An Epic Book for the Fall

Excerpt from Hunger’s Brides...

“From the moment I was first illuminated by the light of reason, my inclination toward letters has been so vehement that not even the admonitions of others . . . nor my own meditations have been sufficient to cause me to forswear this natural impulse that God placed in me . . . that inclination exploded in me like gunpowder. . .”
—Sor Juana, in a letter of self-defence written to a bishop in 1691, just before she took a vow of silence

This novel is 1,360 pages long. But it's not all narrative fiction. It also contains poetry, dramatic plays, letters and margin notes. Random House states that Hunger's Bride draws "on chronicles of the conquest and histories of the Inquisition, myth cycles and archeological studies, ancient poetry and early Spanish accounts of blood sacrifice, Hunger’s Brides is a mammoth work of inspired historical fiction framed in a contemporary mystery... Hunger’s Brides is also a dramatic unveiling of three intimate journeys: a man’s forced march to self-knowledge, a great poet’s withdrawal from the world, and a profane mystic’s pilgrimage into modern Mexico, where the present is all-too-visibly built on the ruins of the vanquished."

The story's premise revolves around a grad student and a professor's quest to solve the mystery of Sor Juana. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was the 17th-century Mexican poet and nun who signed her vow of silence in her own blood.

Writing to see what the end's gon' be,
Dee

World Standard for Faith Literature

Best-selling Charisma House author Stephen Mansfield, who recently wrote The Faith of the American Soldier and the New York Times best-seller, The Faith of George W. Bush, wrote about his perception of this year's CBA Conference on his blog.

Join me in working and praying for a day in which the literature of the faith again sets the world standard for depth, relevance, and beauty.

Know this. I am not a Stephen Mansfield fan. Nor am I a George W. Bush fan. But I am a fan of what Stephen said about praying for a world standard in literature.

This past weekend I read The Best American Nonrequired Reading. I read them every year along with American Best Shorts and the O Henry's. And I pray for the day I can write in a way that is filled with spiritual depth, timeliness, revelance and beauty. I pray for that. And I pray until then that I read such works that inspire God and me. What say you?

Writing to see what the end's gon' be,
Dee

Waterbrook Bestseller set to become Movie

From Christian Retailing...

Kelly's Filmworks and City on a Hill Productions, both based in Louisville, Ky., have announced the introduction of their first independent feature film, The Perfect Stranger. The original screenplay is based on the novel Dinner With a Perfect Stranger by David Gregory (Waterbrook Press, a division of Random House), now ranked at No. 26 on the Hardcover Fiction list of The New York Times.

Directed by Shane Sooter and Jefferson Moore, the film tells the story of a troubled attorney (New York City stage actress Pamela Brumley) who receives a dinner invitation from a mysterious man who claims that he is Jesus of Nazareth (Jefferson Moore).

With a budget of less than $1 million, The Perfect Stranger is the first joint project of Kelly's Filmworks and City on a Hill Productions, both of which have previously dealt with short-format material. Test screenings held in mid-April/early May produced overwhelmingly positive responses from audiences composed of people who hold diverse religious beliefs.