Want to know why? Or, if you’re a fiction writer, do you find ways to release real-life frustration in your stories? Pop by James Callan’s The Author’s Blog to read my guest post and leave a comment. One commenter will win a copy of Secrets and Lies.
Link: Don’t Annoy the Novelist.
Thank you to everyone who gave input on the title choices and summary blurb for Redemption’s Edge #3. I’ve closed the poll, and the final results in the title vote are as follows:
Thank you to Polldaddy, my poll host.
And the title I’ve chosen is (insert drumroll here)
Confession time: I did not see this coming. I actually prepared this post to announce Dangerous Questions as the one I thought best fit the novel. Until I did a little chart that I can’t show you, listing five plot threads and ticking how many each title matched. Without Proof matched all five. My only hesitation with this title is that it sounds vaguely like legal fiction.
The back cover summary isn’t yet finalized, but it’ll be something like this:
“Asking questions could cost your life.”
Two years after the plane crash that killed her fiancé, Amy Silver has fallen for his best friend, artist Michael Stratton. When a local reporter claims the small aircraft may have been sabotaged, it reopens Amy’s grief.
Anonymous warnings and threats are her only proof that the tragedy was deliberate. Amy has nowhere to turn. The authorities don’t believe her, God is not an option, and Michael’s protection is starting to feel like a cage.
I’m considering adding a closing question to tie into the title, but perhaps it’s implied in the final sentences.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27:14, NIV*
Waiting. It’s a challenge. We who hope in God wait for Him to act, to speak, to comfort.
There’s an element of strain in that. “When, Lord? How long?”
When we give in to that strain, we miss part of the waiting. We miss simply waiting for (or with) God. Being with Him, even when we can’t sense His presence. He’s with us – He promised, and we can depend on that, whatever we feel.
His timing won’t speed up if we’re peering at the horizon and begging, “Are we there yet?” I’m learning that when I do that, I miss what He has for me in the now. Maybe it’s rest. Maybe it’s a quiet word He wants to drop into my spirit. It could be an opportunity I’ll miss if I’m looking too far ahead.
Most of all, I miss His presence. Especially in the stressful times, His presence is subtle, easy to miss. And it’s what I most need.
Quieting ourselves before God, entrusting our needs to Him and abiding in Him, is trust. It’s an act of worship. It honours Him for who He is, not for what He can do for us.
Our God, You see our hurts, needs and fears. Yes, we need Your intervention, and we pray for Your help. Forgive us when we come clamouring to You with requests without taking time to appreciate You for who You are. Whisper into our spirits and teach us to worship You in trust and adoration. Help us set our hearts on You, no matter what goes on in and around us. You are our greatest treasure and our deepest need.
∞
Here’s a simple prayer of longing for God’s company: “If I Could Just Sit With You Awhile,” sung here by Todd Agnew.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UnJHWDcRtU
*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Desperate Measures, by Sandra Orchard (Revell, 2015)
If you haven’t read the first two novels in the Port Aster Secrets series, don’t read this review or you’ll find spoilers for those stories. Desperate Measures concludes the over-arching plot threads about the drug company that has been after Kate because of her father. It also completes the romance between Kate Adams and Detective Tom Parker.
Desperate Measures picks up where Blind Trust left off. Kate is angry with Tom about the choices he made to protect her, and she’s back to acting on her own, hiding plants from the drug company and trying to find out what makes the plants so valuable. She becomes so invested in her project that she’ll take any kind of risk to keep working on it.
Tom, meanwhile, is trying to find a missing youth while keeping an unofficial eye on Kate. He doesn’t trust her research assistant’s boyfriend, or the shady character who’s back from book one.
This entire series is well-crafted. Deadly Devotion and Blind Trust have both won awards, and Desperate Measures is likely to continue that trend. The writing is strong, the characters complex, and the tension is high.
I did find the wrap-up a touch confusing. There were a few additional players beside the drug company and I wasn’t sure how they all fit together. I did read the ebook, so I should have used the search feature to go back and orient myself. I also found Kate’s “desperate measures” a bit trying to my patience, but her behaviour was true to her character, based on all the stress that pushed her to that point.
Sandra Orchard is an award-winning, Canadian author of Christian romantic suspense. I hope we’ll see another long-format series from her like this one. She also writes shorter novels for the Love Inspired Suspense line. For more about the author and to check out her book bonus features, visit her website: sandraorchard.com.
[Review copy from my personal library.]
My working title for Redemption’s Edge #3 was No Safe Place, but early feedback said it sounded like a chase novel or a witness protection story. Since it’s neither, I’ve done a Marvin the Martian and gone “back to the old drawing board.”
I’ve considered over 50 titles so far, some downright horrible, lots in the middle, and some I really liked that were already over-used.
Below are my top 5 for your input, but first, here’s my latest draft of the back cover blurb to give some context. I’ve struggled with this blurb all week, and I’m sure the wording will change again before it’s final. As well as the suspense, it needs to convey “Christian romantic suspense.”
“Asking questions could get you killed.”
Amy Silver survived the plane crash that killed her fiancé, and found refuge with his best friend, artist Michael Stratton. Falling for Michael was unexpected, and his faith is out of her reach.
Was the small aircraft sabotaged? Anonymous warnings and threats are Amy’s only proof. The authorities don’t believe her, and Michael’s protection is starting to feel like a cage. Pushing his boundaries is not the way to win his heart, but Amy wants answers.
EDITED JULY 11: revised blurb:
“Asking questions could cost your life.”
Two years after the plane crash that killed her fiancé, Amy Silver has fallen for his best friend, artist Michael Stratton. When a local reporter claims the small aircraft may have been sabotaged, it reopens Amy’s grief.
Anonymous warnings and threats are her only proof that the tragedy was no accident. Amy has nowhere to turn. The authorities don’t believe her, God is not an option, and Michael’s protection is starting to feel like a cage.
[polldaddy poll=8972696]
If you have any comments (especially if something about the blurb confuses you!) please leave them below. Thanks!
“Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?”
Again Peter denied it. And immediately a rooster crowed.
John 18:26b-27, NLT*
Peter loved Jesus. I’m sure he wholeheartedly meant his earlier vow that he’d never deny his Lord. (Matthew 26:31-35)
Yet here he was, doing that very thing. Matthew’s account says Peter’s denial was so intense it involved cursing. And that when the rooster crowed and he realized what he’d done, he fled, “weeping bitterly.” (Matthew 26:69-75)
Why did he do it? Was he afraid? Or was he trying to stay “under cover” in case there was a chance to rescue Jesus?
Whatever his motivation, Peter’s denial came because he was acting on his own initiative and in his own strength.
Isn’t that when we get into trouble, too?
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:5-6, NLT*
Our best intentions can blow up in our faces. Peter’s experience reminds us how important it is to learn to listen to and rely on the Lord. He also reminds us of Jesus’ loving forgiveness when we mess up (see John 21).
Our God and Saviour, Your grace to forgive is beyond our understanding, but we receive it gladly and we rely on it often. Teach us to walk closer to You, to trust You instead of ourselves. Slow us down to listen before we leap. Make us people after Your own heart.
∞
What better prayer than Matt Maher‘s “Lord, I Need You“?
*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Recipe For Murder (Cozy Crumb Mystery Series Book 1), by Lisa Harris (Lisa Harris, 2013)
When retired cooking instructor Pricilla Crumb steps in as chef at her son’s hunting lodge, she’s hoping to spend time with him and perhaps work herself into a job. Truth told, she also has matchmaking on her mind, having invited her friend Max and his single, charming daughter.
What she’s not expecting is murder.
When one of the guests dies, Pricilla involves herself in the investigation. Max appoints himself as her protector, with matchmaking ideas of his own. He needs to keep Pricilla safe long enough to discover if they have a chance at a relationship, themselves.
Pricilla is your typical, amateur sleuth, thinking she can take on a murderer. For all the mistakes she makes along the way, she does turn up information that helps solve the case.
It’s interesting to watch characters in their 60’s begin to navigate the complexities of a new relationship. We’ll have to read the rest of the series to see how Max and Pricilla tackle what will be a long-distance relationship (and she doesn’t even use email).
I found the delivery a little slow, and Pricilla would annoy me if I lived with her. She’s a kind person, though, with a concern for people’s spiritual needs as well as their physical comfort. And she’s an amazing cook.
Recipe for Murder is a cozy mystery that’s good for an easy read without a lot of tension. Sometimes that’s exactly what we need.
Award-winning Lisa Harris also writes higher-stakes romantic suspense, including her Southern Crimes series. Her website is presently under renovations but she’s still active on her blog: myblogintheheartofafrica.blogspot.ca. I received my ebook copy of Recipe for Murder for free by signing up for her author newsletter, which you can do on her blog. The rest of the Cozy Crumb Mystery Series is available through the regular online booksellers.
[Review copy from my personal library.]
Some of us like teamwork, and others prefer to work alone. As an introvert – and a writer – I’m used to solitary efforts. Even there, it’s good to know I’m connected to friends and co-labourers. We need one another, for support, encouragement, and perspective.
I took this photo when my husband and I were in Saint John, NB, in May. These volunteers worked together to repaint the city’s Marigolds Mural and turn it back into a feast of colours for locals and tourists to enjoy.
Nobody’d want to do the whole thing, but together 150+ volunteers did it in a day. I don’t think any of them were professional artists. It doesn’t matter. They saw a need, and they met it. (You can read CBC’s coverage here: Marigold mural revived in Saint John.)
Here’s more of the wall:
What could you or I do, that may not seem like much but could be part of a greater whole? Little contributions add up.
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.
John 16:33, NLT*
If we look around, there is plenty to discourage us. Although MacLean’s shares the encouragement that “humans have never been better off” (Scott Gilmore: Believe it or not, this is the best time to be alive), people still suffer. And many of us live in cultures that are increasingly open about their godlessness. It reminds me of Paul’s words to the Romans about how, when people turned away from God, He let them have what they wanted.
Closer to home, there may be financial pressures. Health, employment, relationship concerns. For me, it’s my church, which has been bleeding out for the past year.
Each one of us likely has at least one thing pressing heavily. Through it all, we need to keep ourselves rooted in Jesus, depending on Him.
That’s hard, though. Over time, the weight seems to increase and we may not see the Lord doing anything. We can believe the suffering more than the Saviour. (click to tweet that)
Life is truly “a long obedience in the same direction,” and the closer we are to Jesus, the better off we’ll be. For me, that means I need to spend more time in worship, remembering who God is and how much He loves me. Reminding myself what He’s done in the past, to reassure my faith that He’s still at work. Waiting for His timing.
Our God, so often we strain to see the end of the story when You’re still working in the middle of it. Help us trust You in the waiting. Help us worship. Remind us who You are, and give us the faith we need. Grow the fruit of the Holy Spirit within us, including patience and faithfulness. Enable us to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel.
∞
When circumstances start weighing me down, Brian Doerksen‘s song, “You Shine,” is a good antidote.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEuuoqMsD9Y
*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Burning Justice, by Helena Smrcek (EverWind Press, 2015)
Nora Martin’s dream is to establish the Beacon of Hope residence as an alternative to prison or forced military service for young men who’ve been arrested. She has the government approval and the funding, but suddenly she may not have the farmhouse she leased from a church in rural Indiana.
The church assumed care of the property when its owner died. How could they have forgotten to notify the man’s heir? What else have the locals “forgotten” to mention? One thing’s sure, they know how to hold grudges.
Most of those grudges are aimed at Jake Schwartz, the farm’s heir, who arrives unexpectedly on leave from the military. Jake tells Nora and her FBI friend Alicia to stay out of his troubles, even when things escalate to violence.
How can Nora do that, when she’s in danger of losing her ministry? And how can she admit her attraction to Jake, when she takes her Mennonite pacifist beliefs seriously? For that matter, how did Jake, another Mennonite, end up in the Navy?
Burning Justice is set in the real town of French Lick, Indiana, and many of the settings sound like real places. Nora and Jake are both what I’d call expatriate Mennonites, keeping their faith but cut off from traditional communities. Jake, who looks to have compromised his beliefs, is more connected to God than Nora, who’s crushed by guilt over advice she gave in her previous career as a social worker.
Favourite lines:
Sometimes we are our own biggest obstacles in our walk toward God’s will. (Miriam, a young Mennonite mother, to Nora, Kindle location 2436)
For some reason, you seem to think that by clutching the steering wheel, you can change the direction of the road. (Jake to Nora, Kindle location 3100)
My only issue with this novel is the ending. It provides a satisfying fictional wrap-up, but in the real world I think the characters would be setting themselves up for trouble. I can’t give more details without giving spoilers, but I wouldn’t want an impressionable reader to follow this example.
Burning Justice is the first book in the Alicia Yu series. This is Nora’s story, but Alicia is an intriguing support character. I look forward to seeing what action she gets into in the next books: Glitter of Sorrow and Color of Money.
Helena Smrcek’s debut novel is a fast read laced with danger and romance and steeped in small-town secrets. For more about the author, visit her Goodreads page, and to read a sample chapter, visit her website. Burning Justice is currently free for Kobo. Amazon and the other online retailers will follow shortly.
[Advance review copy provided by the author.]