A Shocking Lack of Words

This has been my blogging life for the last year and a half ... a shocking lack of words.

For those who may have caught the reference, I did indeed borrow the title above from Emma. Remember the last scene, when Emma and Mr. Nightly walked out of the church, under the arbor, and the ever-critical Mrs. Elton turned to the camera and remarked at the "shocking lack of satin?" Like anyone in the presence of such loveliness as Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam even noticed!

Likewise, I am quite certain I have not sent any of you through a season of withdrawal. heh heh ...

Still, I’m compelled to give a reason for my absence. Though writers are not supposed to have excuses, I've been sidelined for many months by a lingering bout of vertigo. If you've ever experienced that thoroughly consuming affliction, you know that vertigo + computer screen does not equal a happy head.

And then, in blogger-land, there's that thing about saying something useful. I admit to being the type who is finicky about the “rules.” All the advice, instruction, how-to-do-this-thing-the-right-way messages I’ve received at writing conferences has fed my inbred hypersensitivity.
Contributions to the blogosphere should be purposeful, poignant, applicable, or humorous. Preferably all of the above.

When I was in college, a friend and her boyfriend came to visit over Christmas break. Around the dinner table one night, my dear mother, perhaps because she felt she must share something, leaned toward me and said, "I bought you some underwear today." My friend just about spit her mouthful of food all over her plate!

But my mother reveals the truth of it. Sometimes, all we have to say is, "I bought you some underwear today." And after a year and a half of brain-rattling (read: vertigo), I'm okay with that. I've learned there are more important things in life than striving to be the one with the perfect words. (As if!)

Here's one more thing. Facebook friend and blogger extraordinaire Christen Nelson has put together an e-book about God's love. I contributed an article about how I have perceived His love so profoundly through my struggle with vertigo. You can download it on Valentine's Day at www.theuncontainabletruth.com. Check out her website and blog. It is indeed purposeful, poignant, applicable, and humorous ... you know, all of the above. :)

The Influencer

Not to be confused with the Exterminator or Silencer or whatever the name of that show was--the rogue good-guy who always got his man. This is simply a shameless promotion for a fun summer read.

The blurb: Hillary Manton Lodge's Plain Jayne is the story of newspaper reporter Jayne Tate, who escapes to Oregon Amish Country, seeking solace and maybe a big story. But what's a latte-drinking, laptop-using, motorcycle-riding reporter to do when this life starts to change her?

I say read the book and find out!

I love this story for its fast pace, tight dialogue, and new twist on a much-used subject in Christian fiction. Hillary does a great job crafting characters with quirks and conflicts. She opens a window into the modern life of the Amish and gives us a glimpse of the tension between their world and our own. Her writing is all sprinkled through with personality--clever humor and catchy voice and not an adverb in sight! :-) Well, maybe one or two. My point, though, is that her sentences sing with action verbs.

A great debut novel for a lovely young writer. (Emphasis on young, but we won't hate her for it.)

And there's more! Her second novel in the Plain and Simple series, Simply Sara, comes out in September. (Thanks for the alliteration there, Hillary.) I'm looking forward to spending another evening or three with a familiar cast. Yes, I did say evening or three. Don't be surprised. I told you her writing is fast-paced.

Check out her funny and engaging blog. http://hillaryonwriting.blogspot.com/

He Da Man

No, not John Wayne. I'm referring to my brother. Have you seen the Two Weeks in Hell series on the Discovery Channel? It's a peek into the Green Beret Training Camp. My older brother ... been there, done that.

(I use him and my other two older brothers as my excuse for why I've never been naturally athletic. They stole it all before I was ever even a twinkle in my parents' eyes.)

At the time my bro went through that training, he was in his mid-twenties and in the best shape, he says, he's ever been in. And yet, twenty years later, he believes that if his younger self met his older self in a fight, the elder would win. (Why they would fight I have no idea. My focus is on age, here.) "Something to be said for experience and mental toughness."

As I inch a little farther into my forties, I find myself gazing longingly at those still noodling around in the decade just previous to mine. Deep down, I know what I'm doing ... Placing the knowledge and growth of me-now- on that 30-something self and wishing I could have been just a little bit wiser.

But it doesn't work that way, does it? We learn as we add the years to our lives, and there's a process and timing for all our seasons in the Lord.

Moses was eighty years old when God called him to deliver the Israelites. Zacharias and Elizabeth were well past the baby-having stage, for their culture, when they had John. David was an old man when he wrote some of his most poignant and powerful Psalms.

I love this from C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters: "He [God--from the demon Wormwood's persepective, the Enemy] would have them continually concerned either with eternity ... or with the Present--either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself, or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure. ... [T]he Present is all lit up with eternal rays."

"The Present is all lit up with eternal rays."

The Present. Eternity. That's a good place to rest in as I walk toward the future.

Crazy faith

Everywhere I look it seems I meet a person in need. Last night on the news, I heard that in the state of Oregon, one in five households have applied for food stamps. Many who have never used state services are now unable to meet their monthly bills without them. It's crazy times.


And crazy times call for crazy faith. Here's my highly theological understanding of crazy faith: It simply receives. Receives the calling one has been given, without worrying about the outcome. Receives his Word as Truth, resting in (and often clinging to) the promises he gives as we ask for direction. Receives provision for our daily needs, with thankfulness and without guilt that we can't give anything back.


I was blown away the other day by the power of like. Consider this verse: Psalm 37:23--"The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way." The lexical definition for 'delights' from Strong's Key Word Study Bible: "to find pleasure, to take delight in, to be pleased with. Either man or God may have this feeling. It means to like someone or something very, very much."

How many of us have ever said of our children (or, ahem!) another family member, "I love _________, but I don't really like him/her right now"? In our Christian walk, we are well-schooled in the love of God. We know "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son" so well we could recite it in our sleep. And that is an awesome, beautiful, all-encompassing love. But do we ever think about how he delights in us? Delight in a relationship speaks of the intimacy of it.

So back to this crazy faith idea. If our steps are established by the Lord, and he likes what he has established very, very much, then we can rest assured that he will see us down our path, however dark it may seem.

Just Do It

Without excuse or further ado, I'll just jump back into the blogging stratosphere after a nearly four month hiatus. Whew! Good thing I don't have a huge fan base yet. I might have lost everyone and had to start over.

My mom is staying with us this month, recovering from a broken hip. With her surprising decline over the past two years (the woman has been running at break-neck pace for almost eighty years) and my dad's death at the end of December, I have been thinking about that story in scripture when Mary pours expensive perfume all over Jesus's feet. Judas rebukes her, but Jesus receives her gift--"Leave her alone. It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial." (John 12:7) I love that image of a rich gift poured out on a life that is drawing to a close. Not wasted, but purposeful and intimate and, Jesus knew, motivated by love.

We had a week with my dad before he died. A week for my siblings and me to pour out on him the perfume of our love. Though he was unresponsive, I know he heard us and knew we were there. I know it prepared him for his burial. And us, for his passing.

I recognize it is not always easy. That week with Dad was as wrenching as it was beautiful. Mom has been diagnosed with Multiple System Atrophy, a type of Parkinson's in which the body is in a constant state of degeneration. She's plugging along pretty well right now, but her needs are many and varied, and well, let's just say she's the type who is not shy about voicing said needs. (wink) Still, that image returns ... the woman with the jar of costly nard, pouring out what she had to bless the one she loved.

It seems meet and right to go and do likewise.

The Long Winter's Night

Dear me. And it isn't even winter yet. Well, I can honestly say I have reached a new procrastination high ... or low, as the case may be.

I write to avoid blogging. Amazing. Never thought I would find a task more challenging than creating a novel.

In Cheney news, for those who have followed previous posts ...

• The meeting I referred to has come gone and, as he promised, God has graciously delivered us.
• Eric is now sole owner of his own (new) manufacturing company, walking step by step in the vision entrusted to him. Our theme verse these days: "Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; 'I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.'" Isaiah 48:17
• Camille just made her first stage debut. She sang in the choir and played the part of Mary in the church Christmas play. No speaking parts, but she was thrilled all the same. She sang with all her heart and made a lovely Mary. I'd include a picture here, but our fully-charged camera batteries died moments after Eric focused in for a snapshot. Guess what we're giving each other for Christmas? Yep. Any suggestions for something affordable and really, really easy to use?
• I am about a fourth of the way through my novel, give or take. Getting to know my characters, discovering plot twists, and enjoying the fruit of abiding in the Lord through being a part of the work he called me to. It's really cool how the latter is becoming the best part.

And there's that wonderful thing that happens when one writes. Just like that, all kinds of reflections emerge from the soggy depths of my soul. Don't worry. I won't go on and on here. I'll save them so I have something to say the next time.

Author Interview and Free Book Drawing!

Readers, forgot to mention ... leave a post and you'll be entered in a drawing for a free book! This is definitely one you want on your bookshelves!

To me, Christina Berry is friend, writing colleague, inspiration and treasure. We met for the first time six years ago at a Starbucks coffee shop. I was pregnant with my daughter. Christina was enjoying a newly-restored marriage. Much has changed in our lives from that "divine appointment" to this day. Through it all, I have been blessed to watch Christina grow as woman and writer into the calling the Lord has given her.

Thanks for visiting my blog, Christina. Let's talk about your debut novel, The Familiar Stranger. I know it is a fast read. Tight writing brimming with interesting characters who struggle with real life problems.

Tell us about it.

The Familiar Stranger is about a couple going through a really rough patch in their marriage. When an accident incapacitates the husband, their relationship must be redefined. Which would be a lot easier to do if BIG secrets from his past didn’t raise their ugly heads. Despite the upheaval, the choices they make involving forgiveness and trust might allow a new beginning.

Or … they might not.

You can see the back cover copy and what other authors have said about The Familiar Stranger by going to http://www.christinaberry.net/books.aspx

Sounds intriguing. How did you come up with the story?
In the summer of 2006, two stories appeared in the newspaper. One was a huge, national story; the other a smaller, local-interest item. I wondered what it might look like if those two stories conceived a child. Boom! I had the entire plot for The Familiar Stranger. It will be interesting to see if readers can figure out which stories inspired the book.

Hmm. Don't worry, no hints here. Let's talk about your writing process. What kind of planning goes into it?
My previous writing has been heavily plotted and I’ve known almost everything about the characters before diving into the story. Writing with a co-author, Mom and I both need to know exactly how a character looked and his or her history. We wrote out each scene’s main plot point and point of view character on index cards and posted them on a large corkboard. We also found catalogue models that looked like our characters, made collages of the pictures, and slipped our character interview in the back of the plastic sleeves.

With The Familiar Stranger, the first scene came to me like a movie. Once the first chapter was written, I took a few hours to write down how I saw the story progressing. Then I numbered each main point and called it a chapter. All told, I had just over one page of plotting. To keep everything straight, I made notes about the characters as I went along. A very different experience to write by the seat of my pants, but I’m working through my current book in the same way.

Based on the great reviews for The Familiar Stranger, I would guess that method works well for you. What about takeaway value? What do you hope readers receive after reading your novel?

The recent changes in my life—losing my husband, facing finding a “real” job, selling my home—have done nothing but solidify what I hope to be the theme of the book and my life: Live Transparently—Forgive Extravagantly. If reading The Familiar Stranger makes even one man or woman be more honest with his or her spouse or delve into trust issues in a healthy way, I’ll consider it a success. Maybe there’s a hurting heart that can find a new path to forgiveness because of the story.

Knowing, then, that the story mirrors some of your own experience, what was the most difficult part to write?
I was in the middle of revisions when my marriage fell apart. God orchestrated it so that I was beefing up a "struggle with forgiveness" scene in those first few weeks of singleness. While aspects of that were hard to deal with, the very words I thought would help someone else ministered to me.

It's a beautiful picture of how He works all things together for good, though the things themselves may not be so good. How has the writing journey changed your Christian walk?
I see writing as one of the tools He uses to form me into His image—a tool to teach me patience, self-control, determination, reliance on Him, and other life lessons. I also see writing as a gift that brings me hope, fulfillment, and purpose when the rest of life is not so nice. The journey has sharpened me, yet also softened me.

So how long have you been on this journey? How many years from its inception to publication?

My mother, Sherrie Ashcraft, and I began writing in the summer of ’99. We figured the accountability of having a co-writer would make us actually do what we’d always dreamed of but never put action to. It took a long road of learning how much we didn’t know, tons of re-writing, brooding over rejections, making connections, pitching at conferences, and directional prayer to make our writing salable.

In the summer of 2007, when Mom was busy caring for her dying mother-in-law, I got the itch of a new story idea. Undiscovered was written by February 2008, edited by June, won second place in the ACFW Genesis Contemporary category, and was renamed The Familiar Stranger and contracted by Moody Publishers in October.

One decade from naïve first scribbles to debut novel!

Congratulations! Honestly, it gives me hope. Tell us five things you love about writing.

1) Emptying my brain. Quieter with the voices out.

2) Months later, rereading what was drivel when I wrote it, but somehow it's become beautiful.
3) Being with other writers, like my awesome critique group.

4) Co-laboring with Christ in the creative process.

5) Being paid money for things I make up.

Five things you wish you knew about writing way back in the beginning.

1) Starting (sitting down, opening the doc, and typing the first word) is at LEAST 90% of the battle.

2) I wish I knew how little actually I knew then. I would have started going to conferences and reading craft books sooner.

3) God knows exactly when and where you will be published or not published.

4) Each rejection is one step closer to acceptance.

5) It's okay to move on from your first project. This means only that you're learning; not that you've failed.

Do you have any other advice for writers?
~Read craft books (I have a list of my favorites on the sidebar of my blog http://www.authorchristinaberry.blogspot.com/)
~Write consistently
~Join a critique group
~Attend writing conferences~By open to criticism. One always has room to grow!

How can readers purchase your book?

Here are two links:
http://www.christianbook.com/familiar-stranger-christina-berry/9780802447319/pd/447319?
http://www.amazon.com/Familiar-Stranger-Christina-Berry/dp/0802447317/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239913987&sr=1-1
You can also have any bookstore order copies for you if they don’t have any in stock.

Or visit my website http://www.christinaberry.net/books.aspx

It's been an honor having you, Christina, and a blessing walking this journey with you.
Godspeed and keep writing!