Check out Chris Well's snippet over at CCM Magazine about two christian fiction authors with incredibly large book deals. He's thinking about changing his name to Jerry Kingsbury. :)
Wow...
The Pruning Principle
3 years ago
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Friday, May 13, 2005
May Book of the Month #1: Grown Folks Business
Grown Folks Business Early Release
For May I have two books of the month and this is why...
Victoria Christopher Murray contacted me today to let me know that her book, Grown Folks Business,which was slated to be my June book of the month has had an early release.
Hello again:
I realize just a few weeks ago I contacted you to tell you about my new novel, Grown Folks Business, coming out in June. Well, Grown Folks Business is in stores now. The early release took me by surprise, but it's a good thing...
Many blessings,
Victoria
I hadn't read the book, yet, because my shipper had a communication challenge. However, my good friend, Tee C. Royal, president of RAWSISTAZ book club--one of the largest and coolest clubs I might add--gave me a top notch review.
This version has been shortened for blogging purposes:
Happily in love with her husband, Quentin, Sheridan Heart is caught off guard when one morning after breakfast, Quentin tells her he's in love with someone else...a man. Her world stops as she tries to grasp the fact that her church-going, loving, and sensitive husband isn't quite who she thought he was. She must temper her two children, adjust to the attitudes of her parents, and learn when to ignore those of her church and community.
Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers
Don't worry. Next week I will share with you the second book of the month.
To read an excerpt of Grown Folks Business click the title.
First lines...
"There's no other way to stay this, Sheridian, I'm in loving with someone else."
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Time Warner Highlights me and Suite 101
Cheri, thanks for passing this info on to me.
Today I found that Time Warner Bookmark E-letter is highlighting my Suite101 interview of Cheri Paris Edwards for this month's HardFiction edition. I'm stoked!
So maybe now some other authors that have been giving me the okie doke will reply to my emails from now on...or not.
Anway, this is a blessing. So of course, I'm going to update that page and plug Third Thursday. Hee Hee
Writing to see what the end' gon' be,
Dee
Check out my novel writing process at Angel on the Back Pew
Today I found that Time Warner Bookmark E-letter is highlighting my Suite101 interview of Cheri Paris Edwards for this month's HardFiction edition. I'm stoked!
So maybe now some other authors that have been giving me the okie doke will reply to my emails from now on...or not.
Anway, this is a blessing. So of course, I'm going to update that page and plug Third Thursday. Hee Hee
Writing to see what the end' gon' be,
Dee
Check out my novel writing process at Angel on the Back Pew
Keeping the Weaker Sistah in Mind
Over in Faith*in*Fiction Dave Long started a discussion about the problems with non-CBA fiction. He gave eight reasons, but I will focus on one--#2--the weaker brother/sistah.
J. Mark Bertrand started a thread on the discussion board on this notion of writing for the weaker brother. And it is incredibly good. If you haven't hung out at Dave's Excellent Coffee House, then you need to click on the title and hop on board.
But first let me share my response to this topic. And then you can comment either here or on my tagboard whether you thought I was either way off tangent or on point.
I have read all posts and you all have brought up some very thoughtful points. But my take on this--to me--may be different than everyones. :)
Weaker brothers...at this point I am weak. I've been in the faith since I was eleven, but I have straddled the fence, backslid and everything in between, sideways and in the closet(not a homosexual reference.)
But at the same point I have grown strong and tall in my faith. I feel God moving in me.
I began writing on what I thought was my death bed to my daughter, who was a newborn at the time. Eventually, my writing moved to christian reporting and last year I did 40 days of purpose and believed God wanted me to write parables/fiction and relate what I know to the common man--the weaker sistah also.
When the Lord and I talk about my novel in the mornings we don't talk about how my writing will be so universal that my stories will transcend all ethnicities, denominations, philosophies. Or will I offend a single christian mother struggling with her faith and her urge to bed any man who would have her just to appease those who haven't experienced that kind of desperation, who don't know that God satiates. But, I about what I know for sure--that weak sistah, that weak daughter, that weak saint.
Just like Nehemiah wrote about how to pray and repent to God. He didn't try to tackle all of God in his work, but what he knew for sure. After all he was the king's cupbearer.
When Solomon wrote Song of Solomon, Ecclesiates, and Proverbs he didn't try to tackle everything in Heaven, but wisdom and love...things he knew for sure.
So unless I'm really missing the point here. Are we trying to tackle all of Christiandom when we speak about weaker sistahs instead of what we know for sure, the thing that we struggle with when no one's around, the thing that causes us to lay down our faith, the one thing that the Lord wants us to tear down so that we can truly live his creed?
Because if it is, then would our writing parallel violence with the tone and the theme of the novel as it relates to God's wrath? Because if it is, then would our writing parallel sex with Esther's yearlong bathing ritual or Vashti's refusal to parade around naked for everyone to see? Or are you saying that writing sugary sweet, small towns without ethnicity (except for that one hard working black man that creeps up in just about every faith fiction book I've read lately,) violence(as if Average Deacon Joe's aren't living secret lives as serial killers,) or sex, whereby Bishops are bedding every woman that steps two feet toward the altar, helping the weaker sistah?
As you can see I'm confused. Because what I got from Roman's is that we need to write in a way that doesn't offend each other not write in a way that doesn't keep us from delivering the message God created for us to give.
I grew up in a small southern town on a hog farm, so I'm not as jaded as I sound.
It's just on a daily basis I receive blood curdling news that ministers, politicians and such want me to flip and fluff around as not to disturb Atlanta's Christian world. Yet, people are walking around wondering where is our faith? Have you seen the news this year?
What say you?
Writing to see what the end gon' be,
Dee
Check out my novel writing process at Angel on the Back Pew
I’m hoping to summarize the critique that non-CBA Christian fiction has often received from folks within CBA. Remember this isn’t me speaking. It’s my coalescing of the overall prevailing criticism that I’ve seen or heard over the years.
If I’ve missed some, feel free to add them. (I added one Wednesday morning...2. We’re ignoring the Bible’s command to watch out for the weaker brother. When our fictional characters act inappropriately, it may serve as a stumbling block to others.
-Dave Long
J. Mark Bertrand started a thread on the discussion board on this notion of writing for the weaker brother. And it is incredibly good. If you haven't hung out at Dave's Excellent Coffee House, then you need to click on the title and hop on board.
But first let me share my response to this topic. And then you can comment either here or on my tagboard whether you thought I was either way off tangent or on point.
I have read all posts and you all have brought up some very thoughtful points. But my take on this--to me--may be different than everyones. :)
Weaker brothers...at this point I am weak. I've been in the faith since I was eleven, but I have straddled the fence, backslid and everything in between, sideways and in the closet(not a homosexual reference.)
But at the same point I have grown strong and tall in my faith. I feel God moving in me.
I began writing on what I thought was my death bed to my daughter, who was a newborn at the time. Eventually, my writing moved to christian reporting and last year I did 40 days of purpose and believed God wanted me to write parables/fiction and relate what I know to the common man--the weaker sistah also.
When the Lord and I talk about my novel in the mornings we don't talk about how my writing will be so universal that my stories will transcend all ethnicities, denominations, philosophies. Or will I offend a single christian mother struggling with her faith and her urge to bed any man who would have her just to appease those who haven't experienced that kind of desperation, who don't know that God satiates. But, I about what I know for sure--that weak sistah, that weak daughter, that weak saint.
Just like Nehemiah wrote about how to pray and repent to God. He didn't try to tackle all of God in his work, but what he knew for sure. After all he was the king's cupbearer.
When Solomon wrote Song of Solomon, Ecclesiates, and Proverbs he didn't try to tackle everything in Heaven, but wisdom and love...things he knew for sure.
So unless I'm really missing the point here. Are we trying to tackle all of Christiandom when we speak about weaker sistahs instead of what we know for sure, the thing that we struggle with when no one's around, the thing that causes us to lay down our faith, the one thing that the Lord wants us to tear down so that we can truly live his creed?
Because if it is, then would our writing parallel violence with the tone and the theme of the novel as it relates to God's wrath? Because if it is, then would our writing parallel sex with Esther's yearlong bathing ritual or Vashti's refusal to parade around naked for everyone to see? Or are you saying that writing sugary sweet, small towns without ethnicity (except for that one hard working black man that creeps up in just about every faith fiction book I've read lately,) violence(as if Average Deacon Joe's aren't living secret lives as serial killers,) or sex, whereby Bishops are bedding every woman that steps two feet toward the altar, helping the weaker sistah?
As you can see I'm confused. Because what I got from Roman's is that we need to write in a way that doesn't offend each other not write in a way that doesn't keep us from delivering the message God created for us to give.
I grew up in a small southern town on a hog farm, so I'm not as jaded as I sound.
It's just on a daily basis I receive blood curdling news that ministers, politicians and such want me to flip and fluff around as not to disturb Atlanta's Christian world. Yet, people are walking around wondering where is our faith? Have you seen the news this year?
What say you?
Writing to see what the end gon' be,
Dee
Check out my novel writing process at Angel on the Back Pew
Sunday, May 08, 2005
What I hope to accomplish in my fiction
Mother's Day is every day and oh boy, service this morning spoke to me. And then I got home and watched Raising Helen. Brought up some old fears about leaving my daughter orphaned and I became numb for a while. But with five years of heart failure down thanks to God my ability to spring back to my sprite self has gotten much better and I thank him for it. And when I got back in rare form I thought about the letter I sent to Chucky P last year and the package and letter he sent back. I have goals. I have a mission and this year end I have to write him back and tell him how I fared. So...to be more accountable to myself I am exposing my self. What do I hope to accomplish in my fiction? Why will I do what I will do?
I want to write stories that question our faith. Why do we believe what we believe? Do we really believe what we say we believe? What is the one thing that we won't surrender to our faith? And what will it take to make that decision?
Those are the questions that haunt me. The real reason why I cry over "Raising Helen."
What say you?
Writing to see what the end's gon' be,
Dee
Dee Stewart
I want to write stories that question our faith. Why do we believe what we believe? Do we really believe what we say we believe? What is the one thing that we won't surrender to our faith? And what will it take to make that decision?
Those are the questions that haunt me. The real reason why I cry over "Raising Helen."
What say you?
Writing to see what the end's gon' be,
Dee
Dee Stewart
Friday, May 06, 2005
Book Review Tracking
I submitted a book review for the Reader Pick column in Today's Christian Woman magazine. I'll let you know in six to eight weeks whether I have the juice or not.
Writing Black, Writing Christian: Spiritual Warfare
So this morning, I was wandering around the blogosphere and stopped at Brandilyn Collins' Forensics and Faith blog. This week she's been discussing spiritual warfare and how it affects God-given writers into doing nothing.
Sounds like me and maybe some other writers out there, who don't think their writing is strong enough, their message is Godly enough. People who suffer from migraines, job stress, family obligations, financial woes, physical challenges, kindergarteners:) and what ever else that for some reason creaped up the moment they felt their writer's mission rise up out of their bones.
I pray for our deliverance. I pray that God sends his angel of Courage to lift us up. I pray that we put on the whole armor of God and get over ourselves.
My character, Angelina Crawford, is a strong woman with too many skeletons in her closet to locate her spiritual gift. And now she needs it or she'll lose her daughter to the evil she's been running away from all her life.
Don't we run from our calling until we have no choice to do what we were meant to do? Our life will stop, if we don't. I've interviewed many ministers, musicians, holy hip hoppers who share my sentiment. So I know I have an Amen out there somewhere.
What does that mean for you?
My great grandma was an Easter Star and sat on our church's Mother Board. And every third Sunday she would sing this song before our devotion service: I'm gonna run on to see what the end' gon be.
This song meant a great deal to my tiny family church in Lake Park, Georgia. See. Our churches. Our people-Black Seminoles--had lived in those swamp patches for years before the town was established. Hiding out. Living free. So running on to see what the end gon' be was their motivation, their reason for running from Jones plantation up in Hahira and St. John's river down in Jacksonville. They knew that if they kept on running, they would find freedom. A new life. A better life. So my great grandmother sang that sung and the church would vibrate despite her petite frame. Can you feel the pews vibrate under your seat? The floorboards clank against your feet? And the altar scuffle a bit to the left? And the moaning? The angels holding that little old church together? She'd belt out all our history and our longing and a promise God gave to us all. And her voice vibrated until souls felt at peace, souls felt like they could make it one more day, souls could keep on with their tedious journey. Because...
We were and are free.
Whatever holds us down. It won't matter. We are free, people.
Whatever story sits in the middle of your chest, aching to be told. It is free.
Whatever publishing disappointment, rejection letter, writer's block that toils with your spirit. Let it break free. It has no choice.
So I'm gonna write on to see what the end gon' be.
You feel me.
Writing to see what the end's gon' be,
Dee
Sounds like me and maybe some other writers out there, who don't think their writing is strong enough, their message is Godly enough. People who suffer from migraines, job stress, family obligations, financial woes, physical challenges, kindergarteners:) and what ever else that for some reason creaped up the moment they felt their writer's mission rise up out of their bones.
I pray for our deliverance. I pray that God sends his angel of Courage to lift us up. I pray that we put on the whole armor of God and get over ourselves.
My character, Angelina Crawford, is a strong woman with too many skeletons in her closet to locate her spiritual gift. And now she needs it or she'll lose her daughter to the evil she's been running away from all her life.
Don't we run from our calling until we have no choice to do what we were meant to do? Our life will stop, if we don't. I've interviewed many ministers, musicians, holy hip hoppers who share my sentiment. So I know I have an Amen out there somewhere.
What does that mean for you?
My great grandma was an Easter Star and sat on our church's Mother Board. And every third Sunday she would sing this song before our devotion service: I'm gonna run on to see what the end' gon be.
This song meant a great deal to my tiny family church in Lake Park, Georgia. See. Our churches. Our people-Black Seminoles--had lived in those swamp patches for years before the town was established. Hiding out. Living free. So running on to see what the end gon' be was their motivation, their reason for running from Jones plantation up in Hahira and St. John's river down in Jacksonville. They knew that if they kept on running, they would find freedom. A new life. A better life. So my great grandmother sang that sung and the church would vibrate despite her petite frame. Can you feel the pews vibrate under your seat? The floorboards clank against your feet? And the altar scuffle a bit to the left? And the moaning? The angels holding that little old church together? She'd belt out all our history and our longing and a promise God gave to us all. And her voice vibrated until souls felt at peace, souls felt like they could make it one more day, souls could keep on with their tedious journey. Because...
We were and are free.
Whatever holds us down. It won't matter. We are free, people.
Whatever story sits in the middle of your chest, aching to be told. It is free.
Whatever publishing disappointment, rejection letter, writer's block that toils with your spirit. Let it break free. It has no choice.
So I'm gonna write on to see what the end gon' be.
You feel me.
Writing to see what the end's gon' be,
Dee
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
