in North Carolina. We've already begun exchanging emails and such. It's good to know other writers. :)

Also on Monday, the fog rolled in. You couldn't see more than 50 yards in front of you the moment you stepped outside. When it lifted a little the mountains surrounding were stilled swathed with fog. It's eerily beautiful to see the fog rising from the mountains. You feel for a moment as if you were the only person on Earth.

Day One

Posted by the Poet at 7:25 AM 1 comments

Good morning! I'm blogging from beautiful Black Mountain, North Carolina today. This afternoon will see the beginning of the Blue Ridge Christian Novelist Retreat and I must admit and I am a tad excited.

There will only be 50 to 60 writers attending the retreat, for which I am very thankful. Things will be able to be more personal this way. If many more people were attending there would bound to be some of us that got lost in the crowd. I hope to be able to personally introduce myself to every writer here.

I'm trying to be a good girl. I have a bad habit when it comes to being around other writers, I'll be honest. I guess you could say I have a "Highlander" mentality to the whole thing. "There can be only one." :P I'm just not used to competition. Sure, some of my good friends are writers, but we are all in different places with our writing. I'm researching publishers while another friend of mine is just casually going through story line in her mind. Here, it's going to be a bit more even. We'll all have a novel that is currently being written. Should be interesting.

I'll post again tonight after we've had our first session thingy. Have a great day!

Much Love,
Sarah

PS I'm also posting the obligatory travel photo. I'll post more pics as I take them.

I Give This Poem 4 Out of 5 Stars

Posted by the Poet at 6:35 PM 1 comments

I Give This Poem 4 out of 5 Stars

I’m tired of playing critic.
It’s time to come clean.
I’m done playing it cool with my movies.
I’m done melodramatically yawning
when the hero tells the girl he loves her.
Now more pretending my heart isn’t
a puddle of goo in my chest.
I’m don’t playing high-brow
when another cliché is on the screen.
I’m done.
I’m tired of pretending I’m cooler
than the movie reel.

Let me be frank with you.
I’m throwing down the gauntlet here.
If anyone dare snub their nose at me
I’ll gladly break it for them.

I love movies!
Summer blockbusters.
Low-budgets.
No-budgets.
Indies.
Comedies.
Dramas and
dramadies.
I love sappy romance flicks
and big-budget epics.
I love comic book movies
and novel adaptations.
I love clichéd ending,
heroic speeches
and robots that know kung-fu.
I love slow-motion fist fights
and awesome one-liners I can quote for days.
I love wizards
even they act emo and angsty.
I love vampires too!
I don’t care how much their acting sucks.
I support the phenomenon
that got a whole new generation
of 14 year old girls to read!
Sparkle on!
You won’t catch me
laughing at anyone else’s fandom.

Two thumbs up to anyone
who ever asked
for a lightsaber or phaser
for Christmas!
Because if the hero’s got the right swagger
I don’t care about the plot holes.
I don’t care if the effects budget
was 5 bucks
or 5 billion.
Just give me the money shot:
dawn,
breaking on the horizon
and into the frame
come a helicopter
or the hero
or the villain
or the plucky sidekick.

I love plucky sidekicks!
I love punch lines
and bad guys
and superheroes!
God bless the superheroes.

I don’t care if the movie
is intellectually stimulating enough
for the Academy.
The Academy
can kiss my butt.
When I pay my money
and park my rear
into that theater seat
I don’t want reality
projected on the big screen.
Spoon feed me fluff
if you have to.
If I wanted reality
I would have stayed at home.

I love movies
and if you have a problem
with my taste
take it up with someone who cares.
But for now,
just shut up.
The previews are about to start.

Things Lord of the Rings Fans Think Twilight Fans Ought to Know

Posted by the Poet at 1:22 PM 3 comments

Things Lord of the Rings Fans Think Twilight Fans Ought to Know
written by Sarah Wofford, a supporter of fandom diversity

- You thought we were weird at the time but we were right about the magic of books, weren’t we?
- If you stop laughing at our elf costumes, we’ll stop laughing at the body glitter you made your boyfriend wear.
- If you *don’t* stop laughing at out elf costumes, one of us is liable to shoot you with an arrow.
- Be warned, our arrows tend to be handcrafted. And sharp.
- Legolas may prance a bit, but he doesn’t sparkle. Trust me. Our fangirls are very much okay with this.
- There is something inherently beautiful about a good death scene. We’re sorry that you’ll never get to experience that. It’s not because your characters are immortal. It’s because your author is kind of a wimp.
- There is a very good reason no member of the fellowship was described as being a “klutz.” Klutzes tend to die really quickly.
- I can’t say that any of us feel very sympathetic when people make fun of your fandom. We’ve been putting up with it for 60 years. Suck it up.
- We know you think Edward and Bella are really sweet and self-sacrificing, perhaps they are, but Arwen gave up paradise to be with Aragorn. And Aragorn, he put his own heart on hold to - you know - save all of Middle Earth.
- Be careful before you try testing our patience. We’re the people who have sat through 12 hours of Extended Edition DVDs. Often in one sitting.
- If you do happen to reach the end of our patience, remember: we have several languages to choose from in which we can call you some very nasty things.
- Do not try to outwit us. We learned from Gollum and a whole Shire-full of hobbits. We really enjoy making people sound like fools.
- Be wary of any Rings fan that wants to show you their “pointy hat trick.” I can’t explain to you why, but believe me when I say that it will be unpleasant.
- We’re pretty certain that Samwise Gamgee could kill a vampire whilst armed with nothing but a cooking pot, relying just on the strength of his heart.
- You may think you’re a fan. You may think you’re a fanatic. You may even think you’re obsessed. You have no idea.

The end cometh...

Posted by the Poet at 8:32 PM 1 comments

I started writing my current novel, Solomon's Light in November of 2007. Today, June 2009, I have completed the outline for the end of the book. As it stands now, I should be done writing it by the end of the summer.

Wow.

But this means that the hardest part is coming up:
The last sentence.

I could write opening lines all day long, but the last line? That's a whole other ball game. I don't want it to be hokey or cliche. I want it to be a good ending. I know, generally speaking, how the book will end, but I don't know the specific scene that will take place. I've also got the strike that precarious balance between a solid ending and something that leaves you wanting to know what happens next.

Well, I suppose the only thing there really is to do is to get writing.

Here goes nothing.