My Review of MaryLu Tyndall's Charity's Cross

MaryLu Tyndall is one of the most satisfying writers I know of historical romance and adventure, not to mention inspirational historical romance which puts her out front of most historical authors I read. 

Her just released historical romance, Charity’s Cross, underscores this assertion in many ways from the engrossing hook in the first line to the wonder-if-it’s-gonna-to- happen HEA ending on the last page. I’ve read most of Tyndall’s romances, and Charity Westcott and Elias Dutton may be her best drawn hero and heroine ever. In Charity’s Cross you’ll not only get an exciting read of romance on the high seas, which is one of Tyndall’s trademarks, but you’ll also rejoice to see two flawed, vulnerable people struggle their way to God’s complete forgiveness, restoration, and a new beginning.

For writers, Charity’s Cross is a fresh work of fiction to study how the major plots of inspirational romance are played out and meshed into a great novel—the romance plot, the spiritual plot, and what I call the mystery plot or surprises (good and bad). Tyndall is a master of GMC (goals/motivation/conflict) for her characters which makes you burn the midnight oil to finish the story. She is also creator of unique details like Charity repeating verses of a nursery rhyme, as a mantra, to translate her away from something terrible happening that she can’t control, like the abuse of her former husband.

I am happy to give five stars to Charity’s Cross and advise all you romance readers and writers: Get the book! Share it.

   

Thanks for stopping by. Please share your comments.

Elva Cobb Martin

Why I Write Christian Fiction

by Elva Cobb Martin

The beginning of a new year is a good time to remind myself that I am above all a Christian writer, endeavoring to write Christian fiction. Two opposite worldviews drive fiction today.


Jesus in John 10:10 gives a succinct description of the two "drivers" behind fiction (and life itself).

            "The thief comes not but to steal, kill and destroy. 
          I am come that they may have life and have it more abundantly."

Our son Tim and grandson Samuel, both readers.

I am not writing fiction just to get books published, sold, and give readers an exciting read. A deep desire burns in my heart to also see readers and generations to come, be able find some truth that enlightens, some kernel of God's abundant life that helps them on their way.

This is not the main goal of secular fiction. Christian fiction and secular fiction are divided by two vastly different worldviews. Many believe America has lost her moral compass, so it is more vital than ever that I do everything I can to turn this tide around in my writing (as well as in my lifestyle).

Someone has said worldview can be determined by the answers to three questions:

• How did we get here and who are we?
• What went wrong?
• What can fix it?                                                                                                

The Christian world view short answers would be:  

1. God created the world and made mankind in His image to have dominion.
2. Adam and Eve sinned and brought condemnation and Satanic rule upon      mankind.   
3. Sin must be punished but God loved mankind so much He sent Jesus Christ as our substitute to defeat Satan and take our punishment so we could be forgiven and restored to God's original plan.                         

A naturalist worldview would have quite different answers to these questions and secular novels, movies and TV reflect this. This kind of story can steal one's peace and faith in God, tempt into sin, and leave one with a cynical outlook on life and the future. And it's all part of the enemy's deception to keep people in bondage. Truly, two different spirits are inspiring writers today!

In my writing I want to expose the lies and tricks of the devil and show that good does conquer evil, that God's great drama will prevail and believers can confidently look forward to a happy ever after. I want to increase hope, faith and peace in my readers. Otherwise, I'm just not interested in all the hard work it takes to write novels. 

Prayer over my writing is a vital component. I am convinced Father God is interested in getting Christian writing, including fiction, out where it can do some good. So I study, write and rewrite and rewrite some more. ( :

I believe there will always be a great market for Christian fiction because the world is looking for hope.

I think that's a big part of Downton Abbey's success. It is now touted as the best selling series in British TV history. (Sorry, Agatha, Jane Austen and Sherlock.)

Writer Julian Fellowes was asked what he thought has made the series so popular. Here's his answer: "Most of the characters are just decent people trying to do their best with the cards they've been dealt. They are just trying to live a decent life."

Christian writers have much more hope to give for those cards life may deal our characters.

Why do you write fiction? Do you believe God loves good stories that illuminate life more abundantly? Do you think America needs us to keep at it?

Thanks for stopping by and do join the conversation.

Elva Cobb Martin

                                                                                                  

Guest Post: How to Write Fabulous Dialogue in 5 Easy Steps --by Mia Botha

Step 1: Talking Heads

I love dialogue. It is my favourite part of writing. It is also my favourite part of reading. I often skip blocks of description, especially if there is a lot of it. This habit translates into my writing, which isn’t ideal. I love writing that shows. That is full of action and people who do things. This is what I strive for and dialogue is the easiest way for me to do it. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be discussing dialogue in detail.

You will find an example of how I start with dialogue below. I plan as little as possible. If you know your characters well, that won’t be a problem. If you are still getting to know them, dialogue will help you to find out who they are. The first thing you'll notice about the piece is that it is a classic or even extreme example of talking heads. No setting. No body language. No description.

I sort of do that deliberately when I write dialogue, because I want it to be able to stand on its own, and remember what I've said before about being an under-writer? It just comes out that way. I don’t want to rely on the other elements just yet. They are needed - don’t kid yourself. I can get away with this because it is a short piece, but it’ll become irritating for a whole novel. 

In short, don’t plan. Go for it, but remember dialogue has a function. It should:

1. Reveal character
2. Move the story forward
3. Add conflict and tension
4. Give information
5. Create white space. 

This is an example of a very rough first draft:

You’re not serious, are you? 

Actually, I am. 

I don’t believe you. 

You should.  

Why? 

Because, this time, it’s real. 

But you promised. 

No, we promised. You didn’t keep the promise. 

Screw you. 

No darling, not anymore. You’ve lost that privilege. 

How did you find out? 

Pass the bag, won’t you? 

No, I won’t. 

Fine, I’ll get it. 

I asked you a question. 

Does it really matter, how I found out? 

I thought we had a deal. 

I thought we had a marriage. 

Let’s talk about this. 

We just did.  

As you can see, I don’t even bother with dialogue tags. I just want to get it down as quickly as possible. 

Does the piece do the following? 

1. Reveal character? Sort of, I know there is a marriage, two people.
2. Move the story forward? Yes, there is definitely a ‘next scene’. She has to go somewhere after all.
3. Add conflict and tension? Yes, I want to know what is going to happen next and I am asking what happened before.
4. Give information? Yes, but not a whole lot.
5. Create white space? Way too much white space. Yes, there is such a thing. 

EXERCISE: Use the dialogue example above and write your own version of it, with description added, in the comments below. Please keep it under 300 words. It’ll be awesome to see your writing and the variations that you come up with.

Look out for Step 2 next week when I’ll post my version with a checklist for the fixes.

Happy writing!

If you want to learn how to write a book, join our Writers Write course in Johannesburg. Please email news@writerswrite.co.za for more details.

 by Mia Botha Posted on http://writerswrite.co.za/

Writers Write offers the best writing courses in South Africa. Writers Write - Write to communicate

Angels - Part 2: The Very Bad Guys

by Elva Cobb Martin @elvacobbmartin 

Angels played a big part in the Bible and will play an even greater part in the last days of history. I believe in angels, the good and the bad and have seen activities of both.

Right at the start, let me assure you, that Jesus Christ has totally defeated Satan and the bad angels and given us the authority to do the same for the time they have left to operate on earth!



As a review of Part 1, we shared that the Bible reveals two types of angels:

•  Good angels like Gabriel and Michael
•  Bad angels of whom Satan is chief

We briefly covered three types of good angels the Bible describes for which we can be most thankful: 

1. Messenger angels
2. Ministering/protecting angels
3. Warrior angels            

Today we want to explore what the Bible says about Satan and the one third of God's angels that joined him in rebellion against the most High God. We see this story described in the book of Ezekiel 

Ezek. 28:14-16

14 "You were the anointed cherub . . .

You were on the holy mountain of God . . . 

15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. . . And you sinned;

Therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; NKJV

Artist rendering of Satan being cast out of heaven

Jesus said he saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning (Luke 10:18).

Satan's Bio                 

• Satan means accuser or adversary.
• He was an anointed cherub ministering at the throne of God but rebelled and was exiled to earth. He took one-third of the angels with him. Jude 1:6 tells us these angels changed their first estate. Most agree, they can now be identified as demons and Satan is their leader.
• He is called the Old Serpent, Prince of the air, and he caused the fall of man.
• His kingdom is an organized empire of evil that was revealed to the Apostle Paul as existing in four ranks against which we wrestle in spiritual warfare: principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places. 
• He has authority over all unregenerate humanity and backsliders, and the world system
• He has assigned evil angels over all pagan nations, like Islamic nations, to promote evil and battle against Christians. (like the demon Prince of Persia, Daniel's good angel Gabriel had to battle in Daniel 10)
• Satan is not omni anything like God is (omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent). Satan's activities are delegated to demons.                       

Old Testament saints did not have much power over these demon angels. Daniel had to pray 21 days before Gabriel was able to get through to him.

BUT WHEN JESUS CAME--HE OVERCAME SATAN through his death on the cross and resurrection(Colossians 2:15) AND HE GAVE US POWER TO DO THE SAME!

Luke 10:19 "Behold I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy."

Jesus went about preaching the gospel,healing the sick and casting out devils. That's the same ministry He has called us to do.

Demons can cause oppression, strife, some physical and mental illnesses, accidents, murder, violence and immorality. Demons are the power behind all false religions like Islam. Who do you think is driving ISIS and all terrorism?

You and I as Christians have to KNOW and EXERCISE our authority over Satan and his demons or he'll overcome us and get away with his stealing, killing and destroying.

By all means check out the great movie, "War Room," which gives a real family life example of warring in the spirit against the wiles of the devil trying destroy a marriage and family.

For a brief Bible study of how to battle Satan and his demon assignments against you and your family, I encourage you to check out my own mini-book, Power Over Satan, which you can find on Amazon on this link: buff.ly/1NUkfYD

At this time Satan is still loosed to work evil in the world system, but we Christians have authority over him, if we'll just learn how to use it, and get busy in our own "war rooms."

A day is coming when Satan and all his evil angels will be cast into the lake of fire by God's angel as described in Revelation 20. Isn't that going to be a great day?

Hope you've enjoyed my blogs on good and bad angels that I've blogged on for the holiday season. 

Do you believe in angels, the good and the bad? Have you had an experience you'd like to share?

Please join the conversation and feel free to share this blog on Twitter and Face book.

Have a blessed New Year! Learn about and use all your authority in your own personal War Room! It is my special prayer for 2016 that God will raise up an army of War Room intercessors for America. We can see true victory come!

Elva Martin

Angels - The Good and the Bad (Part 1)

by Elva Cobb Martin @elvacobbmartin

Angels played a big part in that first Christmas and actually play a big part in the entire Bible.

Do you believe in angels? 

Gabriel visits Mary

I don't mean the feminine, white satin skirted, golden-haired doll angels we use in our decorating.

Do you believe in the biblical supernatural mighty beings the Bible calls angels? Although we are not to worship angels, do you think we might benefit from understanding more about them in the critical times in which we live?

I started thinking about this subject after reading about a man, Ralph Harlow, and his wife in the Guideposts Christmas issue who reportedly saw and heard a group of angelic beings fly over their heads while the two of them walked on a woodland path. One might easily dismiss this report, except the man gave some impressive credentials: He was a sought after witness in court cases, he had an A.B. from Harvard, an M.A. from Columbia, a Ph.D from Harvard Theological Seminary.

I was reminded of my own personal experience of seeing an angel after going through a deliverance ministry with a young man oppressed by demons. That is a story for another time, but the angel I saw who came to protect me looked like the TV ad's Mr. Clean. No satin, frills or femininity at all. 

The Bible reveals two types of angels:

• Good angels - like Gabriel and Michael
• Bad angels - of whom Satan is chief 

Part 1 - Good Angels

Some have typed good angels by their activities in the Bible: messenger angels, ministering angels and warrior angels.

1) Messenger Angels

The word angel literally means messenger.

Gabriel appeared to Daniel, Zacharias and Mary with messages from God. He is possibly the same one who appeared to Joseph. 

The most glorious angelic message of the NT was spoken to the two Marys who came early to the tomb: He is not here, for He has risen.
    
At the rapture all believers will hear the voice of an archangel with the trumpet of God.

2) Ministering/Protecting Angels

Several texts refer to these angels:

Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? NKJV

Psalm 34:7 The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. NKJV

Jacob saw a ladder of these angels coming to and going from earth.

One of these beings went before Israel to lead them to the Promised Land.

Daniel and Elijah were strengthened by the touch of an angel
An angel shut the mouths of lions for Daniel's protection.

These type angels knocked chains off Peter and Paul and opened prison doors.

In Hebrews 12:1 we are told we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who cheer us on and I believe this includes angels, Bible heroes and our departed loved ones in heaven.

The Bible tells us a way we can activate these helpful angels. 

Psalm 103:20

Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

When you pray and speak the Word of God and God's promises, you can activate angels to go to work. I also believe you can fight against your angelic assistance by speaking doubt, fear and unbelief. Or by getting into anger, strife or disobedience. Check out Ecclesiastes 5:6

3) Warrior Angels

Who can ever doubt the tremendous power of God's warrior angels when we read texts like in 2 Kings 19:35?

35 And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses — all dead. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, NKJV

Warrior angels are also God's sword-wielding avengers like the angel David saw at the threshing floor of Ornan after David wrongfully numbered Israel.

In Daniel 10 Israel's guardian/warrior angel, Michael, came to aid Gabriel in Babylon battling the demon Prince of Persia.We'll talk in Part 2 about demon angels Satan has assigned to all pagan nations.

An artist rendering of Michael, Israel's guardian angel.

In Revelation 20:1-3 A single warrior angel lays hold on Satan, chains him and casts him into the bottomless pit.

Evil may seem dominant but God's Word and His Church will prevail.


Isn't it exciting to know we STILL have angelic assistance in the earth today?

I love the message the angels gave to the shepherds on that hillside so long ago. It's a great one to meditate on this Christmas season:  "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men."

Do you have an angel story? Please share it. And don't miss Part 2 of this series as we blog about bad or evil angels and how we can discern their activities and gain victory over anything they might attempt to do against us.

Merry Christmas,

Elva Martin

A Carolinian Brought Us the Poinsettia

by Elva Cobb Martin

Did you know the man who brought the poinsettia to America was a Secretary of War under President Van Buren, an ambassador to Mexico, and a South Carolina doctor?

He was also an enthusiastic gardener.

During his service as ambassador to Mexico, he often marveled at the beautiful wild plant that mantled the Mexican hillsides and gardens with flame and scarlet hues.

When he returned home to South Carolina, he brought the plant with him. The transplantation was successful,and soon neighbors were asking him for shoots.  Since the brilliant vermilion coloring reached the height of its glory at Christmas, it was soon combined with smilax and other greens to enrich the holiday festivities.

The custom spread and today it is as popular a symbol of Christmas as holly and mistletoe.

A little known fact about the poinsettia is that the vermilion rosettes of the top are leaves not flower petals. The actual "flower" is the small cup of green segments tipped with yellow and red surrounded by the scarlet whorl of leaves.

The actual "flower" of the poinsettia.

Forgotten now is the Carolina garden where the poinsettia first grew in America. Forgotten, too, is the statesman and botanist who brought us this touch of wild beauty from Mexico. But, though most us do it unknowingly, we do honor the man--for the poinsettia plant was named for him--Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett.

Hope you enjoyed this Christmas trivia. It's great to remember those who've blessed us in various ways during this holy season. Do you have a Christmas blessing or story to share? Be sure to leave a comment.

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to share this blog on your social media.

Merry, Blessed Christmas to you and yours is my prayer,

Elva Cobb Martin

Downton Abbey's Success Model

By Elva Cobb Martin

Who hasn't enjoyed five seasons of Downton and isn't deliciously awaiting Season Six and the series finale? I certainly am. If we had the new streaming type TV (which is on my Santa wish list) I could ALREADY be enjoying the last of this great series. It has already shown in England.

Today I listened to a Downton Special to get America ready for the finale coming in January on PBS. I made some notes from the remarks of the producer, Gareth Neame, and the writer of the series, Julian Fellowes, that I think you are going to LOVE. I believe they shared major SECRETS of the success of this series that can work for our novels, too!

Julian Fellowes: The spice of the series is love. There's not doubt about that.  All the characters are given an opportunity to feel love, to turn love down, to love the wrong person, to make a mess of it, to make a good thing of it. But, I think, on the whole, love is a very key ingredient to all our lies, even if or because we haven't got any.

How's that for a plot outline for your romance characters?

Downton Writer Julian Fellowes and Producer Gareth Neame

Gareth Neame: This show is about a time when relationships are much more straightforward. There's no strange texting going on. I think audiences have loved the simplicity of the relationships. The fact that they are not really about sexual love, but romantic love, and deeply unfashionable for TV producers to be doing--and yet it seems to be a formula that is working around the world.

Don't you love that statement?  Gives new impetus to our writing of inspirational novels versus various shades of gray!

"Lord Grantham" who was the spokesman for the special, had some great stuff to say about love. He said: Love is all around Downton Abbey. Upstairs and downstairs. There's the seasoned love of Robert and Cora.
The scandalous and passionate love of Lady Sybil and Branson.
The long-simmering love of the butler Carson and the housekeeper Mrs. Hughes.
 But perhaps the truest, noblest love at Downton is Anna's for Mr. Bates. But their quest for simple love and happiness is plagued by misfortune.

Julian Fellowes on Anna and Mr. Bates:
By creating a happy, contented couple but where there is always a grenade with its pin half out in the pocket of one of them--you don't ever have to search for the tension you need.

He's got that right!

Producer Gareth Neame on Anna and Mr. Bates:
Unlike the other love relationships which are plagued with difficulties, what Anna and Bates have is this extraordinary relationship of the heart, this incredible bond. They are the couple that all of us know somewhere in our lives, that have this amazing partnership and it's the only way they can deal with all the hurdles that are put in front of them.

Don't you love this guy's thoughts? No wonder he is the producer of an award-winning series like Downton.

I will close with a description of the butler Carson and his pursuit of love from Producer Gareth.  "He (Carson) moves slowly like the speed of a glacier."

Have you watched Downton Abbey?  Please share your thoughts and any gleanings you've found that can help us write winning stories.

Thanks for stopping by.
Elva