Susan Craft's New Book, Laurel

By Elva Cobb Martin

This week my dear friend and fellow member of our ACFW-SC Chapter, Susan Craft, is launching her new historical romantic suspense, Laurel. Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas will release the book January 15.

I've read Susan's Chamomile, the first book in this series, and I was so impressed with the story and the historical accuracy relating to South Carolina as well as the exciting plot.

I know you will not be disappointed if you check out this new endeavor of Susan's.

Here is the amazon blurb about Laurel:

Desperate to rescue their kidnapped daughter, Lilyan and Nicholas Xanthakos trek two hundred miles through South Carolina mountains and backcountry wilderness, fighting outlaws, hunger, sleeplessness, and despair. When the trail grows cold, the couple battles guilt and personal shame; Lilyan for letting Laurel out of her sight, and Nicholas for failing to keep his family safe. 

They track Laurel to the port of Charleston as post-Revolutionary War passions reach fever pitch. There, Lilyan, a former patriot spy, is charged for the murder of a British officer. She is thrown into the Exchange Building dungeon and chained alongside prostitutes, thieves, and murderers. Separated from her husband, she digs deep inside to re-ignite the courage and faith that helped her survive the war. Determined to free his wife at any cost, Nicholas finds himself forced back into a life of violence he thought he'd left behind.

Following a rumor that Laurel may be aboard a freighter bound for Baltimore, Lilyan and Nicholas secure passage on a departing schooner, but two days into the voyage, a storm blows their ship aground on Diamond Shoals. As the ship founders, both are swept overboard.

Will their love for each other and their faith sustain them as they await word of their missing child? Or is Laurel lost to them forever?

Susan's book is available on Amazon here:

www.amazon.com/dp/194110391X/

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment and share this on FB and Twitter. I know Susan will appreciate it so much.

Elva Cobb Martin

Rejection - Forcing Life Into My Wings

by Elva Cobb Martin

The lovely Emperor Moth has an interesting life story that helped me get through a rejection in my inbox this week. Here's a bit about the moth. Maybe it will help you.

A woman once kept a cocoon of an Emperor Moth for a year waiting for it the moth to emerge.

The cocoon had a strange construction in that the neck had a very narrow opening through which the mature insect would have to force its way. 

The great disparity between the size of the opening and size of the imprisoned moth made the onlooker wonder how the insect would ever emerge. She studied and found that it is believed the pressure to which the moth's body is subjected when passing through such a narrow passage is nature's way of forcing fluids into the wings.

And she could hardly wait to see those beautiful wings.

One day she witnessed the first efforts of her imprisoned moth to escape from its long confinement. She watched for some time as it patiently struggled to be free. It seemed unable to get beyond a certain point. Finally, the woman decided to give the moth a helping hand. With the point of her scissors, she snipped the confining threads to make the exit easier. The moth immediately rolled out, dragging a swollen body. The woman was sure she'd soon see the wings expand into their beautiful colors that were all there in miniature. But she looked in vain. The moth suffered an aborted life and only lived a few minutes.

Writing is a lot like writhing as you struggle to master the craft and edit and rewrite and rework and redo the whole process as long as it takes to escape from Unpubbed Island. 

I've decided to mark down the rejections in this struggle in honor of the Emperor Moth. They are part of the pressure that is simply forcing life into my wings!

How do you handle rejections? Do you feel like doing this?

Thanks for stopping by. Please join the conversation and share this blog on twitter and face book by clicking the buttons below.

Elva Cobb Martin

Note: Resources for this blog include Streams in the Desert and Bing Images.

A Love Story That Trumps Downton Abbey

I have tuned in to all four seasons of Downton Abbey and have my TV set to record Season Five. You bet.

However, it being January, I have restarted my January Bible Readthrough using the Amplified Bible and once again, I am enthralled, shocked and amazed at the love story of Jacob, Leah and Rachel (and in that order) found in Genesis 29-30.

I mean here is a good-looking hunk named Jacob (which means supplanter and that should warn you) who has tricked his brother out of his birthright and has to flee from home before his brother kills him.

On the way Jacob has an out of body, dreamy experience, a confrontation with God and angels, that starts a big change in his spiritual life. He names the place Bethel (the house of God) and promises to tithe from that moment on.

I can't say it took that kind of experience to get me to start tithing, but it would have been nice, ladder and all.

After this experience, Genesis 29:1 in the Amplified Bible begins: "Then Jacob went (briskly and cheerfully) on his way (400 miles) and came to the land of the people of the East." --So we have a concrete idea what kind of energy experiences like Jacob's can give a person on a quest. Bring them on!

Of course, Jacob is looking for his Uncle Laban's family and after the 400 miles he has a piece of luck at a well. He discovers Uncle Laban's lovely daughter Rachel coming to water her father's sheep. He helps her and afterwards, the Bible says so succinctly: "Then Jacob kissed Rachel and he wept aloud." Talk about love at first sight! This sentence brings tears to my eyes. Maybe part of it is for the 400 miles and finding a well of water.

You know this story. Jacob agrees to work seven years for Rachel and the Bible stays "they seemed to him a few days." Does ANY body love like this today? Including Matthew and all the many loves of Mary and everyone upstairs and downstairs at the Abbey?

On Jacob's and Rachel's supposed wedding night (after heavy drinking most surely) weak-eyed older sister Leah is slipped into the marriage bed instead of Rachel by their father Laban. (Doesn't this scene far surpass the scene in Downton Abbey when the Turk slips into Mary's bed???)

Right now I want to tell you, I am on Leah's side. It's kind of like for the first 25 years of my adult life I was on Scarlet's side every time I watched Gone with the Wind. But, finally, I realized the kind of skunk Scarlet really was and I started being on Melody's side (and I will always be on Rhett's side, OF COURSE).

Jacob finally gets Rachel but God takes note of dear Leah who has had no choice in this matter (but I know she LOVES that hunk Jacob and he must feel something for her . . . . I mean, a bunch of sons keep coming.

Here they are and their names heartsick but forever positive Leah gives them:

1. Reuben which means "See, a son."  Are you looking, Jacob?
2. Simeon: God hears. "The Lord heard that I am despised."
3. Levi: Companion. "Now my husband will be a companion to me for I have borne him three sons."
4. Judah: Praise. "Now I will praise the Lord."       

Then more shocking things happen. Both Rachel and Leah give their MAIDS to Jacob and ASK him to sleep with them (what kind of man is he??) As far as that goes, what kind of women are they?

So both the maids deliver babies supposedly on the knees of Rachel and Leah so they can count them as their own. Double Wow! What an easy way to get a child is all I can say. My son took 12 hours off my life at the gate of death birthing him.

This story goes on and on for several seasons of Jacob's life and Leah's and Rachel's but I want to jump you to the surprising end and a question that might plague the casual reader of this true story.

Do you wonder if Jacob ever came to really love and appreciate dear Leah? Well, I've got a definite clue for you.

WHICH woman, Rachel or Leah, did he request to be buried beside?

Here are some of Jacob's last words on his death bed in Egypt, his instructions to Joseph about death and burial. (Genesis 49:29-31)

"He charged them and said to them, I am to be gathered to my people, bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite . . . and there I buried Leah."

There you go.

Downton Abbey is good, but this true story is better and a lot more inspiring.

What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by. Please do leave a comment and, if you have time, share this by clicking on the Twitter or FB button below.

Happy, Blessed New Year and Onward!
Elva Cobb Martin

Writing Smarter and Sharper by Elva Cobb Martin

I have started back through my historical novel, In a Pirate's Debt with a critiquer's eye. I made a list of things I need to watch for, items my good critique partners might point out. These cover areas beyond the basics.

And, like all good things, they do take time so pull over out of the traffic of your to do list today with me and get your pencil sharpened.

1) Delete/change too often used ing verb forms (being, having, walking) and avoid overuse of prepositional phrases. :
  The duck is holding up traffic walking across the road.
vs. A mama duck and ten ducklings strutted across the stacked four lanes and no one blew a horn.    

Getting involved with Travay could pose a threat to his      (Captain Bloodstone's) goal of finding out what happened to his captured parents.
      vs: He did not have time to get involved with her. He must pursue his goal. He must find out what had happened to his parents.

2) In deep POV don't say the character "heard, thought, wondered" anything. Just give the actual fact.

  She heard the boy call the pirate Captain Bloodstone.
  vs. The boy called him Captain Bloodstone.
(Of course, if you're looking into the face of Gerard Butler as Atilla, you won't be able to hear anything but your heart pounding against your ribs).

3) Avoid naming emotions, show them.

     He made her feel safe.
vs: She expelled a huge breath, her eyes locked on the source of relief.
     She was grateful for the rescue.
vs: Her eyes softened and filled with an inner glow when she looked up at him.

4) Keep all dialog, action, and thoughts of each character in

the same paragraph unless interrupted by other speaker.
(Which can happen. Particularly if the other person is holding something behind their back.)

5) Use contractions in dialog.

6) Ellipses: space-dot-space-dot-space-dot-space
    "But . . . Arundel!"
    "Could it possibly be that . . . ?" (fourth dot or question mark is end of sentence)  

7) Can't use description tags like the below in current POV to comment on something said.
    Lucas looked out to sea as if to end the conversation. 
    vs. Lucas looked out to sea and Thorpe sauntered away.

8) I am told we no longer indent the first sentence of a new chapter or a POV change. Center the 3 *** for POV changes.
Use center button, not space bar. Then temporarily drag paragraph indent marker to left to finish centering.

Have you got all this, Elizabeth? 

Thanks for stopping by. Do you have a good tip to add to my list? I would love to hear from you.

Have a blessed Christmas and Wonderful New Year-- my prayer for you.

Elva Cobb Martin
 





     

Things Successful Writers NEVER Say

Guest Blog by Edie Melson 

                                                       Writers are an odd lot.

I can say that, because I am one. So I speak from experience, not judgment. Like all creative people, we tend to feel things more deeply, reacting poorly to criticism.

We also have no perspective at all when it comes to our own creation. Because a lot of us begin writing as a hobby, we tend to have a lop-sided view of the publishing industry.

So today, I’d like to clear up some common misconceptions and share some things that successful writers never say.

1. Uh…I guess…uh…I write. So…I suppose that makes me a writer…sometimes. CUT. IT. OUT. If you are serious about writing, even if you don’t get paid, you can call yourself a writer. So repeat after me. “I am a writer.”

2. I’m a much better writer than the majority of the published writers out there. This is for the small percentage who don’t have trouble telling everyone, “I am a writer.” Some of you believe you know more than everyone else. I hate to break it to you, but you don’t.

3. Sure, I don’t need to write today. I’ll go to lunch with you. Successful writers make spending time putting words on paper (or a screen) a priority. If we want to be taken seriously and have our time respected, we must set the example.

4. I don’t need to read books. I’m a writer, not a reader.

Besides, I don’t have time to read. I am not kidding. I’ve actually had writers tell me this. We need to spend time reading, and reading widely. Read outside your genre and learn what works and what doesn’t.

5. I don’t need an editor. I have a sharp eye and can catch anything I need to in my writing. Yes, many of us do have an editor’s eye. That’s a good thing. But that is NO substitute for an editor. We are blind when it comes to our writing. We see what is supposed to be on the page, not what is.

6. I can’t afford to attend conferences. I know conferences are expensive, but they’re also vital to moving forward in your writing career. There are a lot of ways to fund a conference—from asking for money from family and friends instead of gifts for holidays, to writing small articles for pay and saving that money. Conferences do three MAJOR things for writers:

·       They provide a place to learn the latest industry standards and techniques.

·       They provide a place to network and talk to writing professionals, like editors, agents and published writers.

·       They provide a place to network with other writer.

7. I decided to self-publish because traditional publishing just

takes too long. I’m glad to say that self-publishing—when done with professionalism—is now a respected option. Beyond that, there are a lot of good reasons to self-publish. But using self-publishing as a short cut is NOT a good reason.

8. I don’t have a target audience, everyone loves what I write. Every book has a primary audience. Yes, there are books that a lot of people enjoy. But if you write to a specific audience, you’ll have a much better finished product. Not to mention the fact that book stores will know where to shelve your book.

9. The rules don’t apply to me. Yes, I’ll be the first one to agree that there are exceptions to almost every single rule you ever hear about writing and/or publishing. BUT we can’t look at ourselves as that exception. Follow the rules and let the exceptions be a wonderful surprise if and when they happen.

10. The first part of my book is just information the reader needs, the story starts on page 70 (40, 60, 90, etc.). I really have lost track of the number of times I’ve had an author say this to me. Here is my response. If the story starts on page 70, that’s where your book needs to start. Trust your reader, and trust yourself, and skip the background information.

11. I’m not a marketer, I’m a writer. If this really is true and you absolutely refuse to market your work, then be prepared to pay. You’ll have to hire someone to market your book because marketing is a joint partnership between the publisher and the writer. That’s just the way publishing works today.

12. The publishing industry is dying. No, not really. It’s definitely changing, but it’s not dying. There’s a difference. Learn to adapt with the changes, but realize books and people who write them aren’t going anywhere.

13. I already have a book contract, I don’t need a literary agent. Now you need one more than ever. There are those who will argue this point, but here are my thoughts. Because of the rapid changes in publishing, contracts are brutal. You need someone in your corner, advocating for you. After the contract, you still need someone to help with possible (really probable) hiccups in the publishing process. If you don’t like your cover, or the copy editor isn’t doing a good job, your agent can be the bad guy and go to bat for you. This makes it possible for you to stay on good working relations with the publisher.

14. I don’t need to work on social media until after I have a contract. This is another that makes me cringe. Editors and agents award book contracts based on a lot of things. Now days, one of those things is whether or not an author has solid online presence. The lack of a presence may not always keep you from getting a contract, but it will affect the way you’re viewed by prospective buyers. Smart writers build an online presence while they’re working on a book, so everything is in place when they begin pitching.

15. Published authors don’t need to take classes or read books on writing. Successful writers know there’s never a point when you’ve arrived. Lifelong learning isn’t just a buzzword, it’s vital to stay current in the publishing industry.

Even though I slanted a lot of the points toward books, all are equally applicable to writers of shorter works. These are things that I believe you’ll never hear a successful writer say. I’d love to know what you’d add to this list. Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Don’t forget to join the conversation!

Blessings,

Edie Melson, Vice President, ACFW-SC Chapter

Hey, thanks for stopping by. Hope you've had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed Edie's guest blog today as much as I did. Please leave a comment and share it on Twitter and Facebook.

Blessings,
Elva Cobb Martin, President ACFW-SC Chapter

Part 2 Muslim Pirates of the Past by Elva Cobb Martin

In researching my historical romantic pirate novel "In a Pirate's Debt" I collected a lot of information about pirates. The below two blogs seemed like good information to share in our day of battle against Islamic extremists.

Quick review of Part 1  

Most Americans are unaware of the fact that over two hundred years ago,the United States declared war on Islam and Mediterranean pirates, and Thomas Jefferson led the charge!

America was told by Muslim pirates to pay ransom or continue to lose ships in the Mediterranean.

Despite their stunning admission of premeditated violence on non-Muslim nations, as well as the objections of many notable American leaders, including George Washington, who warned that caving in was both wrong and would only further embolden the enemy, for the following fifteen years, the American government paid the Muslims millions of dollars for the safe passage of American ships or the return of American hostages. The payments in ransom and tribute amounted to over twenty percent of the United States government annual revenues in 1800.

(See Part 1 below for a full review)

Jefferson was disgusted that America was paying ransom to Muslim pirates!  Shortly after his being sworn in as the third President of the United States in 1801, the Pasha of Tripoli sent him a note demanding the immediate payment of $225,000 plus $25,000 a year for every year forthcoming.  That changed everything.

Jefferson let the Pasha know, in no uncertain terms, what he could do with his demand.  The Pasha responded by cutting down the flagpole at the American consulate and declared war on the United States.

Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers immediately followed suit. Jefferson, until now, had been against America raising a naval force for anything beyond coastal defense, but having watched his nation be cowed by Islamic thuggery for long enough, decided that it was finally time to meet force with force.

He dispatched a squadron of frigates to the Mediterranean and taught the Muslim nations of the Barbary Coast a lesson he hoped they would never forget.  Congress authorized Jefferson to empower U.S. ships to seize all vessels and

goods of the Pasha of Tripoli and to “cause to be done all other acts of precaution or hostility as the state of war would justify”.

Jefferson, the Marine

When Algiers and Tunis, who were both accustomed to American cowardice and acquiescence, saw the newly independent United States had both the will and the might to strike back, they quickly abandoned their allegiance to

Tripoli.

The war with Tripoli lasted for four more years, and raged up again in 1815.  The bravery of the U.S. Marine Corps in these wars led to the line “to the shores of Tripoli” in the Marine Hymn, They would forever be known as “leathernecks” for the leather collars of their uniforms, designed to prevent their heads from being cut off by the Muslim scimitars when boarding enemy ships.

Islam, and what its Barbary followers justified doing in the name of their prophet and their god, disturbed Jefferson quite deeply.  America had a tradition of religious tolerance, the fact that Jefferson, himself, had co-authored the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, but fundamentalist Islam was like no other religion the world had ever seen.  

A religion based on supremacism, whose holy book not only condoned but mandated violence against unbelievers

was unacceptable to him.  His greatest fear was that someday this brand of Islam would return and pose an even greater threat to the United States.

This should bother every American. -- That the Muslims have brought about women-only classes and swimming times at taxpayer-funded universities and public pools; that Christians, Jews, and Hindus have been banned from serving on juries where Muslim defendants are being judged, Piggy banks and Porky Pig tissue dispensers have been banned from workplaces because they offend Islamist

sensibilities.  Ice cream has been discontinued at certain Burger King locations because the picture on the wrapper looks similar to the Arabic script for Allah, public schools are  pulling  pork from their menus, on and on in the newspapers.

It’s death by a thousand cuts, or inch-by-inch as some refer to it, and most Americans have no idea that this battle is being waged every day across America.  By not fighting back, by allowing groups to confuse what is really happening, and not insisting that the Islamists adapt to our own culture, the United States is cutting its own throat with a politically correct knife, and helping to further the Islamists agenda.

Sadly, it appears that today’s America would rather be politically correct than victorious. But I think we are waking up fast!

If you have doubts about these facts on muslim pirates of the past, just Google Thomas Jefferson vs the Muslim World.

Meanwhile, thanks for stopping by. Feel free to share this information and do leave a comment.
Blessings,
Elva Cobb Martin

Muslim Pirates of the Past Held American ships for Ransom (PART 1) by Elva Cobb Martin

Most Americans are unaware of the fact that over two hundred years ago,

the United States had declared war on Islam, and Thomas Jefferson led the charge!

At the height of the eighteenth century, Muslim pirates were the terror of the Mediterranean and a large area of the North Atlantic. They attacked every ship in sight, and held the crews for exorbitant ransoms.  Those taken hostage were subjected to barbaric treatment and wrote heart breaking letters home, begging their government and family members to pay whatever their Mohammedan captors demanded.

These extortionists of the high seas represented the Islamic nations of Tripoli, Tunis,Morocco, and Algiers – collectively referred to as the Barbary Coast – and presented a dangerous and unprovoked threat to the new American Republic.

Before the Revolutionary War, U.S. merchant ships had been under the protection of Great Britain. When the U.S. declared its independence and entered into war, the ships of the United States were protected by France. However, once the war was won, America had to protect its own fleets. Thus, the birth of the U.S. Navy, and the US Marines.

Beginning in 1784, seventeen years before he would become president, Thomas Jefferson became America’s Minister to France.  That same year, the U.S. Congress sought to appease its Muslim adversaries by following in the footsteps of European nations who paid bribes to the Barbary States, rather than engaging them in war.

In July of 1785, Algerian pirates captured American ships, and the De of Algiers demanded an unheard-of ransom of $60,000.

 It was a plain and simple case of extortion, and Thomas Jefferson was vehemently opposed to any further payments.  Instead, he proposed to Congress the formation of a coalition of allied nations who together could force the Islamic states into peace.  A disinterested Congress decided to pay the ransom.

In 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams met with Tripoli’s ambassador to Great Britain to ask by what right his nation attacked American ships and enslaved American citizens, and why Muslims held so much hostility towards America, a nation with which they had no previous contacts.

The two future presidents reported that Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja answered that Islam "was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Quran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman (Muslim) who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise."

Despite this stunning admission of premeditated violence on non-Muslim nations, as well as the objections of many notable American leaders, including George Washington, who warned that caving in was both wrong and would only further embolden the enemy, for the following fifteen years, the American government paid the Muslims millions of dollars for the safe passage of American ships or the return of American hostages. The payments in ransom and tribute amounted to over twenty percent of the United States government annual revenues in 1800.

Thomas Jefferson and other Americans were disgusted. Don't miss my next blog as we explore what happened NEXT. 

Some think America's first confrontation with the Islamic world probably helped forge a new nation's character. We will check that out.

Thanks for stopping by. Please do leave a comment!

Elva Cobb Martin