Quandary

Ok so I'm in the midst of a quandary. I'm reading several books right now, and one of the ones is one I'm reviewing. Doesn't sound like too much of a problem right? Well here's the problem. I'm not in the mood to read that particular genre right now. Obviously I will have to finish the book - especially since I've got a certain date to post the review by - but I'm going to have to try really hard to not let my mood affect my review. And that's my quandary.

What am I reading right now? Well there's one secular fantasy book, a Christian fantasy, a beach read, and a Biblical fiction one. Plus I'm about to start a contemporary romance to review. So which one is giving me trouble?

Secular Fantasy - A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson

I'm really enjoying this final volume in the Wheel of Time saga. I started reading that series 13 years ago and finally we're going to find out the answer to one of the most important questions - Will Rand be successful?

 Christian Fantasy - Judge by R.J. Larson

Book two in the Books of the Infinite Series, find Kien and Ela heading in opposite directions. It's fun to see the Old Testament prophets appear as some of the character traits of both Kien and Ela.

Beach Read - Getaway Girlz by Joan Rylen (Kindle book)

Four college friends take a trip to Mexico when the marriage of one of the four falls apart. The sister of one of my elementary/jr high/high school friends is the author. So I'd promised him ages ago that I'd read his sister's book and review it.

Biblical Fiction - Rebekah by Jill Eileen Smith

Book 2 in the Wives of the Patriarchs Series tells the story of Isaac and Rebekah. I'd just finished reading Sarai, the first book in this series. I'm not very far into it, but it is nice to see these Bible characters have more personality than what we get in Scripture.

Contemporary Romance - Clouds by Robin Jones Gunn

Ah Glenbrooke. I still plan on moving there someday. It's my favorite fictional town. This is Shelly and Jonathan's love story. It's been a while since I read this and I've not actually started it yet.

So do you think I'll be able to review the book, Rebekah, without letting my mood of being so done with that genre not get in my way? I hope so. I really do. Because it's not fair to the author for me to not attempt to give the book my total and complete honest opinion. But I can promise that it will be hard to do. I do know that I'll take a break from most historical fiction/Biblical fiction for a bit and maybe then I'll be back in the mood to read it. So how do you be fair in a review when you're not in the mood to read that genre anymore? That's my biggest quandary.

Too Many Thoughts in My Head

My head is full of thoughts today. More like questions really. Most of these questions have to do with writing and publishing so bear with me.

I have a story idea that will be based on what I know of how my grandparents got together. Since it's based on real people, do I sta as accurate as possible and use the real names of my grandparents, their siblings, and their parents? Or do I change the names to become fictional characters? I've got the title already figured out, The Sailor's Sweetheart.

I think that the story/book would be a good fit for the Love Inspired Historical Line, once I get it written that is. It's set around the time of WWII. But how do I make it "religious" when I don't know exactly how religious my grandparents were? I mean I know that they were Catholic, and I'm a born again believer. I know that I can't flat give the plan of Salvation when I'm not sure how "religious" they were.

I can already promise that my writing won't have anything in it that would make me ashamed or would give the wrong impression of the Christian I am. So nothing that will break my own moral code. It'll be clean.

I've got other stories in my head too, and I wonder how can authors keep characters, plots, etc straight for the stories they write or work on. If something is historical, how much research is needed into the time period? How would I submit a manuscript for consideration of being published? I'm one who would want a publishing house to publish it as opposed to self publishing and submitting it onto Amazon as say an e-book.

I follow a couple of really wonderful blogs that have helped me in some of my writing adventure. Seekerville is a blog that is written by several published authors. They always share tips and tell about contests and things too. Jody Hedlund, author of the Preacher's Bride & the Doctor's Lady, is another one I follow and have gained some insightful information.

So my head's full of questions and I have no answers.

Questions with no specific answer

I got an email the other day that literally had me in tears. No it wasn't one of those sappy forwards. You know the ones that have a tear-jerker story in them and you're supposed to forward them? Well this was an actual email from a very sweet woman.

And I found myself asking Why? Why was this happening to them? What is the lesson that we are going to learn by watching them with this struggle? How will it eventually glorify God?

I have no answers. I have deep admiration for them as they cling to their faith. But no hard and fast answers. And I don't understand. I know that for me, I'm going seek to gain understanding, even though I don't understand. I can only continue to pray and pray and love them and be inspired by their faith.


On a totally different note, I'm learning (and seeing) how God's will isn't exactly what I want. That didn't sound right. What I mean is that I have a very dear friend who has a very difficult time within the last eighteen months or so. And I know that I would selfishly pray for one outcome, but the outcome I'm seeing isn't the one that I wanted for her. But it's obvious that it's what God is wanting. And I'm ok with that. Especially since it seems that both she and her husband are growing.