Seekerville: The Journey Continues

 A Model of Devotion

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"Figure of Christ," by German painter Heinrich Hofmann, 1884. [PD-US]

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
The Lord replied,
"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

"Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?
Would he not rather say to him,
'Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished'?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded,
say, 'We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.'"

Luke 17:5-7

Join us in praying for all those who were in Ian's path. 

Lord, we lift up to you all those who lost homes and property, for those who were injured, and for those mourning the loss of friends and relatives who were victims of the storm.

Protect all who are working to build back the areas devastated by the hurricane.

God bless them all!

The Seekerville bloggers are praying for YOU and for our entire blog community. If you have any special intentions that need additional prayer coverage, leave a request for prayer in the comment section below. 

Please pray for our country and for an end to the problems that plague us at this current time, such as the increased cost of fuel and food and the rise in crime.

May the Lord bless you and keep you safe.          

 by DiAnn Mills

Lies distort a character’s view of the world. The lens of reality twists the truth, causing the character to react in unforeseen ways, which is win-win situation for the writer. The result is an unpredictable and unexpected plotline fueled by a character who is motivated by a lie.

The character who learns he or she has been the victim of a lie faces the devastation of hurt, anger, and betrayal. The person who spoke the fabrication may deny it, and that becomes another issue for the character. To maintain good mental health, the character must reach deep for forgiveness and take cautionary steps for the future. The relationship may or may not ever be restored. Trust must be earned.

How the character responds to the realization of a lie shows the inner character and lays the foundation for a protagonist or an antagonist. The determination of a lie can motivate the character into a positive realm or a negative one.

Lies influence the character’s goals, wants, needs, strengths, weaknesses, challenges, dialogue, behavior, and emotion. When rage drives the character’s actions, unpredictable behavior sets the stage for a page-turning story. Yet the process of weaving all the intricacies of literary techniques into a profound story takes hard work.

About DiAnn

DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She weaves memorable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels. DiAnn believes every breath of life is someone’s story, so why not capture those moments and create a thrilling adventure?

Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists and won two Christy Awards, the Golden Scroll, Inspirational Reader’s Choice, and Carol Award contests.

DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers and a member of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Mystery Writers of America, the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. DiAnn continues her passion of helping other writers be successful. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country.

DiAnn has been termed a coffee snob and roasts her own coffee beans. She’s an avid reader, loves to cook, and believes her grandchildren are the smartest kids in the universe. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.

DiAnn is very active online and would love to connect with readers through her website at diannmills.com.

About Concrete Evidence

On the family’s Brazos River Ranch in Texas, Avery Elliott helps run her grandfather’s commercial construction business. Raised by Senator Elliott, Avery has never doubted her grandfather is the man of integrity and faith she’s always believed him to be . . . until the day she finds him standing with a gun over the body of a dead man. To make matters worse, Avery’s just discovered a billing discrepancy for materials supposedly purchased for construction of the Lago de Cobre Dam.

Desperate for answers, Avery contacts FBI Special Agent Marc Wilkins for help. As Marc works to identify the dead man Avery saw, threats toward Avery create a fresh sense of urgency to pinpoint why someone wants to silence her. With a hurricane approaching the Texas coast and the structural integrity of the Lago de Cobre Dam called into question, time is running out to get to the bottom of a sinister plot that could be endangering the lives of not only Avery and her loved ones but the entire community.

I believe I've mentioned before that during the pandemic I got in the habit of tuning in on Wednesday nights to a Facebook Live group called Friends and Fiction. During the hour long show, the four author/hosts interview other authors. They have a recurring question I like so much that I've adapted it into my teaching. They ask each visiting author to tell what their book is about and then to tell what it's really about.

As a teacher, I've realized that question is a powerful tool for getting students to explore the difference between plot and theme.

I also like to teach using Pixar shorts. These short films have so much depth and tell incredible stories in a very short amount of time.

Today, as I was combining the two, I was thinking of how these would be good practices for us to engage in as writers.

Let's take this film for example.

It's really cute, so feel free to go watch. Then we'll discuss.

So what is it about?

Spoiler alert - A father and grandfather whose job is to create the phases of the moon take a young boy on his first trip to the moon. There is conflict between the father and grandfather who each want the boy to do things their way. But when a large star lands on the moon, it's the young boy who is able to solve the problem.

So what's it really about? - Finding your identity. Being true to your own self.  

You probably know from my past posts that I love to deconstruct stories to figure out how they work.  

These shorts are whole stories in under ten minutes. They're great to use with students because they give a fun visual explanation of elements of story structure. It's easy to construct a plot chart after watching a short movie. To answer that, we have to analyze the characters. It's amazing how well developed they are with no dialogue at all.

I've included two more of my favorites. I thought it might be fun to analyze why they work.

Who would like to join in? What enables these short films to capture and hold our attention?

PS - There are also some notably bad shorts (bad as in boring). I'm trying to be upbeat, so I won't link the ones with sagging middles because it's kind of bad to have a sagging middle in such a short film. Still, we can learn from analyzing the good as well as the bad.

Erica here today.

Do you remember when Dorothy finally has the witch's broomstick, and she's brought it to the Wizard who told her that was the one way she could get back to Kansas? And then Toto pulls aside the curtain and you see a desperate little man pulling levers and pushing buttons?

That's not unlike the writer life. When you are a wide-eyed newbie, all you want is a peek behind the curtain of publishing. And you feel that once you have that first contract, once that first book releases, you'll be ushered into the hallowed behind-the-curtain-world of wonder and magic that is "Published Writer." 

And when Toto sweeps aside the curtain, you find...

More Work Than You Ever Imagined.

Editing, marketing, social media, proposals, pub boards, writing, writing, writing, deadlines. You need bookmarks or postcards, a website, a newsletter, blog interviews, zoom interviews. There are press releases, publicity tours, headshots, and more.

Let me assure you, I am not complaining, I'm explaining.

Jane and I in class at ACFW

• Book due 9/2. Write like your hair is on fire. Ignore house, husband, and life to polish up ms and get it turned in on time. (Which I did.)
• Company coming 9/6. This is writing related because a couple of friends were driving to my house and staying overnight so we could leave early for the ACFW Conference the next day. Which means after neglecting my house in favor of my deadline, I now need to clean like a crazy woman, make sure the beds are made up, bathrooms clean, fresh towels, etc. Oh, and pack.
• Conference 9/7-11. Travel, classes, meetings, socializing. I had new headshots taken early on Sunday morning. I took a 5 hr class with James Scott Bell right off the mark at the conference, and my brain felt a little toasted the rest of the time. :) 
• Internet TV Interview 9/14. A practice session during the day, then going live that night. 
• Book Proposal going to Pub Board 9/15. Yay, the publisher liked the new proposal, and the next series is a GO!
• Book Launch 9/20. Millstone of Doubt released last week. This means lots of time on social media, thanking people for sharing about the book, for reviewing, for photographing your book in lovely settings for Instagram. 
• Managing the giveaway/prize mailings...every day. Keeping track of group and individual giveaways, blog posts, places I said I would be, online and in real life.

That's a little taste of what happens when you are ushered behind that publishing curtain. I love it, but it can be daunting. I find using a planner and making lists helps, as does working out in advance strategies for getting through particularly busy times. 

• Put things on the calendar. If you don't write it down, it won't happen.
• Let the dear husband know when a deadline is approaching and that you need his help with meal prep or quiet time.
• Do things ahead of time if you can. Schedule blog or FB posts. Review on Sunday what needs to be done for the next week so you don't get caught on the hop by something you forgot about.
• Work in some down time. You can't go at fever pitch forever. You will break down. Fit in some time to relax, to hang out with a friend, go for a walk, see a museum.

The life of a published author is more than I ever imagined, and way better in lots of cases. It's a job as much as a passion, and I find that preparing for the work helps me conquer it.

When a dreadful accident ends in another death on the mill floor, Daniel discovers a connection to his murder case--and to his own secret past. Now he and Juliette are in a race to find the killer before his time runs out.

Best-selling, award-winning author, Erica Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum. You can connect with her at her website, www.ericavetsch.com where you can learn about her books and sign up for her newsletter, and you can find her online at https://www.facebook.com/groups/inspirationalregencyreaders where she spends way too much time!

Illustration of Lazarus at the rich man's gate, Fyodor Bronnikov, 1886. [PD-US]

Jesus said to the Pharisees:
"There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen
and dined sumptuously each day.
And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps
that fell from the rich man's table.
Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
When the poor man died,
he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham.
The rich man also died and was buried,
and from the netherworld, where he was in torment,
he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off
and Lazarus at his side.
And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me.
Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am suffering torment in these flames.'
Abraham replied,
'My child, remember that you received
what was good during your lifetime
while Lazarus likewise received what was bad;
but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established
to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go
from our side to yours or from your side to ours.'
He said, 'Then I beg you, father,
send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers,
so that he may warn them,
lest they too come to this place of torment.'
But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets.
Let them listen to them.'
He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham,
but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'"

Luke 16:19-31

The Seekerville bloggers are praying for YOU and for our entire blog community. If you have any special intentions that need additional prayer coverage, leave a request for prayer in the comment section below. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you safe.         

For other writers, myself among them, the blank page can be terrifying. I think much of it stems from the fact that it represents such unrestricted freedom. An invitation to go anywhere, to tell any story. How do you choose? And once you do, will your words be worth reading? There is so much unknownstaring blankly (pun intended) back at you, waiting for your hand to work upon it and create something wonderful out of nothing. For me, the proposition can be daunting.

Interestingly, I think this carries over into my everyday life as well. Can you relate? I don’t know about you, but I can’t even shop in stores with too many choices. It’s too overwhelming. I prefer some choice, but not unlimited ones. So, of course, I would choose a career (writing) that is allabout choices. Choices about characters, setting, plot, arcs, covers, titles…the list is endless.  

And now, on top of that, I find myself in a new empty-nest season of life which also necessarily involves a lot of changes and choices. A new “blank page of life,” if you will, that I must begin to write upon—a prospect that is more than a little bit scary.

 I’m sure I’m not alone in these feelings, whether you relate as a writer, or as a person who simply struggles generally with change and choosing next steps. The unknown can be hard.

Why does the open road of possibility vex some of us so? For me, I think my tendency to struggle in this area is grounded in the difficulty I have fully trusting. Fully and completely trusting and resting in God’s plan, not only for my work, but for my life. It’s easy to get twisted up in all the choices, all the worries, all the what ifs.

 The thing is, this shouldn’t be hard. Time and time again I have watched Him work out the details of my life. I should know better. But, well, I’m human. And a bit of a perfectionist and planner. So…you know…I suppose I come by it naturally.

What I hope, my prayer, is that as I grow into this next stage and develop the next book, I can more fully rest in His plan. That I can pray about the choices before me—whether they concern a blank page or a new life routine—and confidently leave them with the Lord. That I can then dive in and be joyous about the possibilities, not apprehensive. I’d love to be able to see the blank page in all its forms as a friend to greet, not an enemy to fear.

What unknowns do you struggle with? Are you ever in turmoil over new choices before you? If so, what promises of God do you lean on to find peace in those times? I’d love to know what speaks to your heart.

 _______________________________________________

D.L. Wood is a USA TODAY bestselling author who writes thrilling suspense laced with romance and faith. In her novels she tries to give readers the same thing she wants: a “can’t-put-it-down-stay-up-till-3am” character-driven story, full of heart, believability, and adrenaline. Her award-winning books offer clean, captivating fiction that entertains and uplifts. She lives in North Alabama, where, if she isn’t writing, you’ll probably catch her curled up with a cup of Earl Grey and her Westies—Frodo and Dobby—bingeing on the latest BBC detective series. If you have one to recommend, please email her immediately, because she’s nearly exhausted the ones she knows about. She loves to hear from readers, and you can reach her at dlwood@dlwoodonline.com