To Ease A Friend's Mind -- A Post by Shawna

So Jodie tells me to post something. I've been busy writing! I tell her. I don't have time to blog!

Post something! She insists. So here it is: a question inspired by some reading I've been doing late at night.

???

What is the difference between

LIVING A LIFE OF PURPOSE and

(wait for it....) LIVING ON PURPOSE

???

I'm interested to hear your take on it so, as always, I welcome your comments.

And, just in case you aren't interested in my little philosophical dabbling, here is a short list of funny words you can try to throw into your conversations today:

Harpoon (thanks, Jodie.)

Poodle

Oy!

Snazzy

Knickers

Phlegm

and in honor of my last post: Gerund.

If you can combine them all in one nonsensical but funny paragraph, I will be a fan. If you can do it and actually make it make sense, I'll be a... double fan. With a shot of espresso.

And speaking of which....

Oh my goodness I haven't had my coffee yet today!!!!! What was I thinking????????

Now go read a book or something!

Need a recommendation? How about Susan Meissner's novel: The Shape of Mercy. The cover promises "exquisite prose" and I'd have to agree.

Rules for Usage--OR--Furry Little Gerunds

With school and its various scheduled activities back in session, family dinners have become something of a rarity as we try to get back into a routine. At one of these recent gatherings, however, the topic was "parts of speech."

Now, before you roll your eyes and, in your best Dana-Carvey-as-The-Church-Lady voice, say: "Gee, I wonder who started that conversation--the writer, maybe?" I will admit that, yes, I was the poser of the question, the main discusser of the possible answers and the person who laughed and said, "Gee, that sounds like something for a blog post."

So here we are and here we go. Here's the question:

Is there such a thing as a Proper Verb?

We've all heard of Proper Nouns, but by all accounts our language is still developing. The word in question (wait for it....!) is a Proper Noun, but when modified by an appropriate suffix, such as "ed" or used in a particular way within a sentence, it becomes a word of action. (Or, at the very least, a word of procrastination.)

Are you rubbing your chin and furrowing your brow in excitement yet? Are you drooling with the anticipation of a heretofore unclassified species of linguistical wonder?

If so, perhaps you need a hobby.

The word, my boredom-challenged friends, is: "Google"

GOOGLE is the name of a company which makes it a Proper Noun. Therefore it should be given the appropriate capitalization.

But wait! There's more to this seemingly simple Proper Noun!!

When used in a sentence as a verb, such as in "Why don't you just Google it?" the Proper Noun "Google" becomes a verb--a verb referencing an action in regard to a proper noun. So, I assumed, it must be capitalized. After all, if, say, my husband was a renowned expert on repairing antique tractors and his name became with synonymous with tractor repair, it might be cool to hear some old guy say to his buddy, "Why don't you just Dave it?" And Dave would still need to be capitalized.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Google is both a Proper Noun AND a Proper Verb.

Now. I know what you English teachers are thinking. And I know your fingers are just itching to type in a response to this post which claims, without a doubt that, "It's a gerund! It's a gerund!" But I've never been comfortable with the whole "it's a gerund" concept; and I think most people outside the English department staff probably feel the same way. Gerund. Say it with me now: Gerund. It sounds more like something we should learn about in biology class than in Language Arts.

I'm pretty sure we maybe used to raise gerunds on our farm in Iowa. Aren't gerunds sort of fuzzy, busy little love buckets who look like a cross between a rabbit and a hamster and a pygmy marmoset?

What?!? They're not? Too bad. It sounds like a cool pet. Just imagine:

"Hey guys! I got a new gerund! I named him Insomnia cuz that little guy just never quits moving!"

(There's a joke in there for the English Lit/Lang.Arts audience, but you might have to look for it. Maybe if you put on your MP3-player and go for a RUN you'll catch it.)

So if gerunds belong in the Language Arts text instead of the Biology text I suppose there is no such thing as a Proper Verb then, is there.

But maybe there should be. And if ever there was a prime example of the need, it would be the word, Google.

Besides, Proper Verb sounds a whole lot better than Proper Gerund.

Plus, you don't have to feed it.

Correction: Last Stop on the ECFL Summer Blog Tour is Tomorrow!

When I posted for the ECFL Blog Tour last Sunday I ended my post with a directive to visit Donna Fletcher Crow's blog on Wednesday for the final stop on the tour. But I had the date wrong!

My BAD! Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.

Please stop by Donna Fletcher Crow's blog tomorrow (Sunday, August 29) to read about Spiritual Authenticity in Fiction. Really. It'll be there. I promise.

(here's a note: the post is already up, so this time, I know I've got it right!)

A special thanks to everyone who participated in the tour in any way! Have a great rest of your weekend--I'm off to spend the evening listening to an ABBA Tribute group at the park. (yes, the Swedish singers--and, no. Not the real ones. Now if only an Elvis impersonator would show up in Mepotown....)

The Intrusion of the Real World

Sometimes reality takes on a surreal quality. You're quietly going along about the comfortable predictability of your life and then... the phone rings.

This week we received word that a former colleague took his own life. He leaves behind a wife, two college-aged sons, a sixth grade daughter, and a ten year old son. Their lives will never be the same.

Suddenly all that seems mundane and ordinary is viewed through a clearer lens. Yesterday a moment in which we might have seen as little more than boredom's resting place has a serene and infinite beauty. Knowledge is powerful and one thing I know:

But for the grace of God, there go I.

Both my husband and I have seen some pretty dark times. We know what it feels like to have the flicker of a floundering faith be the only dim light of hope in our hearts. Depression. Anxiety. Worry. Defeat. Illness. Loss. They have touched us both at one time or another and we've let the darkness sink its claws into our hearts. We've wondered if our family would be better off without us, gladder for a life insurance settlement than having to deal with our depression for one day more. And we've been weak enough to admit (later) that our thoughts took that road.

But that flicker, as dim as it seems, has always been bright enough to let in just enough hope to get up and turn our face toward whatever warmth there may be.

I've found myself able to achieve a certain sort power in depression--in settling into the mud of my own wallow. The energy found there is entirely negative and self-propagating. When I am depressed I am selfish. Focused inward. Seeing every interaction through a lens of personal pronouns. My loss. My defeat. My illness. My anxiety. Nobody could possibly understand what I am going through. No one really knows me.

When I eventually come up for air--usually because somehow I've noticed and been called to attend the immediate need of someone else--there is a series of moments in which my spirit vacillates between cowering in shame... and lifting my countenance to praise the God of light and peace. I've entertained the darkness, but never have I reached a moment of finality in which it blocked out every discernible pinprick of light.

And, but for the grace of God, there go I.

I know only a little of the situation which may have precipitated this man's descent into the realms of hopelessness. It seems that many layers, over several months... years, even... piled up around the windows of his soul to the point that he no longer had a mechanism available to let in that thin sliver of light.

It is sobering to be reminded through another's tragedy that there is so much to be thankful for. I have my life. I have my husband. My children. My hope. My raggedy faith. Only when we cling to gratitude can we sustain our finger hold on the thickest curtains--and pull back the dim edge to reveal the sun.

If you are moved so today, please lift the Haught family in your prayers.

Cheese and the Lactose Intolerant Editor

When I was younger (much, much younger) I drank milk like a baby calf. (This is to say that I drank a lot of milk, not that I stuck my head under a cow's belly and pretended it was rush week at the tri-Delt's favorite tap.) When I was pregnant with my second child, however, dairy became my enemy. I became lactose intolerant. And I still am, as is Ellerie, the child who made me thus.

But I am an undisciplined sort of gal and dairy is freaking everywhere. Have you ever tried to make a decent casserole without cheese, milk, or cream-of-something soup? Have you given up ice cream, yogurt, and Culver's Chocolate Malts?

Me neither. At least not for long stretches at a time. But I am reminded today, after consuming a lunch of leftover tuna casserole (can you really call Velveeta cheese?--but oh, there was that cream of celery soup in it, too....) and topping it off with one Lactaid pill and an ice cream sandwich (okay, so it wasn't exactly a healthy meal. Sue me. I'm writing today and in a hurry to get back to a story!) I am reminded that cutting out dairy from my diet is so I don't have to cut the proverbial cheese quite so frequently.

Nothing like a little discussion of the bodily functions of the lactose intolerant to brighten up your day, eh?

Anyway.... So as I sit at my desk, my gut expanding with leaden bubbles, my innards gurgling, and my brain screaming, "You idiot!" I am reminded that there is, quite possibly, a lot of cheese biding its time within both my works in progress and my finished novels. It's the sort of purple prose and misdirected metaphor that fills the body of the work with air and lets off a sort of aroma which makes a publisher wary. And, one way or another, that useless gas has to come out. It's a metaphor turned upside down, because in the way of the editorial scalpel, you must cut the cheese to avoid making the book stink.

Aside from the soupy Harlequin-type romances (poor girl meets rich boy, overcomes obstacles and his mamma in order to marry rich boy and live happily ever after) I think professional editors are largely lactose intolerant. They want the good stuff, the clear, dairy-free writing that doesn't leave a film on your throat or a sick feeling in your stomach. They want to be filled with excessively digestible prose and tasty morsels which do not sour in the sun.

So that is the goal for the day: to cut the cheese.

I'll understand if you keep your distance.

"What is that smell?!" Creating CULTURALLY RELEVANT CHARACTERS IN CHRISTIAN FICTION

Please note: I’ve recommended authors and provided links to their websites. Just click on the author’s name (after you’ve read this post in its entirety, of course!) And, if you leave a comment at another author’s site, please mention that you got there by way of Fiction Mirrors Truth!

According to The American Heritage College Dictionary, the word relevant is derived from the Latin, relevāre, which means: to relieve, raise up.

Although I’m not an artist, this makes me think of an art done in reliefwhere the images are lifted up off the surface to give clarity, dimension, and definition. So… cultural relevance could be interpreted as an accurate definition of a particular branch of society—or—a set of details which bring attention to dimension within a specific culture. It's like a 3-D image for the imagination, delivered in High Def resolution. So... to place that definition of "relief" upon fictional characters we could say:

A culturally relevant character is a character whose behavior, attitudes, and way of expression reflects (or contrasts against) the behaviors, attitudes, and expressions of the culture in which he/she lives.

That sounds simple enough, but when it comes to placing culturally relevant characters within marketable Christian fiction, the concept gets a little muddy.

It's important to note that when speaking of Christian Fiction, even Edgy Christian Fiction, we need to remember that our audience, by definition, is mainly filled with Christian people. I think we have a tendency to lose sight of this from time to time. The Christian culture is just that: its own culture; a unique people group with its own language, customs, mores, and behavioral expectations; a culture filled with numerous and diverse sub-cultures within the larger group (can you say "denomination"?) But, and this is very important, we also need to recognize that these Christians within our reading audience do not live in the bubble-like sanctuary of Christendom. (Hopefully.) They live, work, and interact within a larger cultural sphere; within a society that is often at war against the very mores, behaviors, and expectations they hold dear. Meanwhile, forces within the church could be fostering an "us against them" mentality in regards to the world we've been called to engage. (whew. insert deep breath here....) Therefore, to make characters culturally relevant to a Christian audience we have to respect and honestly relieve, or raise up, that juxtaposition with believable conflicts--and reactions to those conflicts--that clearly show both parts of our characters' (and our readers') worlds.

As an anthropologically astute author you have to study the applicable culture and subculture(s) of your fictional characters as well as the psychographic profile(s) of your intended audience. This means that, as writers of Christian fiction, we must step out of the safety of the church-bubble we so often find ourselves gravitating toward in our daily lives and open ourselves up to experience a friendship with The World and Its Inhabitants. A scary thought indeed. (note the sarcasm, please.) But a necessary step if we want to accurately write about those living apart from Christ, be they believers or unbelievers. Yes, I said believers. Characters living apart from Christ can even be—gasp!—Christians. Saved ain't perfect. You've seen the bumper sticker.

Just because a character is culturally relevant, however, doesn't mean they live within your readers' culture. Creating characters who are both relevant to their time in history as well as to your contemporary audience is, in my opinion, a daunting task; but one which can (and is being) done with excellence by many authors. In Historical and Biblical fiction some edgy authors, such as Jamie Carie (Wind Dancer, among others) and Tosca Lee (Havah: The Story of Eve), have masterfully overcome the challenges of historical accuracy and cultural relevance, creating beautifully wrought plots and characters who are timeless, but placed within a specific time. (Bravo!)

As a writer I must know to whom I write. But in all honesty sometimes I don't have a clue to whom I'm writing until I'm already deeply into the first (or fiftieth) draft. And I must admit that I write largely to... myself. Though it's often a bloody proposition, writing is cheaper than therapy, after all. But when it comes to putting the proposal together for a submission, I need a bigger book-buying audience than that face in the mirror. So... I must ask myself some pretty tough questions.

Will my story appeal to a conservative Christian audience, an evangelical Christian audience, or a post-modern reader who claims allegiance to Christ? And if only one of those, how can I change it to encompass them all--and do I want to? Does my story recognize the uglier aspects of the humanity within individuals within a body of faith? Am I willing to honestly show the traits and behaviors of Christians which are contrary to the Gospel? Am I willing to show SIN within CHRISTIANS--and juxtapose it against the morality within the unsaved?

If so, then I might be creating some culturally relevant characters.

Most writers (and publishers) of conventional Christian fiction would tell you that there are specific parameters which must be followed in order to avoid offending a Christian audience. The overall message of these traditional books, regardless of setting, is this: "Everything just falls into place when we come to Jesus, honey." Which, to me, is a little bit like greeting my fellow Christian with the shocking exclamation of, "Dude, what's wrong with you? You're still struggling with sin? Yeesh. Get it together, man!" In the end of those elder-board approved, traditional Christian stories everyone is happy and everyone gets saved. Just like in real life.

Right.

It amazes me that we can sell so much of this crap to Christians. Oh, I get it. Christians like to be comfortable in their faith and that sort of writing sells well to the well-churched masses. And don't get me wrong--I love to see people come to Christ. But why are we selling evangelistic messages to people who've already walked the aisle? While I can believe that readers can be entertained by such fiction, I can't believe it resonates within their hearts and lives--because it is not relevant to their situation. Even if the salvation message is well delivered I probably wouldn't loan a book like that to an unsaved friend because it's (often) written in such a goody-goody style that I have to scrape sugar off the cover just to avoid attracting ants to my bookshelf! Anyone who's been a Christian five-minutes past the "glow period" of salvation knows that the Christian life is fraught with temptation and pain which we can (and often do not) avoid. Propagating goody-goody happy-happy Christian fiction--irrelevant Christian fiction--only serves to insulate the reader from the possibility--and beautiful agony --of transformative revelation.

Kool-aid doesn't kill cancer cells, but chemo does. And you can't get chemo while admiring a bed of roses from the backseat of a buggy in Lancaster County.

Yes, I'll admit that there is entertaiment value--yes VALUE--in irrelevant fiction. There can be a beautiful thing called escapism found in the entertaining fluff of a perfect world, and that will always keep "that sort of fiction" viable within the Christian marketplace. I will not deny that there is a time and place for insulation. (see previous post) But there is also a time to swan dive right off the steeple and spill some honest ink upon the page. That's why we need to create culturally relevant characters. And that's why edgy authors are emerging within the Christian culture as a force to be reckoned with.

Edgy authors realize that Christians have a lot of junk--and the power of a culturally relevant character's story can help to sort it out.

A few mainstream pubbers are getting the message, but so far the e-book industry is where we are more likely to come across these authors . E-book publishers and other small "presses" are more willing to take risks with "edgy" Christian authors than the big boys who earn their bread and butter among the bonnets and buggies and fluffy meringue. The authors who are taking risks--taking their writing to the edge (and sometimes past it!) of the line-in-the-sand drawn by traditional CBA expectations have discovered that culturally relevant characters can be found across time and setting and worldscape. A story can be sweet and light romance or sassy chic lit and still have culturally relevant characters (read Sandra Byrd’s French TwistTrilogy or the novels of Camy Tang.) The story can take place in another world (Jeffrey Overstreet’s Auralia’s Colors), another time (Liz Curtis Higgs’s Lowlands of Scotland series), or even another planet (Kathy Tyers’s Firebird Trilogy) and still have culturally relevant characters.

Cultural relevance is about honesty, transparency, vulnerability, and sometimes has a little stank on it--but it's a familiar aroma if it's relevant. Cultural relevance leaves a little bit of fat on the bone when it tosses the meat on the table because that's where the flavor's at. It doesn't necessarily have to be deep and life-changing (though I love when it is), it just has to be real... in a fictional sort of way.

Actions. Consequences. Sin. Mercy. Risks. Rewards.

Reality.

Sometimes my characters (both Christian and non-Christian) use “bad” language, behave in deplorable ways, break vows, break commandments, and live in denial about it all. And so do their friends. Does that sound familiar? Sometimes life stinks, and we stink, and our faith walk absolutely reeks with hypocrisy and disingenuiness. And it can be quite painfull--though sometimes pretty fun--to eek that stink out upon the page.

To make nicey-nice out of ugly issues or to insulate a Christian character within a Christians-only society is to portray a human creature in a way that denigrates their God-given free will (and the consequences of that free will) as well as the Great Commission. Some edgy authors I’ve found who portray morally conflicted characters honestly (and with excellence) in a contemporary setting are Kristen Heitzmann (The Michelli Family series is a favorite of mine),Tosca Lee (Demon: A Memoir), and Christa Parrish (Home Another Way.)

Regardless of the time period, sub-genre, or setting of a novel, an edgy author of Christian fiction will avoid allowing her characters to tip-toe around the pristine exterior edges of Christendom and, instead, make those characters stomp or crawl through the sanctuary with muddy and blood-soaked boots.

Or turn around and walk the other way.

Anyone who has approached the throne of mercy can tell you that the way to the altar is not a bright, smooth pathway paved in doilies with little birdies singing “Oh, How I Love Jesus” from the lofty rafters. No, the mercy path is a shadowy, rutted alleyway littered with shards of shattered stained glass--and the only music playing is the frantic rhythm of your own filthy heart.

Been there. Done that. Will do it again and again, I’m sure.

The author who strives to be culturally relevant in his/her writing of Christian fiction knows this and works to portray his/her characters in such a way that the reader identifies with the characters—cuz sometimes she smells the same stink on herself. And, also, the same perfume of hope. That is where fiction mirrors truth.

To state it simply, creating culturally relevant characters shows that Christians still need Christ.

Ba-da-bing.

By creating these characters within our fiction we can work together with the Holy Spirit to lessen the human-inflicted distance between those in need of mercy-- and the Cross where they can find it.

Thanks for stopping by this 2nd-to-last stop on the Edgy Christian Fiction Lovers Summer Blog Tour 2010. I welcome your comments!

Don't forget to stop by Donna Fletcher's blog on Wednesday for the final stop on the tour!

Now go read a book or something!

**an additional note: Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010: Just found a blogger fluke! I saved the first draft of this post on Wednesday and, for some reason when I posted it at 6:30 am this morning (Sunday), it posted for last Wednesday, with any number of odd posts in between, so my apologies to anyone who visited earlier today and did not find the post in the correct place! And my apologies to those of you who, in looking further down my blog, find it repeated under last Wednesday's date! It was posted for the first time this morning around 6:30a.m.

Boot to the Bahoinky

Chip MacGregor (I seem to be mentioning his blog a lot lately) shipped a great post to my inbox today. It's a well-thought out delineation of the Christian Market and the "secular" market and added to my conviction (thanks, Joyce Meyer) about all the complaining I've been doing about traditional CBA publishing. I guess my butt needed kicking. Again.

I'm probably going to need a softer chair soon.

Drop by Chip's blog and see what this experienced literary professional has to say. It might just open your mind a bit (as it did mine.)

Stay tuned, boys and girls: tomorrow YOURS TRULY is the featured author on the ECFL Summer Blog Tour. Come back and see us, won't ya?