Romance and Rice Plantations by Elva Cobb Martin

In my research for a future romance novel, as well as for magazine articles, I recently I took the annual two-day Rice Plantation Tour sponsored by an historic Episcopal Church in Georgetown, South Carolina. The church parish was founded in 1721. It's cemetery I wandered in the day before the tours began whispered many stories.

Prince George Winyah Episcopal Church Cemetery     

  

Did you know that rice was once king in South Carolina? Some would even say more so than the King of England ever was. From colonial times until the Civil War rice growing made the Carolina Low Country one of the wealthiest areas in the United States. In fact, by the Revolutionary War rice, nicknamed “Carolina Gold” made Charleston, South Carolina, the richest colonial town in America with twice the wealth of Philadelphia and New York, according to the ETV program “When Rice Was King.”

Over two days we toured about 20 plantations and town houses. Even though it rained both days I took lots of photos—with my umbrella held in one hand and my camera in the other!

Most names of the plantations echo their history—Hopsewee, The Oaks (shown on the right), Wicklow Hall, Rice Hope, Arundel, Mansfield, Rosemont, Arcadia, Millbrooke/Annandale, Estherville, Belle Isle, Waverly.

The town houses often reflected the names of original owners—Kaminski House, Robert Stewart House, Thomas Hutchinson House, Henry Cuttino House, Samuel Kirton House.

We had a delicious tea each afternoon at the Winyah Indigo Society Hall (circa 1857). This society is one of the oldest men’s convivial organizations in our nation. It was founded in 1740. Indigo, it seems was a good second crop to rice which required its intense labor at a different season than the most intense labor for rice. Thank God for indigo—an important original ingredient in making Levi’s and blue jeans we all love.

All the plantations we toured were in excellent preservation, and most of the houses still lived in, many of the farm lands still tilled, but not with rice. The good shape of the houses can probably be credited to the second wave of Yankee invaders after the Civil War—the rich industrialists of the north who bought up the beleaguered rice plantations after their loss of slave labor. In the beginning they often turned them into hunting and gun clubs where U.S. Presidents visited. Many are now owned by history lovers who all they can to preserve the rich record of the rice plantation culture. We are thankful for that.

Estherville Plantation river side where the rice was transported. 

What made the Carolina Low Country and Georgetown so conducive to rice growing? The rice-growing kingdom actually stretched for nearly 300 miles of coastland from Cape Fear, North Carolina, to St. Mary’s river in Georgia. Sixteen rivers in this stretch had the necessary ocean tides of at least four feet. Georgetown is situated at the mouth of five of those rivers as they flow into the Atlantic, so it became the heart of this rich industry.

Who brought all the wealth into the Carolinas buying the rice? Carolina Gold Rice was the best praised by foreign nations who bought tons of it to feed their marching armies.

Doesn’t this make you think we ought to eat more rice—if it kept marching armies on their feet, it can keep us ticking along, too. Of course, they surely ate whole grain rice. Are you a regular rice consumer? Unfortunately, rice is no longer grown in South Carolina, but have you seen the Carolina Rice brand on your grocery shelf?

Each rice plantation and the many town houses have their own exciting story I hope to explore in later blogs. Would you be interested?

Be sure and leave a comment and tweet this article for your history lover friends and writers.

Elva Cobb Martin is president of the South Carolina Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a former school teacher and a graduate of Anderson University and Erskine College. Decision, Charisma, and Home Life have published her articles. She has completed two inspirational romances. In a Pirate’s Debt is being considered by a literary agency for representation. Summer of Deception is being considered by a publisher. A mother finally promoted to grandmother, Elva lives with her husband Dwayne and a mini-dachshund writing helper (Lucy) in Anderson, South Carolina. She and her husband are retired ministers. Connect with her also on her web site www.elvamartin.com.

Guest Blog: THE ACHE

Today I welcome guest blogger Katie DePoppe. Hope you enjoy this delightful sharing of the ache known to all true writers and readers. And I think, especially, to romance readers and writers. ---Elva Cobb Martin

The Ache

by Katie DePoppe

Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of human need for it, and it has not changed except to become more needed. - John Steinbeck

Last week, as I laid in bed with my 4-year-old son, he asked me to tell him a story from when I was a little girl. We’ve discussed that I used to ask my mom the same thing, so while he nearly always chooses a book over the old-fashioned oral story-telling tradition, I jump at the chance when he requests stories from my childhood.

We talk a lot about using our imagination and being creative at home, and he’s great at coming up with his own stories, but when he asks for ideas, I have to admit that I re-live my childhood vicariously in 5-minute heart-swelling increments. I’m not ashamed.

So, on that random evening last week, I was more than willing to share my “stories” with him. Most were just snippets of great memories. One of those: explaining to him how I would wait all week for my mom to take me to the Home Video each Saturday to rent one of Shelley Duvall’s Fairy Tale Theater classics. My favorite? The Seven Dancing Princesses, an old classic complete with mystery, an invisibility cloak, and a secret passage way.

I watched as my little boy’s eyes widened as I told the story.   

“I am so excited,” he said, and then his little face fell for a moment. “I just want to be in the story so bad, Momma.”

I told him I understood. I know that ache. More than he knows.

Over the years, there have been those stories – you know the ones – that affect you. The ones that linger long after you’ve read the last line, a shadowy friend who follows you as you go back to everyday life; the ones that seem to wrap their hands around your shoulders and pull you through the pages and hold you there for a while.

As a child, there was a storybook I spent hours poring through because the illustrations were so beautiful; I decided I wanted to live there and spent hours of my early years trying to draw pictures like those. I still remember, with great nostalgia, my eighth grade self, tucked into bed in the wee hours of the morning, brought to tears for the first time by a novel. And I could write all day about the works that I’ve read as an adult that have shaped my heart in some good way or opened my eyes to a new way of thinking.

What’s the point of this, you ask?

This post isn’t meant to teach or tell you something you don’t already know. Rather, I thought it might be nice to have a reminder interspersed amongst all the well-thought strategies and professional advice – a reminder of why we do what we do.

I hope I write something that will one day put that ache in someone’s heart, that ache I know all too well and which my son felt for the first time at 4. How easy it is to forget that literature has the power to change the world.

For more information on the power of literature and a recent study on the power of fiction, visit http://teachthemdiligently.net/blog/2013/10/power-fiction/

Katie DePoppe is a co-founder and the editor at large for AZALEA, a magazine that celebrates the lifestyle, history, and culture of the South Carolina Lowcountry. She spends her days working in the library basement of a local university and her late nights tinkering with words she hopes will eventually appear on her personal blog, The Southern Apothecary (currently under re -construction), or in the pages of a Southern gothic short story collection. She lives with her husband and son, five dogs, twenty chickens, four peacocks, and a plethora of strays on her grandfather’s land near Charleston. She is a member of Word Weavers International, ACFW-SC Chapter, and is a life-long member of Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society. Connect with Katie on Twitter @KDePoppe.

How Alive OR Well Is Christian Fiction? - PART 3

by Elva Cobb Martin

                                                                   What Is Happening in Christian Fiction?

   

Kim Moore, Senior Fiction Editor with HarvestHouse, recently shared with me:

“Christian fiction is rather fluid right now. Ebooks on digital devices are changing Christian fiction in rather dramatic ways, and authors, agents and publishers are working to meet those challenges.”

Dan Balow, literary agent with the Steve Laube Agency, lately wrote a blog titled “Is Christian Fiction Dying?” He writes, “Last year a couple of Christian publishers stopped publishing fiction. Others are nervous about and it and still others are excited about it.”

He cited some reasons he thinks Christian fiction is causing some publisher-confusion:

■ Fiction is the segment of book publishing most affected by the sales of eBooks.

■ The relatively small number of new Christian fiction titles published by the main ECPA publishers.

■ The limited number of genres published.

Lighthouse Publishing of  the Carolinas CEO Eddie Jones has a little different take on the subject.

“I believe the general public is offended by the excessive cursing, gratuitous sex, and unnecessary violence, and yet, this is what passes for entertainment within the secular market. I also feel Christian Fiction has, for too long, catered to those readers who demanded a “come to Jesus” conversion ending in every story. Seems to me, there is an opportunity for book publishers to reach those readers who are offended by the word “Christ” but yet are drawn to themes of redemption, compassion, and sacrifice. I think the best fiction presents God’s truth without mentioning Him by name. When we allow God to work within the heart of a reader, they are moved not just by words, but by His Spirit, also.”

Lighthouse is a fast-paced and innovative traditional, royalty-paying publisher of eBooks and Print on Demand (POD) paperbacks. LPC embraces the new book publishing model that favors eBooks and Print on Demand over long press runs and warehouse inventories. They are excited about Christian fiction and over the next couple of years are launching five new imprints.

One writer has posed an interesting question for those wanting more “freedom of expression.” What if the Christian Booksellers Association morph’s into a quasi-ABA with more sex, violence, and coarse language, how many chomping at the bit to get there will be truly happy with the results? 

On the other side of the coin are those who are content and feel called to “write for the choir” (and read the same type fiction). One agent recently blogged in defense of the choir. He quoted statistics that 200,000 new

books are published in the United States each year from traditional publishers (not counting self-publishing), and that of those, only 10,000 would be Christian books from Christian publishers. He summed up by saying maybe we need more books with a blatant Christian message and worldview, as there seems to be enough books covering the other side.

He’s got a point.

But for those maybe caught in the middle, how does a Christian writer who desires to deal realistically with the nitty-gritty hard issues people, including Christians, may face, and the Bible even covers, do so without offending?

Author Timothy Fish may have hit the proverbial nail on the head. He commented on Karen Ball’s blog that the Bible, for the most part, tells what happened in grisly situations without giving a blow by blow account. He uses as examples the story of the Levite in Judges 19 who cut up his raped and murdered concubine into twelve pieces and sent her to the twelve tribes to stir them to action. He also used the story of Ehud, a man God raised up to deliver Israel from Moab, who thrust a dagger into the Moab king’s gut and the fat closed up around it.

The key, Fish says, is that the Bible writers did not go into detail about what precisely was taking place, what it smelled like or what the blood felt like as these actions took place. He says many people have a blood lust to show things that it is sufficient to tell only.

He’s got a point, too.

In conclusion, some would quote the dismal lowering of morals in America as the reason Christian fiction is not selling as well as would be desired. A new report, 2014 State of Dating in America, published by the online dating sites Christian Mingle and JDate, revealed that 61 percent of Christians said they would have sex before marriage.

Should the demise of morality, book sales figures, or anything else cause us to waver writing in the Christian worldview, however that’s interpreted? Should we continue writing fiction that not only entertains but also shows Christianity and gaining God’s wisdom as the answer for an individual’s problems, even the grittiest ones? Or should we try to tread more softly with inspiring fiction that doesn’t mention the name of Christ but clearly shows themes of compassion, redemption, or sacrifice? Is there room on the book shelf for both to reach various groups?

Some believe we Christians and Christian writers, publishers, agents are wrestling in a true spiritual warfare with the forces of evil which are trying, and have tried all through history, to grasp the hearts and minds of man. 

MaryLu Tyndall is a prolific Christian romance author who shows evidence of this warfare in her well-written, exciting novels. Frank Peretti, with more than 15 million novels in print and often called America’s hottest Christian novelist, infused new life into Christian fiction when he introduced this kind of warfare in his first bestselling novel This Present Darkness.

Do you believe there are forces of evil Paul spoke about in Ephesians chapter 6 that are authoring books, movies and television programs? Do you want to see changes in Christian fiction?

We look forward to your comments!

Elva Cobb Martin is president of the South Carolina Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a former school teacher and a graduate of Anderson University and Erskine College. Decision, Charisma, and Home Life have published her articles. She is currently polishing her second novel, an historical inspirational romance. A mother finally promoted to grandmother, Elva and her husband Dwayne, and a mini-dachshund Lucy reside in Anderson, South Carolina. Connect with her on her web site www.elvamartin.com, her blog at http://carolinaromancewithelvamartin.blogspot.com on Twitter @Elvacobbmartin and on Face book.

What Is Christian Fiction? Is It Alive and Well? PART 2

by Elva Cobb Martin

Can We Define Christian Fiction--in more ways than one?

Novelist and sought after conference leader Ron Benrey in his Complete Idiots' Guide for Writing Christian Fiction lists a spiritual content spectrum for Christian fiction.  

At the high end: The Conversion Scene—you tell a story that shows conversion.

The Middle Ground: Show Jesus at Work—in the lives of your characters or theme.

At the very Least: You show progress in a lead character’s Christian walk.

A few years ago Literary Agent Karen Ball did a three-part blog and survey on “What Makes a Christian Book “Christian?” She posted the results as follows:

■ Written from a Christian worldview

■ Story offers hope

■ Core of the story shows importance of faith in Christ

Worldview is often defined as the core values that determine a person’s outlook on life and, for a writer, how and what they write.

Christy award-winning author and mentor, Rosey Dow, in her novel-writing course, says worldview can be determined by the answers to three brief questions:

1) How did we get here and who are we?

2) What went wrong?

3) What can fix it?

The Christian worldview short answers would be:

1) God created the world and made us in His image.

2) Adam and Eve sinned and brought condemnation upon all mankind.

3) Sin must be punished but God loved mankind so much He sent Jesus Christ as our substitute to take our punishment so we could be forgiven.

The World’s Other Views 

                                                                

I think it is significant as a writer to understand the basic non-Christian worldviews that some of our characters/villains may need to exemplify.

I’ve ran across a text in the Bible where worldviews other than God’s POV are described as three types of non-Christians.

We see these worldviews played out in multiplied popular novels, movies, and television programs, as well as life in general and in politics.

How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?

(Proverbs 1:22 NIV)

 The simple naively think they can live any way they want without negative consequences.

 The mockers are the defiant and cynical freethinkers who see no place for God in their philosophies of life.

Fools is a term the Bible uses for those who reject the idea that there is a divine being and that such a being, if he does exist, has any interest in the affairs of humankind.

In many powerful stories we see a contrast of characters who have a Christian/loving worldview with characters who embody, overcome, or suffer defeat with a secular/selfish worldview. Scarlet O’Hara and Melanie in Gone with the Wind come to mind. The contrast is what makes the story and the characters unforgettable.

How would you define Christian fiction? How important is worldview? What stories, books, movies, television programs come to your mind that exemplify various worldviews? We look forward to your comments.

Next Time Part 3: How Alive or Well Is Christian Fiction?

Elva Cobb Martin is president of the South Carolina Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a former school teacher and a graduate of Anderson University and Erskine College. Decision, Charisma, and Home Life have published her articles. She is currently polishing her second novel, an historical inspirational romance. A mother finally promoted to grandmother, Elva and her husband Dwayne, and a mini-dachshund Lucy reside in Anderson, South Carolina. Connect with her on her web site www.elvamartin.com, on Twitter @Elvacobbmartin and on Face book.

What Is Christian Fiction? Is it Alive and Well? PART 1 by Elva Cobb Martin

As a writer or reader of Christian fiction, what do you look for in a book from a Christian publisher or Christian author?

What do you hope to see?

What do you definitely NOT want to see?


What is Christian fiction?



Last month Colleen Coble, award-winning author and CEO of American Christian Fiction Writers and her friends at Harper Collins sent out a fiction survey asking similar questions.

Publishers, editors, agents, and writers are asking these questions anew today as the Christian fiction traditional publishing industry struggles to prosper or even, in some cases, to survive.

As a writer, I'm sure you’ve heard “Every CBA agency and publishing house has a slightly different idea of what’s okay and what’s not, so study their guidelines.” Does this prove a problem for you even after you research guidelines? If so, you're among quite a few for whom it does.                                                       

Do you have a bucket list of things you would like to do in Christian fiction you write or what

you would like to see in Christian fiction you read? What about a list of what you do not want to write or read?”

Thanks for stopping by! We’d love for you to share your comments as we continue with this series examing Christian fiction and where it might be headed.

Elva Cobb Martin

Heroes to Die For

Doesn't everyone love a real hero? Of course, I live with my favorite hero, my hubby of quite a few years. Then there's our law officer son we put in the same category and a little grandson who may very well fit the bill one day as well. 

As an inspirational romance writer I love to find pictures of possible heroes to consider as I create a novel.  Here are a few of my favorite hero photos, past and present, some of which show a likely heroine as well. Which one(s) strike a creative cord in your writer's heart?

       Here's David Thompson looking ready for any kind of contemporary story about a savvy, determined lawyer maybe.

What's not to like about Tyrone Power--in any role--but especially as a pirate?

Would you vote for Colin Firth and his roles in Jane Austen novels? 

Philip Winchester is this hero's name, I think. Wonder what kind of gun he's holding? Hope he doesn't pull that trigger or he will surely break a lot of hearts.

Eddie Matos has a deep, deep look that          

makes one want to know more of his story! Whatever

it is, I think it will include some pain, and maybe revenge.

Of course Tim Tebow is a modern hero in every sense of the word.....                                                

Here is the picture I've chosen for my next hero, the son of my current pirate hero. Can you guess his name?

There is a lot more to a hero than a photo. In my next post I want to explore some of the characteristics I like in a hero. How would you make this list for a hero? Is there a different list for heroes in inspirational novels than in secular novels? You bet there is. Thanks for stopping by and I'd love to have your take on my "heroes." Is one your favorite?

Elva Cobb Martin

Mini-Fiction Workshop Anderson

Our Upstate South Carolina Christian Writers group had a memorable Mini-Fiction Workshop in Anderson November 16 with author/speakers Lynette Eason, Yvonne Lehman, Patty Smith Hall, and Hartline Literary Agent Diana Flegal.  Here are some photos!

Patty Smith Hall, Lynette Eason, Diana Flegal

Here are the workers who helped bring the workshop. Treasurer Fran Strickland, Director Elva Martin and Secretary Lillian Humphries.

                              Yvonne Lehman leads her classes on plotting and editing your novel.

                               Patty Smith Hall shares how to get published with Love Inspired.

Diana Flegal had packed classes with her First Pages read aloud workshop and her class on today's publishing environment.  Carol Award-winning author Lynette Eason led sizzling classes on writing suspense and how mastering deep POV can solve a lot of show versus tell problems.

What subjects, classes would you like to see offered in our next Fiction Workshop? Do you have a favorite speaker who lives on the southeastern coast? Are YOU available to speak on certain aspects of fiction?

Thanks for dropping by and do leave a comment! Hope you have a wonderful, blessed Christmas!
    --Elva Martin

Elva Cobb Martin is a freelance writer and Bible teacher. She is president of the Upstate SC American Christian Writers' Chapter and 2014 president of the new American Christian Fiction Writers South Carolina Chapter. She has been published in Decision, Charisma, and Home Life and is currently working on an inspirational novel. She lives in Anderson, South Carolina, with her family. She can be reached through her web site www.elvamartin.com  and she blogs on the Golden Age of Piracy and other writing topics at  http://carolinaromancewithelvamartin.blogspot.com You can reach her on Face Book and Twitter @Elvacobbmartin.