Winners Because . . .

Looking over the titles of the Christy winners, I have to wonder what these books have in common, why they're winners. Anyone know? Good writing is a given, but what makes these stories special? Is it the way the author tells the story or is it the story itself? The characters, maybe? Or could it be the author's voice ? The subject s/he tackled?

Unfortunately, I haven't read any of these books. Where do I start? Should I read the winners? But then I'll need to read the finalists to compare to the winners. From my way of thinking, I should also read other books in the genre--those that weren't even nominated--just to compare. My work is cut out for me. So many books and so little time.

What do you do? Have you read all these books? What makes them special? Your opinion counts so talk to me.

And The Winners Are . . .

The Christy Award is named in honor of Catherine Marshall’s novel and of her contribution to growth of the fiction Christians love to read. Click here to learn more about The Christy Awards.

Here are the Christy Award nominees for 2008 and the winners. What a blessing to be a nominee, and what an honor to be chosen by God, our Father in Heaven, to write novels that glorify Him.

CONTEMPORARY (Stand Alone)
Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin (Thomas Nelson)
In High Places by Tom Morrisey (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)
Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson (Thomas Nelson)

CONTEMPORARY (Series, Sequels and Novellas)
Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon (Viking Penguin)
A Time to Mend by Sally John and Gary Smalley (Thomas Nelson)
What Lies Within by Karen Ball (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group)

HISTORICAL
Lady of Milkweed Manor by Julie Klassen (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)
A Proper Pursuit by Lynn Austin (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)
Tendering in the Storm by Jane Kirkpatrick (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group)

LITS (tie)
Doesn't She Look Natural by Angela Hunt (Tyndale House Publishers)
Hallie's Heart by Shelly Beach (Kregel Publications)
Let Them Eat Cake by Sandra Byrd (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group)
Trophy Wives Club by Kristin Billerbeck (Avon Inspire, a division of HarperCollins Publishers)

ROMANCE
Lightning and Lace by DiAnn Mills (Barbour Publishing)
Remember to Forget by Deborah Raney (Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster)
Remembered by Tamera Alexander (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

SUSPENSE
The Cure by Athol Dickson (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)
My Hands Came Away Red by Lisa McKay (Moody Publishers)
The Pawn by Steven James (Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

VISIONARY
Auralia's Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group)
The Restorer by Sharon Hinck (NavPress Publishing Group)
Scarlet by Stephen R. Lawhead (Thomas Nelson)

FIRST NOVEL
Auralia's Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group)
Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee (NavPress Publishing Group)
The Stones Cry Out by Sibella Giorello (Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

YOUNG ADULT
Hollywood Nobody by Lisa Samson (NavPress Publishing Group)
In Between by Jenny B. Jones (NavPress Publishing Group)
Maggie Come Lately by Michelle Buckman (NavPress Publishing Group)

From Me for You...About Dry Creek Sweethearts

Attention: some of you have asked when Louisiana Saturday Night is going to resume. August 2nd. We'll have our next author interview on that day. Okay?

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I picked up a Love Inspired yesterday called Dry Creek Sweethearts by Janet Tronstad. Evidently it's one of many books that take place in Dry Creek. Makes me want to put it back and pretend I don't know it exists. I tend to shy away from series because I feel obligated to read them all.


This book grabbed me because of its wonderful first line: "I don't care if he did grow up in Dry Creek; he's still not one of us. Not anymore."

Anyone who is anyone knows you can't just plop down in a small town and ever fit in or belong. You have to be born there. So, I read on to the second line, and the third. Soon, before I knew it, I was nearing chapter three.

To tell the truth, the plot of this book is like one of my own: hero sets off to achieve his dream and leaves heroine behind. How many times has that been written? And why did it grab me this time? My goodness, the heroine's name is Linda. How simple can you get? To make matters stranger, the hero's name is Duane Enger--and Duane is a real person--but not the person in the story. The real Duane Enger is the author's brother-in-law and he gave Tronstad permission to use his name. That alone is curious, isn't it?

Tronstad uses a lot of back story in the first couple of chapters. She does a lot of telling too. This is stuff I'd really mark up if I was her critique partner. And you know something. . . if I did mark it up and tell her to change it, then I might have really screwed up her voice. 'Cause this works.

I'm notorious for putting a book down and not finishing it if it doesn't flow for me. The older I get, the shorter my attention span. I have to admit that I've been troubled as to why Dry Creek Sweethearts holds my attention. I think I've finally figured it out.

Tronstad's style is nice, smooth. She writes visually. I can picture heroine Linda stacking chairs and mopping the floor of her cafe over and over again.

A woman who needed to mop a floor that often didn't have time to be thinking about some man who had left her behind to pursue his fantasy of stardom.

And then Duane hits town, sick and lonely and filled with some deep dark sorrow that even he doesn't understand. We know sparks are going to fly as soon as he gets well--maybe sooner. Poor guy doesn't even know why he's returned to Dry Creek.

Here's one of my favorite paragraphs:

No one had told him that being a rock star would ruin any life he'd planned to have. Although the thought had been coming to him lately, that maybe he didn't really want a life after all. That maybe the idea of having a real life scared him to death. That when he asked Linda to marry him someday, he'd never really expected someday to come. A man like him had no business getting married anyway. He'd never even seen a marriage up close. He wouldn't even know how to fake being a good husband.

Talk about a lost soul. Have you ever pursued a dream only to have it gobble you up and spit you out? Looks like Duane has. In fact, I think I've pinpointed just why this book grabbed me the way it has, and why I'll finish reading it.

Because. . . Dry Creek Sweethearts reads like a good country western song sings. I love the angst, and I sure do like my country.

But here's what I learned from author Janet Tronstad: Showing is good, but don't be afraid to tell. Give back story when the story screams for back story. Introspection is okay too, if and when it draws us closer to the characters. In other words, write your story the way it naturally falls. Someone will tell you if it doesn't work. It might be a crit partner, an agent, an editor or a reviewer, but it will always be your story and if it makes it to book form, someone out there is going to love it.

I've never read Janet Tronstad but yep, I'll be checking out her other stories set in Dry Creek, Montana. Maybe you should too.

Room with a View?

Do you write in a wonderful office with a beautiful view of wildflowers and mountains? Do you pound the keys while watching soap operas, Gilmore Girls, Scrubs or CSI? When do you write? What's your routine and how does it affect you if something interferes with that routine?

I have a friend who takes off for the library on periodic writing binges. At what point do you decide to hit the library, Erica? I like that idea. I believe Erica is On The Write Path to publication. :) Another friend writes her books by hand--every morning--in a coffee shop. I believe she's published somewhere in the vicinity of fifteen books. Can you imagine writing that many pages by hand? Other writers--professional and wannabe--methodically turn out two pages a day, no more no less.

The point is: there's really no excuse not to write if writing is our passion. Time and place doesn't matter. We'll find a way. IF we're truly driven toward reaching our goal, our dream of writing a book, completing it, selling it, we'll make it happen.

Agree? Send me your thoughts.

Naming our Characters

I've been struggling to find time to write. Well, actually, I'm struggling to determine what to write. An editor has Miranda's Mistake so I'm wondering if I should jump right into the stories of two secondary characters in the book or if I should start something completely new. If dear editor rejects MM, then I don't know that I'll have an interest in writing books using Miranda's friends even though the stories stand alone. :) Then again, if I change the names of the characters, they won't be Miranda's friends. Make sense?

Isn't it funny how a name can change everything? When I wrote The Groom Wore Blue Suede Shoes, my hero was named Johnny. It fit him. Then an unfortunate thing happened. Author Cassie Miles published a Harlequin Intrigue series with books called Heartbreak Hotel, Are you lonesome Tonight?, and Don't Be Cruel. One of her main characters was named Johnny. So what did I do? I changed my hero's name--forever changing his personality. Dumb! Especially since my book hadn't sold yet, wouldn't be out for at least two years. Especially since no one in a million years would compare me or connect me to a writer like Cassie Miles. I should have left my Johnny alone instead of weakening his character with a name like . . . forget it. I can't even say it. :) Just believe me when I say I betrayed the poor guy.

Stick to your guns when you name your characters unless an editor makes the suggestion. Would you even dream of changing your child's name five years later, or ten? Of course not. Well, on second thought . . .

I knew a young man named Dean. His mom has been a best friend since our high school days. As it usually happens, there was a gap in our friendship and during that gap, Dean became James. He started using his first name. My thought is--he can use it. I won't. To me he will always be Dean because I've been calling him that since the day he was born.

How do you name your characters? Or your children? ha!
Do you ever change a name mid-stream? Why?
Does the name change affect your character's personality or am I just a weirdo?

Let's talk!

Bayou Writers Group

The Bayou Writers Group congregate from 10-12 on the first Saturday of each month at Carnegie Library in downtown Lake Charles. We're a friendly bunch of writers--published and unpublished. Our goal is to encourage each other and keep each other informed about marketing and writing and that ever-changing world of publishing.

We'd love for you to join us. We have a great little conference each year so mark your calendar for November 15, 2008. I'll tell you all about our speakers later.

In the meantime, write on!

Happy Fourth of July

Watch a Fourth of July video here.

See a rough draft of the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson

You can also view an image of the Declaration of Independence

Thought for the Day: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.”- Psalm 33:12