Right Color, Wrong Culture: A Leadership Fable, by Bryan Loritts is a bit of an unusual book. It is published by Moody, and its topic is about how to select church staff for multiethnic ministry. However, instead of presenting his material in an expository manner, Mr. Loritts has written the book in a narrative style, and it reads like a novella. The approach works, because it allows the reader to hear and view the thoughts and concerns of all the important characters that appear in this fable. It also allows the reader to learn about what Mr. Loritts has to say about multiethnic ministry at the same time as the characters in the story.
The story is about Peter Williams, a consultant for a firm that seeks to develop multiethnic ministry in churches. He is recruited by a former mentor, Gary, who wishes to change the status quo at the church that he is presently working at. Gary Kirkland, a senior pastor, wishes to stop the migration of Poplar Bible Church and its Christian Academy from leaving the neighbourhood which is becoming less white, and more African-American in its makeup. Poplar Bible Church is primarily a white church and its leadership wishes to move to where their "constituency" is. Gary wishes to remain in the present neighbourhood and develop a multiethnic congregation, but he will need an African-American pastor who will be able to connect with the African-American community surrounding the church.
As the story unfolds, Peter advises the selection committee on how to recognize the best candidate who will meet the church's need. He explains that, "within every ethnicity exists at least three cultures," which he simply labels as C1, C2, and C3. The C1 group is made up of people who have assimilated into another ethnic group or culture. The C3 group is made up of people who refuse to adjust or assimilate within other ethnic groups or cultures. The C2 group is made up of people who are "culturally flexible and adaptable without becoming ethnically ambiguous or hostile." As the selection board interviews each successive candidate who are all African-American, Peter tries to point out how the committee may recognize clues as to which culture the candidate belongs to. The committee realizes that they will need to hire someone who belongs to the C2 group and that it would be in their best interest to do so if they wish for this endeavor to be a success. By the time Peter is done with them, they recognize that they need someone who has experience in crossing cultures which would be reflected in the candidate's schooling, work, and friendships, etc.
I won't tell you who ended up being the person that they hired for the job, but let me tell you that it surprised me, and it also surprised the selection committee.
I have summarized the three cultures, but this doesn't do justice to the explanations of what exactly these three cultures are. In fact, it was a bit eye opening to realize that at times, I can be quite a C1 person, and in some other contexts, I could be quite the C3 type. This book definitely challenges me to become a C2 type of person.
I appreciated the biblical exposition that was provided within the context of the fable. Mr. Loritts draws from the life of Jesus and the training that He gave to His disciples while He was still on the earth. He also discusses the experiences of the disciple, Peter, and how Jesus used him to open up the Gospel to the Gentiles. He also presents the life of Paul, the man who tried to become all things to all people so that by all possible means he could draw others to Christ (1 Cor. 9:22).
Mr. Loritts included statistics from recent sociological studies that reveal that in the United States, there are more than three hundred thousand places of worship, not just including Christianity, but of every faith, such as Muslim, Mormon, Buddhist, etc. Out of these, only 7.5 % is multiethnic. However, within the Christian church, the number falls down to 2.5 %. Since I am Canadian, I wonder how similar the statistics would be for Canada. I wonder what the statistics would look worldwide, in different countries, particularly those that are home to people of numerous ethnic backgrounds.
I definitely recommend reading this book, even if you are not involved in searching for pastoral candidates for a ministry. The ideas that Mr. Loritts presents are challenging my worldview of what the church of Christ could look like, and I think that what he is saying is true. Canadians love to use the word, "multicultural," and the city that I live in is home to people of many different ethnic backgrounds. The world is now at our doorstep, and the mission field is now here in our own homeland. If we do not open our doors to the people who are already here, there is the danger that the church in North America could miss the opportunity that is just staring at us in our faces.
Thursday, 27 November 2014
Tuesday, 25 November 2014
Review: The Healer's Touch by Lori Copeland
The Healer's Touch, by Lori Copeland, is a western historical romance involving Lyric Bolton, the aforementioned healer in the title of the book, and Ian Cawley, a U.S. Marshal who becomes a wounded amnesiac after his horse crashes into a barn on the Bolton farm while he is trying to apprehend a criminal. Ian has no identification on his person since he lost his wallet during an earlier scuffle in pursuing his quarry. Unfortunately for him, Lyric and her sister, Lark, suspect that he is a criminal himself, belonging to the Younger Gang and are determined to turn him over to their local sheriff in order to claim the reward for capturing a Younger. Because of the abysmal weather conditions, the sisters must ironically shelter and care for Ian, whom Lyric has renamed as Joseph, until the sheriff can make it to their farm in order arrest Ian and hang him for his supposed crimes. As Lyric and Ian spend more time together while she tends to his wounds, they fall in love. Will Ian regain his memory before he faces the hangman's noose?
Ian is a likeable character. I had to smirk at his thoughts as his body meets up with the barn: "I'm going to sell that miserable horse if it's the last thing I do." I don't mean to be laughing at the injuries that he is about to suffer, but I thought that it was a humourous thing that he was thinking of instead. If I were him, I would have probably been fearful that I was going to be taking my last breath instead and my thoughts would have reflected that. Anyways, throughout the story, his thoughts, words, and actions reveal that he is a believing man who is more likely to be a good citizen rather than a hardened criminal.
Lyric is a young woman who had to assume adult responsibilities too early in her youth. She doesn't recall any knowledge of her father, and had to care for both her mother and sister since she was about seven years old. On top of that, because her mother's illness is of the mental kind, the family has been treated as social pariahs. Now that Mrs. Bolton's health is starting to fail, Lyric is waiting for their mother to pass on, and then the two sisters will leave the area and move away to a new place. Lyric hopes to make a new start where they will be accepted instead of shunned.
There is also another significant character in the novel, and that is the Spooklight, which, according to Lori Copeland, is based upon a real phenomenon in Missouri. I haven't done a lot of research into the Spooklight, so I don't want to comment much about the real phenomenon beyond the idea that this seems to touch on a sort of supernatural spiritism that gives me the creeps and heebee jeebies. In the book, many of the characters feel in a similar way, and this Spooklight, which seems to act as an impish and mischievious will o'wisp, appears quite frequently near the Bolton Farm. This has added more social stigma to the sisters who are already shouldering public ostracization in response to their mother's mental health. The Spooklight plays an important part in bringing Lyric and Ian together, because it is the thing that frightens Ian's horse into its mad dash into the barn door. Ms. Copeland doesn't directly confirm what the Spooklight is in this story, but she strongly hints that it could be an angel for this book. Regardless of what it actually is, it seems to be a sentient being in the novel, frightening some, acting as a nuisance to others, and giving comfort to one of the major characters. Because it hasn't been overtly identified as an angel of God, I must confess that the character of the Spooklight is not a comfortable idea for me.
If you are interested in a western historical romance with a touch of the supernatural in it, this might be a book to look into.
Disclaimer: I was provided with an e-copy of The Healer's Touch from Netgalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
Ian is a likeable character. I had to smirk at his thoughts as his body meets up with the barn: "I'm going to sell that miserable horse if it's the last thing I do." I don't mean to be laughing at the injuries that he is about to suffer, but I thought that it was a humourous thing that he was thinking of instead. If I were him, I would have probably been fearful that I was going to be taking my last breath instead and my thoughts would have reflected that. Anyways, throughout the story, his thoughts, words, and actions reveal that he is a believing man who is more likely to be a good citizen rather than a hardened criminal.
Lyric is a young woman who had to assume adult responsibilities too early in her youth. She doesn't recall any knowledge of her father, and had to care for both her mother and sister since she was about seven years old. On top of that, because her mother's illness is of the mental kind, the family has been treated as social pariahs. Now that Mrs. Bolton's health is starting to fail, Lyric is waiting for their mother to pass on, and then the two sisters will leave the area and move away to a new place. Lyric hopes to make a new start where they will be accepted instead of shunned.
There is also another significant character in the novel, and that is the Spooklight, which, according to Lori Copeland, is based upon a real phenomenon in Missouri. I haven't done a lot of research into the Spooklight, so I don't want to comment much about the real phenomenon beyond the idea that this seems to touch on a sort of supernatural spiritism that gives me the creeps and heebee jeebies. In the book, many of the characters feel in a similar way, and this Spooklight, which seems to act as an impish and mischievious will o'wisp, appears quite frequently near the Bolton Farm. This has added more social stigma to the sisters who are already shouldering public ostracization in response to their mother's mental health. The Spooklight plays an important part in bringing Lyric and Ian together, because it is the thing that frightens Ian's horse into its mad dash into the barn door. Ms. Copeland doesn't directly confirm what the Spooklight is in this story, but she strongly hints that it could be an angel for this book. Regardless of what it actually is, it seems to be a sentient being in the novel, frightening some, acting as a nuisance to others, and giving comfort to one of the major characters. Because it hasn't been overtly identified as an angel of God, I must confess that the character of the Spooklight is not a comfortable idea for me.
If you are interested in a western historical romance with a touch of the supernatural in it, this might be a book to look into.
Disclaimer: I was provided with an e-copy of The Healer's Touch from Netgalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
Wednesday, 5 November 2014
Review: The Forfeit by Py Russell-Heath
The Forfeit, by Py Russell-Heath, is a regency that I found off the freebie list at Amazon. Yes, I'm still in my freebie hunt mode. Plus, on top of that, it was a regency. I just couldn't resist. I also loved the fact that on her author page, Ms. Russell-Heath posted a photo of herself decked out in regency garb. I want my own gown now. Actually, now that I think of it, if I could get the special man in my life into a frock coat, I think that I'd be pretty estatic, but I'm digressing from the purpose of this blog entry, which is to discuss The Forfeit.
The hero in this story is a stuffy earl, Lord Edmund Spanton, the Earl of Merton, who forgets himself when he crashes into the heroine, the Honorable Miss Regina Carbury, on a staircase at The Withered Rose Inn. Both are not in their finest frames of mind; Regina is furious with getting knocked over and proceeds to verbally flay Edmund with her words, while Edmund, who is en route to London after an aggravating visit with his sister, responds with boorish behaviour in the face of what he perceives as an attack by still yet another criticizing female. When Regina tries to pass by him, he refuses to budge unless she pays him a forfeit, which is, of course, a kiss. Regina leans over to kiss him on the cheek, but sneaky man that he is, Edmund places his lips in the way, and "...her face reflected the surprise that he felt." I thought that this line was rather Austen-like...it reminded me of the verbal spat between Darcy and Elizabeth when discussing Wickham, or of the meeting between Elizabeth and Darcy at Pemberley, or even when E and D reconciled their differences on their walk to Oakham Mount.
At this point in the story, neither person knows the identity of the other, and leaves the inn with a bit of shame over their own behaviour, relieved that they will likely not ever see each other again. That is the case, until they meet at a ball in London when they find out that Edmund is a dear friend of Regina's aunt and uncle with whom she is staying. Awkwardness abounds. Edmund is taken so much by surprise that he ends up giving Regina the cut direct unintentionally, which creates a problem for him in his relationship with Regina's aunt and uncle. He tries to rectify this error by taking Regina out riding the next day, and Regina and he apologize to each other for their abominable behaviour. However, Edmund becomes stiff and remote by the end of this outing when he realizes that too much attention has been drawn towards Regina and himself that he fears that talk would circulate about a relationship between them. Regina, realizing that Edmund is not interested in having society gossip about them being together, regrets her behaviour, but stands firm in her resolve to not presume on the earl's acquaintance. However, she does admit that he is an attractive man.
Regina is in London to find a husband so that she will not inconvenience her brother or his future wife. Edmund is also on the marriage hunt, trying to look for a wife who will meet the Three B's: breeding, bearing, and behaviour. However, neither is on each other's list initially, until it becomes apparent that no other candidate will do except for the person who each had met at The Withered Rose Inn.
I found this novel to be populated with nice people. It was rather refreshing. There wasn't much by the way of catty or mean behaviour by many of the characters in this novel, with a few exceptions: Mrs. Tifton, a social climber, Lady Bremond, the diamond of first water who is the frontrunner for the position of being Edmund's countess, and Lord Linley, a marquis who makes some rather unwelcome advances towards Regina. Other than that, many of the characters appeared to be self sacrificing, willing to do the right and honorable thing, and in some cases, even at the expense of their own personal happiness. However, Regina was the one who was the one who exemplified this type of behaviour the most in this story.
The Forfeit had its funny moments too. For starters, there were Regina's responses to all the marriage offers that started coming her way once the three top contenders for her hand were refused. I also found it a bit funny when Edmund's good friend, Lord Matthew Warton, Viscount Neal, decided to throw in his hat and propose to Regina to stir up Edmund's jealousy. Ah, dear Matthew...such a cheeky fellow.
Another funny moment was when Regina realized that the house party that she was attending would have seven unmarried men, most of whom were earls, one of whom might try to offer for her if only to see if he might succeed where a viscount could not. Why is the girl panicking? Really, I don't think that I would have if I were in her shoes.
Finally, there was the time when Edmund persuaded Regina to read through his updated list of requirements for the Countess of Merton. Edmund was trying to argue that she had the appropriate breeding and bearing, but I had to laugh at the history of how Regina's forefather gained his title. I also found it humourous that he said to overlook the behaviour section.
I did fear that the novel was going to drag on a bit after Regina's refusal of her second suitor. The first two refusals took a bit of time in the plot, but the third and subsequent refusals were dealt with quite quickly and the pace picked up. I did want to rattle Edmund's shoulders for not realizing his feelings for Regina.
The novel was clean, witty at points, and enjoyable to read. I wanted to find out how it ended. From Ms. Russell-Heath's author page, it appears that she may have another couple of novels in the works. I hope that Matthew Warton's story will be one of those.
The hero in this story is a stuffy earl, Lord Edmund Spanton, the Earl of Merton, who forgets himself when he crashes into the heroine, the Honorable Miss Regina Carbury, on a staircase at The Withered Rose Inn. Both are not in their finest frames of mind; Regina is furious with getting knocked over and proceeds to verbally flay Edmund with her words, while Edmund, who is en route to London after an aggravating visit with his sister, responds with boorish behaviour in the face of what he perceives as an attack by still yet another criticizing female. When Regina tries to pass by him, he refuses to budge unless she pays him a forfeit, which is, of course, a kiss. Regina leans over to kiss him on the cheek, but sneaky man that he is, Edmund places his lips in the way, and "...her face reflected the surprise that he felt." I thought that this line was rather Austen-like...it reminded me of the verbal spat between Darcy and Elizabeth when discussing Wickham, or of the meeting between Elizabeth and Darcy at Pemberley, or even when E and D reconciled their differences on their walk to Oakham Mount.
At this point in the story, neither person knows the identity of the other, and leaves the inn with a bit of shame over their own behaviour, relieved that they will likely not ever see each other again. That is the case, until they meet at a ball in London when they find out that Edmund is a dear friend of Regina's aunt and uncle with whom she is staying. Awkwardness abounds. Edmund is taken so much by surprise that he ends up giving Regina the cut direct unintentionally, which creates a problem for him in his relationship with Regina's aunt and uncle. He tries to rectify this error by taking Regina out riding the next day, and Regina and he apologize to each other for their abominable behaviour. However, Edmund becomes stiff and remote by the end of this outing when he realizes that too much attention has been drawn towards Regina and himself that he fears that talk would circulate about a relationship between them. Regina, realizing that Edmund is not interested in having society gossip about them being together, regrets her behaviour, but stands firm in her resolve to not presume on the earl's acquaintance. However, she does admit that he is an attractive man.
Regina is in London to find a husband so that she will not inconvenience her brother or his future wife. Edmund is also on the marriage hunt, trying to look for a wife who will meet the Three B's: breeding, bearing, and behaviour. However, neither is on each other's list initially, until it becomes apparent that no other candidate will do except for the person who each had met at The Withered Rose Inn.
I found this novel to be populated with nice people. It was rather refreshing. There wasn't much by the way of catty or mean behaviour by many of the characters in this novel, with a few exceptions: Mrs. Tifton, a social climber, Lady Bremond, the diamond of first water who is the frontrunner for the position of being Edmund's countess, and Lord Linley, a marquis who makes some rather unwelcome advances towards Regina. Other than that, many of the characters appeared to be self sacrificing, willing to do the right and honorable thing, and in some cases, even at the expense of their own personal happiness. However, Regina was the one who was the one who exemplified this type of behaviour the most in this story.
The Forfeit had its funny moments too. For starters, there were Regina's responses to all the marriage offers that started coming her way once the three top contenders for her hand were refused. I also found it a bit funny when Edmund's good friend, Lord Matthew Warton, Viscount Neal, decided to throw in his hat and propose to Regina to stir up Edmund's jealousy. Ah, dear Matthew...such a cheeky fellow.
Another funny moment was when Regina realized that the house party that she was attending would have seven unmarried men, most of whom were earls, one of whom might try to offer for her if only to see if he might succeed where a viscount could not. Why is the girl panicking? Really, I don't think that I would have if I were in her shoes.
Finally, there was the time when Edmund persuaded Regina to read through his updated list of requirements for the Countess of Merton. Edmund was trying to argue that she had the appropriate breeding and bearing, but I had to laugh at the history of how Regina's forefather gained his title. I also found it humourous that he said to overlook the behaviour section.
I did fear that the novel was going to drag on a bit after Regina's refusal of her second suitor. The first two refusals took a bit of time in the plot, but the third and subsequent refusals were dealt with quite quickly and the pace picked up. I did want to rattle Edmund's shoulders for not realizing his feelings for Regina.
The novel was clean, witty at points, and enjoyable to read. I wanted to find out how it ended. From Ms. Russell-Heath's author page, it appears that she may have another couple of novels in the works. I hope that Matthew Warton's story will be one of those.
Wednesday, 15 October 2014
Review: Trading Secrets by Melody Carlson
This review is filled with spoilers in a fairly detailed summary and in my reflections upon reading the novel.
Trading Secrets, a young adult novel by Melody Carlson, is the story about Micah Knight, a seventeen year old, and Zach Miller, who have been penpals since they were both eleven. Zach is Amish, while Micah has grown up in a modern, contemporary "English" (non-Amish) community. However, the penpals have shared many things with each other over many letters, and Micah is grateful for Zach's friendship especially with the latter helping the former in matters of faith and through some dark times, especially when Micah's mother died.
However, with spring break approaching, Zach writes and asks if he could visit and stay with Micah's family. This presents a huge problem for Micah, because Zach has been completely unaware throughout their correspondence that Micah is actually a girl. The book presents a plausible reason for this; our protagonists became penpals through a letter writing exchange between an Amish class and English class; however, Zach's teacher removed the photographs that had been attached to the letters from the English class. With Micah's unusual name, it was not surprising that Zach assumed that Micah was a boy. For all these years, Micah has not corrected him from that assumption, because of her fear that he would stop corresponding with her.
Micah wins a bit of a reprieve when Zach writes again, and informs her that his father requires his help to work on the family farm. Since he cannot visit her, would she like to visit him on the farm and help him with the spring planting instead?
At this point in the novel, I could hear myself telling Micah to just not do it, but our intrepid teenage girl does! She also visits Zach's family disguised as a boy, but that subterfuge does not last for very long. On the very first day of the visit, after Zach's father conducts a devotional on the importance of honesty from the book of Proverbs, Micah reveals herself to be a girl, stating that she did so in order to meet Zach, because it was something that she had wanted to do for such a long time. Zach does not handle this revelation very well; he is furious with Micah and tells her to leave.
After revealing her secret, Micah tries to hop on the bus to return home, but due to circumstances, is not able to leave immediately, and is persuaded by one of Zach's sisters to stay with the Miller family until she can find her way home.
The rest of Micah's stay is like the reverse of watching "Amish in the City," the reality television show that depicts Amish youth experiencing rumspringa in an urban setting. In Micah's case, she is now immersed in the Amish lifestyle. Unfortunately, she does not find a friend with Mrs. Miller, Zach's mother, and is made to feel inadequate by Rachel Yoder, an Amish girl who hopes to catch Zach's eye. Since Micah does not feel welcome in the Miller's house, she goes to help Zach and his father outside with the farm work. As the days pass, she is able to mend bridges with Zach and eventually wins over Zach's father's respect for her willingness to do hard work. Micah also learns that Zach's heart is not in working on the family farm; he loves working with and caring for animals instead. Zach is also struggling with his family's expectations for him; they expect him to help with the farm and also to marry Rachel, but he doesn't have the desire to do either of these things.
Micah is finally able to leave Zach's community when her father, a pilot, comes by in his plane to take her home. However, Zach also leaves with them, but realizes after a few days in the English world, that it would be difficult for an Amish person to survive there with limited skills and education. However, during this time, he meets Micah's Uncle Brad, a veterinarian. He returns home to his family for a season, but eventually returns to the English world, with the help of Micah's uncle, so that he can pursue his dream of becoming a vet.
Here's where I confess that I read this novel from the perspective of a mother who worries a bit about her children's safety especially if they would be staying overnight for a week at some stranger's place. I probably wouldn't have allowed Micah to go alone on such a trip without having some previous personal contact with the family that she would stay with or without knowing that this family was screened in some sort of official capacity by an authority that I could trust. But of course, in this story, Micah does not have a mother, and Micah's father seems to be a lot more relaxed about the whole matter with Micah visiting Zach than I would have personally felt comfortable with, even though Micah is 17 and already in her senior year of high school.
I was also cringing at how Micah ended up stranded in Zach's community for the week, as she first missed the bus because she arrived too late for a return trip on that first day, and also when she ran out of funds later on and could not purchase the bus fare home. She needed to wait until her father could fly out to pick her up, which took several days. This is a bit foreign to my own experience of growing up. If I were Micah, at that age, my parents would have made sure that there were already contingency plans in place either to wire money or to retrieve me as quickly as possible should the need arise. They would have definitely been more accessible for emergency contact than how Mr. Knight appeared in this story.
Having said that, I did think that it was still completely plausible for the plot to unfold as it did in Trading Secrets. I could see and imagine a gutsy 17 year old acting as Micah did to fulfil her desire in meeting a boy that she had a crush on. Micah's voice and thoughts sounded youthful, immature and impulsive enough to go ahead and carry out her plans even though the decision making and execution of those plans were a bit questionable. She is mature enough to realize that she is not in love with Zach, and I would say that this novel didn't really seem like much of a romance, even though Zach is pursued by Rachel. Instead, the focus on the plot turns to the choices that Zach needs to make; will he remain with his Amish community or will he attempt to pursue his own dreams for a different future than the one his family expects for him to have?
The novel ends with Micah and Zach remaining friends, but I wonder if Ms. Carlson will write a sequel if she hasn't already. I would love to find out what happens to Micah and Zach. Micah seems to have a romantic attraction to Zach that she may not be quite ready to acknowledge, but Zach seems rather clueless to the interest of the females surrounding him.
I enjoyed reading this novel, and would probably consider reading more of Melody Carlson's work.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of Trading Secrets from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
Trading Secrets, a young adult novel by Melody Carlson, is the story about Micah Knight, a seventeen year old, and Zach Miller, who have been penpals since they were both eleven. Zach is Amish, while Micah has grown up in a modern, contemporary "English" (non-Amish) community. However, the penpals have shared many things with each other over many letters, and Micah is grateful for Zach's friendship especially with the latter helping the former in matters of faith and through some dark times, especially when Micah's mother died.
However, with spring break approaching, Zach writes and asks if he could visit and stay with Micah's family. This presents a huge problem for Micah, because Zach has been completely unaware throughout their correspondence that Micah is actually a girl. The book presents a plausible reason for this; our protagonists became penpals through a letter writing exchange between an Amish class and English class; however, Zach's teacher removed the photographs that had been attached to the letters from the English class. With Micah's unusual name, it was not surprising that Zach assumed that Micah was a boy. For all these years, Micah has not corrected him from that assumption, because of her fear that he would stop corresponding with her.
Micah wins a bit of a reprieve when Zach writes again, and informs her that his father requires his help to work on the family farm. Since he cannot visit her, would she like to visit him on the farm and help him with the spring planting instead?
At this point in the novel, I could hear myself telling Micah to just not do it, but our intrepid teenage girl does! She also visits Zach's family disguised as a boy, but that subterfuge does not last for very long. On the very first day of the visit, after Zach's father conducts a devotional on the importance of honesty from the book of Proverbs, Micah reveals herself to be a girl, stating that she did so in order to meet Zach, because it was something that she had wanted to do for such a long time. Zach does not handle this revelation very well; he is furious with Micah and tells her to leave.
After revealing her secret, Micah tries to hop on the bus to return home, but due to circumstances, is not able to leave immediately, and is persuaded by one of Zach's sisters to stay with the Miller family until she can find her way home.
The rest of Micah's stay is like the reverse of watching "Amish in the City," the reality television show that depicts Amish youth experiencing rumspringa in an urban setting. In Micah's case, she is now immersed in the Amish lifestyle. Unfortunately, she does not find a friend with Mrs. Miller, Zach's mother, and is made to feel inadequate by Rachel Yoder, an Amish girl who hopes to catch Zach's eye. Since Micah does not feel welcome in the Miller's house, she goes to help Zach and his father outside with the farm work. As the days pass, she is able to mend bridges with Zach and eventually wins over Zach's father's respect for her willingness to do hard work. Micah also learns that Zach's heart is not in working on the family farm; he loves working with and caring for animals instead. Zach is also struggling with his family's expectations for him; they expect him to help with the farm and also to marry Rachel, but he doesn't have the desire to do either of these things.
Micah is finally able to leave Zach's community when her father, a pilot, comes by in his plane to take her home. However, Zach also leaves with them, but realizes after a few days in the English world, that it would be difficult for an Amish person to survive there with limited skills and education. However, during this time, he meets Micah's Uncle Brad, a veterinarian. He returns home to his family for a season, but eventually returns to the English world, with the help of Micah's uncle, so that he can pursue his dream of becoming a vet.
Here's where I confess that I read this novel from the perspective of a mother who worries a bit about her children's safety especially if they would be staying overnight for a week at some stranger's place. I probably wouldn't have allowed Micah to go alone on such a trip without having some previous personal contact with the family that she would stay with or without knowing that this family was screened in some sort of official capacity by an authority that I could trust. But of course, in this story, Micah does not have a mother, and Micah's father seems to be a lot more relaxed about the whole matter with Micah visiting Zach than I would have personally felt comfortable with, even though Micah is 17 and already in her senior year of high school.
I was also cringing at how Micah ended up stranded in Zach's community for the week, as she first missed the bus because she arrived too late for a return trip on that first day, and also when she ran out of funds later on and could not purchase the bus fare home. She needed to wait until her father could fly out to pick her up, which took several days. This is a bit foreign to my own experience of growing up. If I were Micah, at that age, my parents would have made sure that there were already contingency plans in place either to wire money or to retrieve me as quickly as possible should the need arise. They would have definitely been more accessible for emergency contact than how Mr. Knight appeared in this story.
Having said that, I did think that it was still completely plausible for the plot to unfold as it did in Trading Secrets. I could see and imagine a gutsy 17 year old acting as Micah did to fulfil her desire in meeting a boy that she had a crush on. Micah's voice and thoughts sounded youthful, immature and impulsive enough to go ahead and carry out her plans even though the decision making and execution of those plans were a bit questionable. She is mature enough to realize that she is not in love with Zach, and I would say that this novel didn't really seem like much of a romance, even though Zach is pursued by Rachel. Instead, the focus on the plot turns to the choices that Zach needs to make; will he remain with his Amish community or will he attempt to pursue his own dreams for a different future than the one his family expects for him to have?
The novel ends with Micah and Zach remaining friends, but I wonder if Ms. Carlson will write a sequel if she hasn't already. I would love to find out what happens to Micah and Zach. Micah seems to have a romantic attraction to Zach that she may not be quite ready to acknowledge, but Zach seems rather clueless to the interest of the females surrounding him.
I enjoyed reading this novel, and would probably consider reading more of Melody Carlson's work.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of Trading Secrets from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
Wednesday, 1 October 2014
Adventures in Wattpad Land
Uh...yes, I fell off the face of the planet for a month.
Where was I? I was spending time on Wattpad. I first learned about Wattpad through a newspaper article that appeared in a local paper about two years ago. It is a free fiction writing site that seems to be mainly populated by teenaged female writers who write a lot of werewolf and vampire stories. There are also other categories, such as historical, romance, fantasy, horror, fanfiction (lots of One Direction fanfic to be found here), short story, spiritual, science fiction, humor, mystery/thriller, adventure, teen fiction, poetry, and action.
Wattpad has also been fortunate to attach some major names to it. Margaret Atwood was a collaborator with Wattpad in holding a poetry contest called the "Attys," in 2012. Harlequin held a contest last year on Wattpad, titled, "So You Think You Can Write," in which several winners had their finished work published by Harlequin. When Wattpad opened up its chick lit category in 2013, they were able to get Mariam Keyes on board.
Needless to say, Wattpad is filled with a lot of amateur writing, and it shows in a lot of the work that is posted on this site. However, I have been surprised at some of the maturity in the writing of some of the youths who have posted on the site. Unfortunately, you have to do a lot of digging to find some of those gems. It also appears that many of the authors/authoresses post as they write, so depending on when they get around to writing, there could be daily/weekly/monthly/sporadic updates. There are many stories that get started, and then abandoned.
As I mentioned before, Wattpad Land seems to be populated by werewolves, vampires, and other dark creatures. However, the ones who are writing these stories are often young adults who will also read regular teen fiction. There are many crossover stories that fit under multiple categories. A story may be categorized under the headings of werewolf/vampire/teen/fanfiction because the plot may include a vampiric One Direction singer who falls in love with a teenage werewolf. (I just made that one up, but wouldn't be surprised it there really was a story on Wattpad with that exact plot.) There is also fiction there written along the lines of the television show, "Supernatural," based on the two hunters, Sam and Dean Winchester, portrayed by Jared Padelecki and Jensen Ackles respectively.
What does it say to you when there is such a huge fascination with the occult and supernatural combined with teen angst? To me, this reflects a vacuum, dare I say...a spiritual vacuum.
This leads to what I really wanted to write about in this blog entry: if you are a Christian writer/author, or an aspiring Christian writer, please consider posting something on Wattpad. You don't have to crack into the supernatural world of werewolves and vampires (although I did run across one writer who attempted to write about Christian vampires). You don't even need to label it under the "spiritual" category either if you are not led to do so.
It's just that it would be nice to have something available on Wattpad to read in which people actually make decisions based on having one's identity firmly grounded in Christ. There have been so many stories posted on Wattpad, but very few that would qualify as Christian fiction.
There are some problems with posting on Wattpad. One of these is plagiarism. I've seen some previously published print titles uploaded onto the site. When the "Powers That Be" that operate Wattpad found out, they promptly removed those books. Some users have stolen stories and posted them on other boards other than Wattpad. One of the winners of the "So You Think You Can Write," contest ended up removing most of her stories from Wattpad because of this.
There are writers who have been published in print who are offering some of their older stories to get more exposure especially for their current work. One who is currently doing so at the time of this blog post is Scott Westerfeld. His novel, "Uglies," has been posted in weekly installments in the past few weeks. I don't think that he has finished posting, "Uglies," in its entirety yet, so there may be still a few more weeks to go before it is completely up on the boards at Wattpad. However, I don't know if he will leave the story up there permanently; stories can be removed from Wattpad, as I have previously mentioned. I wonder if posting "Uglies," on Wattpad has helped his sales for "Afterworlds," his latest release. He is certainly posting, "Uglies," where his target market is.
I've seen some writers try to get published after posting their stories on Wattpad. I actually recognized some of these titles offered on NetGalley and in the Kindle Store on Amazon.
The lovely readers on Wattpad have often left comments on stories that are posted; you might consider what the value of such feedback might be to the aspiring writer.
So, Christian writer, please consider posting on Wattpad, perhaps some drabbles, or chapter samples that you could use to direct your audience to where they can find your work. I hope to read your work on Wattpad.
Where was I? I was spending time on Wattpad. I first learned about Wattpad through a newspaper article that appeared in a local paper about two years ago. It is a free fiction writing site that seems to be mainly populated by teenaged female writers who write a lot of werewolf and vampire stories. There are also other categories, such as historical, romance, fantasy, horror, fanfiction (lots of One Direction fanfic to be found here), short story, spiritual, science fiction, humor, mystery/thriller, adventure, teen fiction, poetry, and action.
Wattpad has also been fortunate to attach some major names to it. Margaret Atwood was a collaborator with Wattpad in holding a poetry contest called the "Attys," in 2012. Harlequin held a contest last year on Wattpad, titled, "So You Think You Can Write," in which several winners had their finished work published by Harlequin. When Wattpad opened up its chick lit category in 2013, they were able to get Mariam Keyes on board.
Needless to say, Wattpad is filled with a lot of amateur writing, and it shows in a lot of the work that is posted on this site. However, I have been surprised at some of the maturity in the writing of some of the youths who have posted on the site. Unfortunately, you have to do a lot of digging to find some of those gems. It also appears that many of the authors/authoresses post as they write, so depending on when they get around to writing, there could be daily/weekly/monthly/sporadic updates. There are many stories that get started, and then abandoned.
As I mentioned before, Wattpad Land seems to be populated by werewolves, vampires, and other dark creatures. However, the ones who are writing these stories are often young adults who will also read regular teen fiction. There are many crossover stories that fit under multiple categories. A story may be categorized under the headings of werewolf/vampire/teen/fanfiction because the plot may include a vampiric One Direction singer who falls in love with a teenage werewolf. (I just made that one up, but wouldn't be surprised it there really was a story on Wattpad with that exact plot.) There is also fiction there written along the lines of the television show, "Supernatural," based on the two hunters, Sam and Dean Winchester, portrayed by Jared Padelecki and Jensen Ackles respectively.
What does it say to you when there is such a huge fascination with the occult and supernatural combined with teen angst? To me, this reflects a vacuum, dare I say...a spiritual vacuum.
This leads to what I really wanted to write about in this blog entry: if you are a Christian writer/author, or an aspiring Christian writer, please consider posting something on Wattpad. You don't have to crack into the supernatural world of werewolves and vampires (although I did run across one writer who attempted to write about Christian vampires). You don't even need to label it under the "spiritual" category either if you are not led to do so.
It's just that it would be nice to have something available on Wattpad to read in which people actually make decisions based on having one's identity firmly grounded in Christ. There have been so many stories posted on Wattpad, but very few that would qualify as Christian fiction.
There are some problems with posting on Wattpad. One of these is plagiarism. I've seen some previously published print titles uploaded onto the site. When the "Powers That Be" that operate Wattpad found out, they promptly removed those books. Some users have stolen stories and posted them on other boards other than Wattpad. One of the winners of the "So You Think You Can Write," contest ended up removing most of her stories from Wattpad because of this.
There are writers who have been published in print who are offering some of their older stories to get more exposure especially for their current work. One who is currently doing so at the time of this blog post is Scott Westerfeld. His novel, "Uglies," has been posted in weekly installments in the past few weeks. I don't think that he has finished posting, "Uglies," in its entirety yet, so there may be still a few more weeks to go before it is completely up on the boards at Wattpad. However, I don't know if he will leave the story up there permanently; stories can be removed from Wattpad, as I have previously mentioned. I wonder if posting "Uglies," on Wattpad has helped his sales for "Afterworlds," his latest release. He is certainly posting, "Uglies," where his target market is.
I've seen some writers try to get published after posting their stories on Wattpad. I actually recognized some of these titles offered on NetGalley and in the Kindle Store on Amazon.
The lovely readers on Wattpad have often left comments on stories that are posted; you might consider what the value of such feedback might be to the aspiring writer.
So, Christian writer, please consider posting on Wattpad, perhaps some drabbles, or chapter samples that you could use to direct your audience to where they can find your work. I hope to read your work on Wattpad.
Sunday, 31 August 2014
What I've been reading lately...my foray into Amazon's Kindle Store
It's been a while since I posted here, but I have been reading a lot. I'm still in my "free books from Amazon" phase and have been going through a lot of self published books. Occasionally, there will be books offered that have gone through an established publishing house and will have a print version available, in addition to a Kindle version. Generally, I feel that these books have been through a more stringent editing process than the self published ones. Because of this, I find that they are a bit easier to read, and with less grammatical and punctuation errors. Sometimes not all the errors are caught; I've found that some print books still have mistakes in them.
I've also found it a curious thing to look at the descriptive blurbs/headings/reviews that are provided on Amazon for these books. I usually look at the listings under historical and inspirational romance, but sometimes the offerings are rather bizarre, and I wonder how certain titles get listed in a particular category. For instance, for the past couple of weeks, there has been a "shifter" (werewolf) romance offered under the inspirational category. I can't explain that one, and I haven't read that particular book to discern a possible reason why it ended up in this category. However, I have learned that "inspirational" may incorporate a very broad definition of spirituality that does not necessarily limit itself to Christianity or even of any other religion.
I have also observed that what is perceived to be "clean" and "sweet" romances sometimes ends up in the inspirational section, even if there is no form of spirituality mentioned in the book. However, there also seems to be broad definitions of what "clean" and "sweet" may mean. In some books, it means that there is no mention of sex at all and at the most, only chaste kisses are present. In others, this definition may include some risque behaviour, ranging from naughty talk, all the way to heavy petting, but no actual sexual intercourse. For other books, it may mean that there is sexual intercourse, but it is not graphically described.
I have wondered how authors who write Christian romances tackle the issue of sex, and sometimes, on author's websites, they may blog about their writing processes on how they tackle the subject. I think that some publishing companies may provide guidelines on what is acceptable for them. I recall looking at Harlequin's Love Inspired guidelines for submissions a few years ago, and they set parameters of what they considered appropriate for that line.
Anyways, a couple of weeks ago, I found two free stories in the Kindle store in the historical category. When I read the first one (a prequel to the second story), I admired the hero because he pulled a Joseph; the heroine was tempting him and he took off because he didn't want to cross that line. The hero also prayed, not a lot, but he did about his feelings for the heroine and asked for guidance as to what he should do about them. There was a little bit of risque activity...I think that at one point, they were a little bit too close physically to each other, and once, the hero got caught in his birthday suit because he was trying to bathe. At the end of the story, he makes a heartfelt declaration to his bride about wanting to enter into marriage with her, but also with the Lord as a partner in their relationship. He made this speech while presenting her with an object that represented this union of the three of them. When I considered the theology, I thought that this book could be classified under the edgy Christian romance category.
Then I read the sequel. It was funny. I liked the characters. The author also wove together quite a complicated story that had several threads with the primary one being resolved by the end of the book, and the other to be resolved in a future sequel. It drew me in. But, in the story, the heroine found herself in an impossible situation, and in spite of her faith in God, threw herself at a rake and slept with him. True, she didn't have a lot of descriptive prayers mentioned in the book, and she didn't seem to really turn to Him for help, so maybe her faith was actually borderline nominal, or at best, not very deep. The sex scene was also descriptive. Usually, I skip these parts if I run across them, but because I had actually considered writing a full review for this book, I went back and read it in full. I'm not going to compare it or rank it on a hot/purple prose scale; I'm just mentioning that it's there, for about 2-3 pages.
So I found myself a little shocked when the conclusion of the romance ended with the hero (the rake) giving the heroine that same object that his ancestor had given to his bride, and he also ran through a similar speech about what that object represented. What surprised me was that this is probably the first time that I've read something that seemed to have appropriate Christian theology (albeit at the very end of the book), but with a gratuitous descriptive sex scene stuck in the middle. I don't think that it really needed to be there. What also felt weird about it was that in the aftermath of the physical intimacy, there was not much conflict in the heroine's conscience between herself and God. The book was a typical regency; it was light, funny, rompy, etc.. When the hero and heroine finally got around to discussing the appropriateness of their actions, it got glossed over very quickly; they admitted that what they did was inappropriate for about two sentences, and that was that. There wasn't any confession to make things right between them and the Lord. So, it was sort of weird to think about. The book was not openly a Christian romance, but it seemed to have appropriate theological undertones; however, the descriptive sex scene would likely make it uncomfortable for a certain audience to read.
I've read another free Kindle book in which a vicar's daughter gets into a raging affair with the male protagonist, but when you consider the rest of the book as a whole, being a vicar's daughter was a convenient plot device to present the female protagonist as a principled caring person, but in reality, her religious beliefs really didn't define who she was. However, the novel that I described in the previous paragraph felt different. It felt like it could have been something more. Francine Rivers or Julie Lessman are authors who I think have been able to balance romance and passion effectively, although some might still consider their material a bit racy.
Anyways, I couldn't make up my mind for the past two weeks about whether I would write a complete formal review for those two books, but I wanted to write about what I felt was bizarre about it. Maybe now I can move on and actually write about something with an actual title attached to it.
I've also found it a curious thing to look at the descriptive blurbs/headings/reviews that are provided on Amazon for these books. I usually look at the listings under historical and inspirational romance, but sometimes the offerings are rather bizarre, and I wonder how certain titles get listed in a particular category. For instance, for the past couple of weeks, there has been a "shifter" (werewolf) romance offered under the inspirational category. I can't explain that one, and I haven't read that particular book to discern a possible reason why it ended up in this category. However, I have learned that "inspirational" may incorporate a very broad definition of spirituality that does not necessarily limit itself to Christianity or even of any other religion.
I have also observed that what is perceived to be "clean" and "sweet" romances sometimes ends up in the inspirational section, even if there is no form of spirituality mentioned in the book. However, there also seems to be broad definitions of what "clean" and "sweet" may mean. In some books, it means that there is no mention of sex at all and at the most, only chaste kisses are present. In others, this definition may include some risque behaviour, ranging from naughty talk, all the way to heavy petting, but no actual sexual intercourse. For other books, it may mean that there is sexual intercourse, but it is not graphically described.
I have wondered how authors who write Christian romances tackle the issue of sex, and sometimes, on author's websites, they may blog about their writing processes on how they tackle the subject. I think that some publishing companies may provide guidelines on what is acceptable for them. I recall looking at Harlequin's Love Inspired guidelines for submissions a few years ago, and they set parameters of what they considered appropriate for that line.
Anyways, a couple of weeks ago, I found two free stories in the Kindle store in the historical category. When I read the first one (a prequel to the second story), I admired the hero because he pulled a Joseph; the heroine was tempting him and he took off because he didn't want to cross that line. The hero also prayed, not a lot, but he did about his feelings for the heroine and asked for guidance as to what he should do about them. There was a little bit of risque activity...I think that at one point, they were a little bit too close physically to each other, and once, the hero got caught in his birthday suit because he was trying to bathe. At the end of the story, he makes a heartfelt declaration to his bride about wanting to enter into marriage with her, but also with the Lord as a partner in their relationship. He made this speech while presenting her with an object that represented this union of the three of them. When I considered the theology, I thought that this book could be classified under the edgy Christian romance category.
Then I read the sequel. It was funny. I liked the characters. The author also wove together quite a complicated story that had several threads with the primary one being resolved by the end of the book, and the other to be resolved in a future sequel. It drew me in. But, in the story, the heroine found herself in an impossible situation, and in spite of her faith in God, threw herself at a rake and slept with him. True, she didn't have a lot of descriptive prayers mentioned in the book, and she didn't seem to really turn to Him for help, so maybe her faith was actually borderline nominal, or at best, not very deep. The sex scene was also descriptive. Usually, I skip these parts if I run across them, but because I had actually considered writing a full review for this book, I went back and read it in full. I'm not going to compare it or rank it on a hot/purple prose scale; I'm just mentioning that it's there, for about 2-3 pages.
So I found myself a little shocked when the conclusion of the romance ended with the hero (the rake) giving the heroine that same object that his ancestor had given to his bride, and he also ran through a similar speech about what that object represented. What surprised me was that this is probably the first time that I've read something that seemed to have appropriate Christian theology (albeit at the very end of the book), but with a gratuitous descriptive sex scene stuck in the middle. I don't think that it really needed to be there. What also felt weird about it was that in the aftermath of the physical intimacy, there was not much conflict in the heroine's conscience between herself and God. The book was a typical regency; it was light, funny, rompy, etc.. When the hero and heroine finally got around to discussing the appropriateness of their actions, it got glossed over very quickly; they admitted that what they did was inappropriate for about two sentences, and that was that. There wasn't any confession to make things right between them and the Lord. So, it was sort of weird to think about. The book was not openly a Christian romance, but it seemed to have appropriate theological undertones; however, the descriptive sex scene would likely make it uncomfortable for a certain audience to read.
I've read another free Kindle book in which a vicar's daughter gets into a raging affair with the male protagonist, but when you consider the rest of the book as a whole, being a vicar's daughter was a convenient plot device to present the female protagonist as a principled caring person, but in reality, her religious beliefs really didn't define who she was. However, the novel that I described in the previous paragraph felt different. It felt like it could have been something more. Francine Rivers or Julie Lessman are authors who I think have been able to balance romance and passion effectively, although some might still consider their material a bit racy.
Anyways, I couldn't make up my mind for the past two weeks about whether I would write a complete formal review for those two books, but I wanted to write about what I felt was bizarre about it. Maybe now I can move on and actually write about something with an actual title attached to it.
Monday, 4 August 2014
Review: Crochet Workshop by James Walters
Crochet Workshop by James Walters is a technique reference book that has been republished by Dover. The original edition was published in 1979 by Sidgwick and Jackson Ltd. The Dover edition is essentially the same book. The photographs are likely the same ones that appeared in the original edition, and are therefore dated. However, the information provided in this book can still be handy for today's crocheter.
From the introduction alone, one gets the sense that the author is a bit of a free spirit. Indeed, one of the first photographs shown in the book has him modeling what appears to be crocheted long underwear. The photograph that I saw was in black and white, but I would guess that the real item was probably quite a colourful outfit.
The book includes the following: basic techniques and stitches, understanding how to read patterns, additional crochet techniques that touch on variation of the basic stitches, shaping, adding decorations, introductions to woven crochet, Tunisian crochet, and hairpin crochet, choosing yarns, making up, finishing and after care. The appendices include a list of terminology (British and American), list of equipment, tables describing hook sizes, terms, abbreviations, and symbols, and metric/Imperial conversions. The main text in the book uses British terminology, but as I mentioned above, American equivalents are listed in a chart in one of the appendices.
There are no formal patterns provided to create any particular item, but there are quite descriptive instructions with accompanying diagrams and photographs on how to make various stitches and stitch patterns. The text is useful in helping a beginner to learn and master the basics of crochet, but it also seems to encourage users to go beyond following patterns in an exact manner, and start to delve into learning how to modify and adapt patterns, and perhaps eventually improvise and create spontaneous designs. The book is also written in such a folksy, down to earth style that it seems as if the author is conversing informally with the reader.
In my opinion, this book would make a good addition as a technique reference book in a crocheter's library.
Disclaimer: I was given an e-copy of the Crochet Workshop by NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are my own.
From the introduction alone, one gets the sense that the author is a bit of a free spirit. Indeed, one of the first photographs shown in the book has him modeling what appears to be crocheted long underwear. The photograph that I saw was in black and white, but I would guess that the real item was probably quite a colourful outfit.
The book includes the following: basic techniques and stitches, understanding how to read patterns, additional crochet techniques that touch on variation of the basic stitches, shaping, adding decorations, introductions to woven crochet, Tunisian crochet, and hairpin crochet, choosing yarns, making up, finishing and after care. The appendices include a list of terminology (British and American), list of equipment, tables describing hook sizes, terms, abbreviations, and symbols, and metric/Imperial conversions. The main text in the book uses British terminology, but as I mentioned above, American equivalents are listed in a chart in one of the appendices.
There are no formal patterns provided to create any particular item, but there are quite descriptive instructions with accompanying diagrams and photographs on how to make various stitches and stitch patterns. The text is useful in helping a beginner to learn and master the basics of crochet, but it also seems to encourage users to go beyond following patterns in an exact manner, and start to delve into learning how to modify and adapt patterns, and perhaps eventually improvise and create spontaneous designs. The book is also written in such a folksy, down to earth style that it seems as if the author is conversing informally with the reader.
In my opinion, this book would make a good addition as a technique reference book in a crocheter's library.
Disclaimer: I was given an e-copy of the Crochet Workshop by NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are my own.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)