Monday, January 5, 2015

Gone Fishing





For six years we've shared the best writing advice we have to offer, as well as our victories and disappointments in our writing endeavors. We've sponsored contests that have both benefitted and entertained, and we've co-written a fun story with many of you as our co-conspirators. We've published a book of our favorite recipes and writerly nuggets, and we've posted a lot of great quotes about the writing life on Facebook.
Our Novel Matters blog created a community that has gone beyond anything we might have imagined 6 1/2 years ago when the idea for this blog was first proposed. It brought together six women who barely knew one another, or didn't know one another at all, whose writing style and passion was similar enough for our agents to introduce us to each other, as well as the idea for the blog. All we can say is that is was truly a God thing. For between the six of us, it has forged a deep and amazing friendship that spans the US and Canada.
Your presence and participation to our blog has been invaluable, and it's birthed close and unexpected friendships that span continents! Some of you have honored us by sharing your own writing with us privately, and have allowed us to help promote your published work. In short, it's been an amazing venture.
After serious consideration, we've decided to put Novel Matters on hold for a while. We want to concentrate on our writing and try to figure out and navigate the tumultuous changes taking place in the publishing world. That doesn't mean we're going away. We'll still have a daily presence on Facebook, and will keep in touch with many of you in various ways.
Thank you, again and again, from the bottom of our hearts, for the contribution you have made to this blog and to our lives.
Our prayers and love go out to you.
Bonnie, Debbie, Katy, Latayne, Patti and Sharon

Monday, December 15, 2014

Merry Christmas from all of us to all of you

We at Novel Matters want to wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy and blessed New Year. Thank you for all you've contributed to Novel Matters this year, either by commenting on posts, by taking the time to read them, or both. You mean so much to us.


"My mind is on Jesus in this Christmas season in a new way to me: with a new December grandson in the family, our family rejoices in his birth, and in His"  ~  Latayne

"He's as close and personal as the baby in a womb. He is Emanuel, God with us. God with you. Merry Christmas"  ~  Katy

"Jesus, the thrill of hope who came and will come again. Love to all. Blessed Christmas"  ~  Patti


"Look for the gifts given to you this season -- we are sustained moment by moment by God's gifts. Wishing you a season of wonder at His continued, encompassing provision and care. Peace, health, happiness to you in 2015"  ~  Bonnie

"This year brought numerous changes to my life when my husband and I moved from California -- where we've always lived -- to Georgia, leaving family and friends behind. It's been a difficult adjustment, and I continue to pray the move is temporary. But it has made me more aware than ever what is important in life. Being near loved ones and enjoying friends who know you inside and out . . . those things are truly priceless. Not to mention knowing how to get to all the places you wish to go. Change is never easy, and starting over at 62 is no fun. But even through my tears I trust the Lord has a purpose in this. I hope you are able to spend this Christmas season with those you love, and that you enjoy them like never before"  ~  Sharon
  
God bless you and keep you and hold you close this holiday season and always. ~ Debbie

Friday, December 12, 2014

Christmas Poem: The Birth





THE BIRTH

The throbbings begin---
The stretching, vague pain,
Then panic and wonder are mixed
Like gall and wine.
I wait, with Mary,
As eternity invades my heart
And the two millennia between us
Efface like the thinning tissues
That frighten her young-girl body.
She gasps, and I do, too;
But for much different reasons:
She is breathless with pain,
I with awe.
The rhythmic pulsings increase for her
And I, too, ride them like a tidal wave;
Anxious for what will break
Upon the shore of eternity
Anxious for Him
To be born again

In my heart


Copyright Latayne C. Scott
image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.com

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Inglorious




INGLORIOUS
The glitter on the creche
Seduces me from how inglorious His comings and goings were.
His feet filthy from offal paths until someone thought to wash them,
His hands unwashed, as the Pharisees noted.
No beauty to behold except in a peek on a peak.
Mostly,
His sandal soles dragging up dirt and fronds, muleback,
A towel around His waist in a shanghaied room,
A lone figure squatting over a breakfast fire.
Loaned food, found tax, borrowed burial.

Inglorious, yes, His going:
The Savior on a stake;

Bookends His coming:

A God in a trough.


copyright Latayne C. Scott
Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Monday, December 8, 2014

Christ, Come Softly



CHRIST, COME SOFTLY
(acrostic poem)

Christ, come softly: the uneven way
Has been prepared. Though angels
Rampant crowd the skies, each one
In his own way praising Thee-- Softly,
Softly come. Through tribulation and joy,
This night whispers hope.

(In exultation, my heart's own voice
Sings! And even the voiceless and deaf rejoice!)

But silvered silence sighs. The skies are emptied now, and
Only for now, this Logos-Child speaks not.
Remembering vows, and veils, and the cup to come, He
Now sleeps. Softly, softly: Christ.


Copyright Latayne C. Scott

image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Friday, December 5, 2014

Fullness



Fullness

Two days ago was the coming of the great light
The coming of herders
The coming of angels
The coming of the Child
In ratcheting pain,
In water and blood,
In relief and peace.

Above, the star still blasts the stable roof
A white hot light
That has bleached out all the others

She stirs in the shadows cast
By starlight through ceiling slits
Everyone snores, even the cattle
Exhausted with exulting

All is still
All is bright

This, then
Is the fullness of time:
An unwitting world does not know it has waited,
A baby moves tiny lips and does not know He hungers.

This, then
Is the fullness of breasts:
A young girl wonders,
And aches with milk that has not yet let down



(c) copyright Latayne C. Scott
photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Endings are Hard

After I published my last novel, I received one (yep, only one) FB message asking if I'd forgotten to include all of the pages in the Kindle edition. 

What!?

I'd given away 11,000 copies of the book. Were they all defective? Were readers left wondering what happened to the hero? This could explain the poor sales.

I investigated. The ending was there as written, but it evidently wasn't strong enough for this reader. Also, I suspect that her eReaders caught her unaware. Perhaps the ending was perfectly fine, but without the physicality of the book and its diminishing pages to clue her in, the ending fell into her lap. (This has happened to me.)

To determine if I'd written a strong enough ending, I revisited my hero's desires and needs. Did she satisfy her desire, a goal she can achieve within the scope of the story? Yes, her family is intact. As to her needs, does she resolve the thing that is hampering her from leading a good life? Yes, she is able to forgive herself and trust others. 

So far, so good.

Does the ending evoke an emotional response in the reader?

I thought so.

The hero not only has her family, but she reconnects with a love interest. She has a future, not explicitly spelled out but definitely pointing in the right direction. She turns her pain around to accept and love the imperfect. She's taking a huge risk, for crying out loud! 

It's the kind of ending I like. The important points are resolved, and the hero is set in motion toward a promising future with the requisite challenges. There are minor things left unresolved for the reader to play with. 

But some readers aren't as comfortable with ambiguity. They would have us sit our characters around a table to report their plans for the future.

Boring!

Actually, I'm struggling with the ending--the denouement--of my WIP. Technically, this is where things get resolved. But structurally I'm wondering if this isn't where the character arc for our hero reaches the pot of gold. This is where we show his or her growth. 

Right?

Books on writing are strangely silent on endings. They use vague words like "satisfying," if they say anything at all. 

Can we discuss this?

Wait, I'm supposed to finish my post...