A Study in Conflict, Character Growth, Love, Redemption & Living Christian Values



New Harmony, Iowa, 1901

Lies, Secrets, & Misunderstandings

in Small Town America

– 5-Star Christian Romance –

Inspired Reading Enjoyment! 

 

An Inconvenient Match

by

Janet Dean

Love Inspired Historicals

2012

“An Inconvenient Match” is Janet Dean's most intensely psychological novel to date. It represents quite a risk on the part of the author. The story is drawn on a small canvas in the 1901 town of New Harmony, It features a small cast of characters with most of the action being internal. I don’t believe one could say that the hero has an outer journey unless it is to open a furniture shop a few blocks away. The conflict itself is risky because it is based on lies, secrets, and misunderstandings. Since this type of conflict can often be cleared-up with a genuine, heart to heart, conversation, a great many roadblocks must be placed in the way to prevent these conversations from ever taking place. 

A Town Like "Our Town"  by Thornton Wilder

“An Inconvenient Match” would make a fine three act play. In fact, it reminds me, in feel and in tone, of “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder. This was a very risky play to produce at the time (1938) but it became a huge success and is now considered an American Classic. It is said that “Our Town” is always being performed somewhere in the world. 

Like “An Incovenient Match”, “Our Town” takes place in small town America, 1901. Like “An Incovenient Match” the important values in the play involve traditional American ideals: Christian morality, the family and the community. There is also a celebration of the simplicity of life and the things that made people happy at that time. I’m thinking here of the town women auctioning off basket lunches to raise money for the folks who lost their homes in the great fire. Christian morality, the family and the community,  all represent universal themes that people love. These are the themes that make “An Inconvenient Match” such powerful reading.

Real Characters You'll Care About

The success of “An Inconvenient Match” depends on the reader coming to care strongly about the characters. This  caring happens  almost at once. The characters are both sympathetic and believable. They are believable because they have many faults. Even the best of them must work through many problems. Here is where the help of strong Christian values comes into play.

In New Harmony people live and practice their faith. This is done by actions and not by preaching. People struggle to do the right thing -- the Christian thing -- even when it hurts and even after they have failed before.

Driving the Success of “An Inconvenient Match” 

The ‘small canvas’ in “An Inconvenient Match” allows the reader to 'see' the characters as the central focus of the story. The location and other outside actions do not get in the way of the unfolding narrative. 

The real enjoyment comes from watching the whole town and each of the major characters grow, little by little, as they face life’s greatest problems. Sometimes faith overcomes these problems. Sometimes it does so only at great cost. 

The Conflict Runs Several Levels Deep

In the story, the major characters suffer both physical and mental wounds. This psychological damage  sometimes manifests itself in outright hostility.  While the hero’s family is at peace with the town, the town is at odds with them. The hero’s father, George Cummings, is the town banker who had to foreclose on property or face losing his bank. George is also a gruff and irritable man. He may have no friends at all in the town. 

George Cummings needs a caretaker after he is injured in the town fire. No one will take care of him because he is so unlikeable. Even his own daughter won’t care for him. His long term housekeeper and cook, Cora, (who probably is in love with him), quit because he was treating his own son, Wade, so badly. Cora didn’t want to stay around and watch it happen. 

The romance between Abby Wilson and Wade Cummings is complicated because the hero's  father foreclosed on the heroine’s family farm causing her family great pain, dislocation and perhaps even her father’s death. That George made a big profit from his actions when the rail road bought the foreclosed property, does not make him any more popular with the town. The community pretty much can't stand George and by association, his son Wade.

A Once Jilted Heroine

The heroine also has good reason to dislike Wade Cummings. Abby and Wade were once an item and Abby was lead to belive that they would marry after high school. It didn't happen. Wade went off to college back east without giving an explanation. 

Abby Wilson is now a school teacher with time on her hands in the summer. No one in town will help take care of the hero's father, George, even for good pay. The hero has far too much work to do, running all his father’s businesses, to be of much help as a caretaker either. In desperation Wade begs the heroine to take care of his father until school starts in the fall. She really needs the money.

Abby Wilon's Conflict of Interests!

The heroine is compassionate and really needs the money so she agrees to help George but she can’t tell this to her family! They would just go crazy to know that their Abby is helping the enemy -- an enemy who ‘killed’ her father.  

Resolving conflict in this book is never easy. Being Christian and doing the right thing can be very painful. All the characters struggle with this. Some not as well as others.

In the below scene from the book Abby is distrauth over what to do. She enters the church to talk to God. 

“Forgive me, Father, for not trusting You. She slid off the pew onto her knees, weeping tears she’d bottled up for years. 

When she raised her eyes, a beam of sunlight had broken through the clouds, coming through the stained-glass window behind the altar, shooing prisms of color through the sanctuary. She felt cleansed.

A blessed peace enveloped her. The love of God. God loved her even when she was most unlovable. He didn’t love according to what she deserved. He loved according to who He was. 

He loved her, loved  her family.

          He loved Wade. George.

          All mankind.

          If only she could love like God did. Yet how could she forget the hurt Wade had caused? How could she trust him when he’d tossed her away years before?

          She rose and left the church. The rain was a mere shower now. As she popped up her umbrella, a smile sprang to her lips. Across the way a rainbow hugged the heavens, the sign of God’s promise to never flood the earth again.

          As if God had planted the thought, she knew what to do.” (page 264 Kindle)

As always, Janet Dean writes in a crystal clear prose that I admire in itself. I’ve never read one sentence in any of her books, that I had to read twice in order to understand the meaning. In this respect I think Janet Dean puts words on paper (and on computer screens) better than anyone writing today. 

“An Inconvenient Match” is not only a great inspirational romance -- it is also a work well worth reading. I think this is an important romance.

A Study in Conflict, Character Growth, Love, Redemption & Living Christian Values

“A House Full of Hope” – Five Stars and the Best Yet!

Missy Tippens is an Amazing Author Who Writes 5-Star Inspirational Romances With Each New Book Better Than the Last!

"A HouseFull of Hope"

MissyTippens

Love Inspired

February 2012

Author Review

How does an author make a 5-star book even better? She grows as a writer. She demonstrates a burning desirer to take God’s gift and manifest it to its greatest extent. She never stops learning. She shares what she’s learned by teaching others.  These are just some of the things I’ve experienced the author do. 

With each book the author has layered in a greater depth of understanding while creating richer conflict. This provides the reader with interesting characters who seem to grow with each page. As always, there is a strong inspirational message that renews the spirit and warms the soul. Better yet, Missy Tippens does all this in an unassuming voice which, with each word, demonstrates her love for her readers.

Reading a Missy Tippens romance is like receiving a warm hug from someone who really cares about you. I never hurry a Missy Tippens’s romance. Why would I want the reading enjoyment to end quicker? The author takes extra time to write her books and I take extra time to savor every word. 

I enjoy ‘feeling’ the author’s kindly voice. I like mingling with her characters. These are genuine people who you would like to get to know in real life.  

If I sound high on the author, it’s because I’ve never been disappointed with her books. Tippens’ books are auto-buys and auto-reads. They preempt any book I am currently reading at the time they debut. If asked: “Which Missy Tippens book should I read first”, I instantly say, “Read any one of them.”  

Reading a Missy Tippens book is like being in a state of mind you never want to leave.


Book Review of "A House Full of Hope" 

"A House Full of Hope” may be the author’s most heartwarming and inspirational romance to date. I believe this because the conflicts run deep and are not based on simple misunderstandings. The characters are so sympathetic that they will win your heart within a few pages. These are good people who suffer through no fault of their own but yet carry on with faith and determination. These are characters with character. You will care about them and that makes the reading enjoyment run far deeper.

Solving the many conflicts in “A Hose Full of Hope” requires both redemption and forgiveness. It also involves characters to grow and forgive themselves. 

The hero, Mark Ryker, has recently found Christ and returns to his home town to seek forgiveness from the many people he hurt ten years earlier. Mark has a lot of genuine guilt to atone for. He was responsible, in part, for his little brother’s death which lead to his mother’s death and his father becoming estranged from him. 

Mark became a troubled teenager. His drinking helped a girl hang with a bad crowd. The girl went wild and became a long term drug addict. Mark has not seen his father in years. They are not even talking. After Mark ran away from his problems he eventually cleaned up his act and started a business that his made him rich. 

The heroine, Hannah Hughes,  is the younger sister of Sydney, the woman Mark badly influenced. (He's the man who ruined her life.) Hannah is a widow with four little children. She once had a crush on Mark but he only saw her as a little pest at the time.

Most of the town has good reason to dislike Mark -- especially the heroine’s mother Donna. Mark thinks that becoming a good Christian and asking for foreignness should clear the way to peace but it is not that easy. Being a Christian is not easy. Some people find it very hard to forgive. I very strongly sympathized with Donna. I would not be very willing to forgive Mark myself. 

Mark’s one hope is the heroine but the heroine’s mother drives her away when she even befriends Mark. 

“A House Full of Hope”  reads so well because the characters are so real, the conflict is genuine and the road to happiness is not easy and nor is it certain.

A Very Moral Book With A Clear Moral Premise 

from "A House Full of Hope":

“Ann’s coffee-cup slogan popped into his mind and made him laugh. Money can’t buy love. Maybe God had been trying to show him something even then. And hadn’t God proven the point the whole time he was in Carinthia?  

“No matter what he tried to do for people – with money –his efforts hadn’t made a difference.

   But when he spent time working with them, relationships had started to slowly improve.” 

“What if he went back and showed them he wanted to commit to them? Showed Donna he was committed to Hannah. Showed Hannah he was committed to Hannah.” 

Page 147 on Sony eReader… (Now that’s a Moral Premise). 

If You Want to Read A Better Book Than

 “A House Full of Hope” You’ll Just Have to Wait for Her Next One! They Just Keep Getting Better!

Missy Tippens 5-Star Books:

Her Unlikely FamilyJanuary 2008

His Forever Love, May 2009

A ForeverChristmas  November 2009

A Family for Faith (LoveInspired) April 2011 

GMC – Goal, Motivation & Conflict – A Classic Writing Book

GMC is the Best Book on the Topic! Easy to Read, Easy to Learn, Easy to Apply!

Author Name Dixon, Debra

Title Goal, Motivation & Conflict

Binding Hardback

Book Condition New

Size 6x9

Publisher Gryphon Books for Writers 1996

The material covered in GMC is not new, in fact, it is very well known. Usually this material is covered in one chapter in "How To" books on writing. The author, Debra Dixon, even acknowledges this when she points out that GMC has many other formulations. 

“Goal – desire, want, need, ambition, purpose

 Motivation – drive, backstory, impetus, incentive

 Conflict – trouble, tension, friction, villain, roadblock”

James Scott Bell even adds a fourth item to his list in, “Plot and Structure”:  LOCK:  Lead, Objective, Confrontation and Knockout I like the “Knockout” addition. That’s writing a knockout ending to better sell your next book or books from your backlist. 

What makes Debra Dixon’s GMC so valuable is that it is written by someone who has conducted many workshops. Someone who has received constant feedback. It’s written in first person conversational English. It is easy to undersand. Easy to remember. And easy to apply. Debra Dixon is an excellent teacher.

There is another very important point to devoting an entire book to this material: knowing and understanding GMC concepts and then applying them in practice forces a writer to do many other things right – without even knowing or having to learn them. This makes GMC highly leveraged knowledge. The material is so central to everything else a writer needs to know to write a novel, that I think it should be the first book a beginning writer reads. 

GMC is so well written to convey its subject matter that I am using the same 'reader friendly', first person. POV as a guide for my book, "RPP, Rewards Per Page" which I hope will be finished by the end of March.

I expect that most serious writers will already have a copy and have read GMC. However, I think it’s a good idea to read GMC  every so often. If you go to Amazon you might think the book is out of print but actually you can buy it directly from the publisher for $19.95 – a real bargain!

GMC is the Best Book on the Topic! Easy to Read, Easy to Learn, Easy to Apply!

“Liz Fielding’s Little Book of Writing Romance”

The First Book to Read for Aspiring Writers! 

The Next Book to Read for Established Writers!

"Liz Fielding's Little Book of Writing Romance"

Liz Fielding

Format: Kindle Edition

Publisher: Classic Romance Publishing

January 2012

Amazon Digital Services

UK   North America

 

"Liz Fielding’s Little Book of Writing Romance" is all about the essential elements of the craft. As such, it provides the romance writer with the necessary information for creating the most enjoyable reading experience. 

While, as a primer, the book is ideal for a beginning writer, it is not simplistic! Nor is it a book of rules you have to follow. Rather "Liz Fielding’s Little Book of Writing Romance” is a book of ideas. It’s a book of, “I wish I’d known this when I first started writing” advice.

As the author writes in the Introduction: 

“…I have written the book I wish I’d had when I was starting out.” 

While the book covers the essential elements of romance writing, it is by no means 'basic' -- in the sense that learning your ‘A’ ‘B’ ‘C’s, before learning how to read, is 'basic'. Indeed, very complex subjects are covered in this book.

For example, understanding the idea of ‘conflict’ is essential to writing fiction but ‘conflict’ is a very complex and often misunderstood concept.  If a writer does not have a clear understanding of the essential elements of her subject, then applying writing rules can actually make a novel worse. 

Consider 'conflict'. Here's what the author has to say about what 'conflict' is not:

First, most importantly, it is not two characters having an argument for 199 pages and then saying “I love you” on page 200. 

An event that delays a hero or heroine’s progress towards a goal is not conflict, it is only an incident. 

A misunderstanding, a wrong assumption, one or other of the characters jumping to the wrong conclusion is not conflict. Conflict lies in the underlying reasons why they are unable to communicate.

   Meddling by another person is not conflict and can make the main characters appear weak, passive, unable to take charge of their own lives. Nor is the main character’s unwillingness to admit that they are attracted to the hero or heroine in any way, conflict. They might fight off the attraction, but conflict lies in the underlying reasons why they fight instead of fall into bed. 

So what, in the context of a novel, is conflict? 

Imagine the very worst person that your hero or heroine could fall in love with. Then double the nightmare. Tighten the screw. Layer in more reasons why this match is impossible. Family feud, faith, social class, distance, politics, health, reputation, a past relationship, secrets, lies, perceived past betrayal.

Conflict comes when, despite all and every apparently good reason for the characters to say “no way”, the attraction is too powerful for them to walk away, as in these partnerships that should never have worked."

Now, if a writer thinks ‘conflict’ is something that Liz Fielding points out is not 'conflict', (like having people argue) then adding such ‘non-conflict’ to a novel could well make it annoying to the reader! (And here the writer is thinking she has followed the rules and made her novel better!) This is exactly why established writers will benefit from reading this book. It is essential for all professionals to always be learning those things they ‘know’ that ‘ain’t so’. 

I discovered a few things that "I knew that ain't so" when reading this book. For this reason alone, reading "Liz Fielding's Little Book of Writing Romance", has been very rewarding for me.

Perhaps the most important thing about, “Liz Fielding’s Little Book of Writing Romance,” is the emphasis it places is on the reader. The central focus is not on agents, editors, contest judges, publishers, critics or even rules. The reader is at the central focus of this book and this makes it highly unusual and exceptionally valuable. So many “How to Write a Novel” books are about meeting the needs of the novel. The reader’s reading enjoyment is often lost among all the writing rules. Liz Fielding never forgets the reader!

As Liz Fielding writes in the book: 

   “The primary purpose of a romance novel is to elicit a positive emotional experience for the reader. Make her smile, make her cry, make her sight with pleasure. To put it in a nutshell, give her a good time.”

Writing to the needs of the 'reading experience' is what best selling authors do the best. Liz Fielding's little book is an excellent example of how to do this. From this point of view, "Liz Fielding's Little Book of Writing Romance", is a writing gem. A little jewel in the crown of romance writing books.

The Ten Chapters Cover These Topics:

Grab the reader on the first page.

Create characters your reader will care about.
Make conflict big enough to carry story,
Dig deep for emotion,
Develop romantic tension.
Write realistic dialogue.
Understanding Viewpoint.
Construct a four-dimensional world.
Give reader a satisfying ending.
Last Chapter covers: The basics.

I just want to point out that ‘the basics’ come at the very end in the last chapter. This book could be used in a graduate seminar on romance writing and probably will be.

"Liz Fielding’s Little Book of Writing Romance" – An Ideal Way to Calibrate Your Writing Knowledge!  A Writing Book You Can Profitably Read Again, Again, and Again! 5-Stars!

“Write a Great Synopsis - An Expert Guide” – Best of its Kind!

The Best “Synopsis” Book I’ve Ever Read and Here’s Why:  

I Will Actually Do What “Write a Great Synopsis”  Suggests!

“WriteA Great Synopsis”

Nicola Morgan

Format: Kindle Edition

Publisher: Crabbit Publishing

January 17, 2012)

Amazon Digital Services $3.45

Let’s face it: synopsis books are like diet books. Every one will work if you actually follow the instructions. The problem with diet books is that you have to find the right diet! And that’s a diet that you can actually live with and implement!  

I’ve read quite of few books and articles on how to write a synopsis and I’ve agreed with everything the authors wrote except for the fact that I couldn’t get myself to do it their way.  

“Write a Great Synopsis” is different. The suggestions exactly fit how I like to do things. It’s perfect. Also, I think most writers are like me in this respect.  

Consider these two essential points that I feel stand out as particularly excellent. 

FIRST:  Start your synopsis with a ‘single sentence hook’. Then build that sentence into a paragraph, Next expand that paragraph into a full page. If you are allowed more words by an editor or agent, expand it to the full size allowed.  

Writing your synopsis this way means you are adding material according to its importance. You are not faced with cutting away ‘great material’ -- a process that many writers find painful to do. 

There is also the added benefit of creating your pitch and back cover blurb at the same time that you are writing your synopsis. 

SECOND: The author offers a great synopsis writing idea that she calls her “Crappy Memory Method". (This is actually the same method I used for years cutting 2,000 word full page advertising copy down to 50 to 200 words when the advertised item was later used as a sub-feature in a smaller ad.)  

Here’s how the “Crappy Memory Method” works: put the book aside for a day or two and then write the synopsis without looking at any or your materials. Do it all from memory. If you do this then only the most important elements of the story should be remembered first. If you can’t remember something, like subplots or secondary characters, then you most likely don’t need them in the synopsis. This works very well for me. I think it will also work for most writers.

“Write a Great Synopsis” is a total book. A great deal is covered about synopses: fiction and non-fiction, different types of synopses, the real importance of a synopsis, linear and non-linear synopses, guidelines, rules asnot set in stone, why you need several synopses for each book, plus much more. 

The author is an expert who has done it all. From her book: 

“Nicola Morgan is the author of around ninety books, including best-seller and award-winners. She is well known for her strong advice about writing and publishing: her main book for writers, Write to be Published, gained universal praise on publication in 2011.”   

Best of all: the book is only $3.45 on Amazon as a Kindle book as I write this. A must buy if I ever saw one! 

Added benefit: there are many hot links that will help you navigate the book – many Kindle formatted books do not offer this feature!

5 Stars!  Highest Possible Rating!

A Must for Serious Writers of Fiction and Non-Fiction!

Announcing: “Philosophy of Romance” Book of the Year for 2011:

"The Officer’s Secret" -- an ‘Ideal Romantic Suspense Novel’!

One of the Best Love Inspired Suspense Romances I've Ever Read!



"The Officer’s Secret"

Debby Giusti

Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense

Miniseries: Military Investigations Book 1
May, 2011, 224 pages

(Book 2  "The Captian's Mission" now Available
Read Review of "The Captian's Mission")

"The Officer’s Secret"  was an easy standout choice for the Philosophy of Romance “Book of the Year” Award. When I first wrote my review, back in May, I called it the "Best Love Inspired Suspense Romance I’ve ever read.  I’m still as enthusiastic about the book today as I was back then.  I have been watching this author since I read her Christmas novella, "Yule Die" in the "Christmas Peril" , December 2009, Love Inspired romance. I thought "Yule Die" was the perfect novella and I have been using it as a model for my own novellas.

The Philosophy of Romance “Book of the Year” is not awarded simply because I liked the book better than any of the other books I’ve reviewed during the past year. There’s more to it. The winner of our “Book of the Year” must be demonstrably excellent! In other words, there must be many praiseworthy elements of the book that I can point to as proof of the book's excellence. 

Excellence at Every Level!

“The Officer’s Secret” is a paradigm Romantic Suspense novel. It does everything it should do and it does it well. The story was strong enough to sell the publisher on the multibook Military Investigations series. That is very strong in today's competitive publishing market.

I can say this with enthusiasm because ‘The Officer’s Secret” is outstanding on three different levels: it’s an intriguing mystery, a breathtaking suspense story and a compelling romance. This is very unusual because normally there is not enough time in a suspense story to develop a satisfying romance. (Love Inspired Suspense Romances tend to be short format and take place over a few days.)  In a suspense story the suspense action normally gets center stage. Moreover, there often is not a mystery to solve in a suspense. The 'suspense' often involves whether the hero and heroine will survive the threat that is causing the suspense. 

The Tension Never Lets Up

“The Officer’s Secret” is a very good suspense story because there is the constant threat of death right up to the last page. To add even more suspense, the heroine’s dead sister warned her not to trust any of the authorities including the military police. Even the weather threatens to kill the hero and heroine! This story is about as suspenseful as a suspense gets! 

There's a Real Mystery

The mystery is intricate and well plotted providing ample red herrings and logical twists and turns.  I doubt that even hardened mystery fans will figure out ‘who done it’. I’m good at solving mysteries and I couldn’t do it. The romance also works well because both the hero and heroine are at turning points in their lives and both have suffered similar traumatic experiences. The hero and heroine are ideally suited for each other and it is enjoyable to watch them come to this realization in the story given all the trust issues and secrets they have. How could they fall in love in a few days? Because they are perfect for each other. 

The Story: 

The heroine, Maggie Bennett, finds her sister, a major in the Army, dead in the sister's attic -- an apparent suicide. Before she died she called her sister to come to the Army post and help her out of some problem. She was also told not to trust the authorities.  

The hero, Nate Patterson, is a militarily policeman in the CID, criminal investigations division. Everyone seems convinced the sister’s death was a suicide. All evidence leans that way. However, Maggie is convinced it was murder and she tries her best to get Nate to investigate it as a murder. There's a problem however, because Maggie cannot trust the military police (who might be involved in a smuggling cover-up). As such, she can’t give Nate all the reasons for believing it might not be a suicide. Since Nate suspects that Maggie is holding back information, he has trust issues with her as well. If she is innocent why is she holding back information? Could Maggie be involved in the killing?  Is that why she is really at the Army post?

Of course, if it is not a suicide, then there is a murder (or group of murders) out there with a good reason to kill anyone who might try and show the death was a murder. This puts both the hero and heroine under constant danger of death. 

This is the first book in the author’s “Military Ingestions” series, (the Army version of NCIS). Actually, I liked this story better than the NCIS TV show and I used to be in the military police. The author was an 'Army brat' with excellent current military advisors in the family so she has all her military details down pat.  

Don’t Miss This "Philosophy of Romance" Book of the Year Thriller Mystery! 

5-Star Military Suspense!

"The Spy Who Loved Me" -- A MetaRomance

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