She had almost given up hope. No matter that everyone called her beautiful. What was beauty, or anything, if you couldn’t pass it on to your children? And she had no children. The shame of it cloaked her, gnawed at her insides. What was a woman without children in her time? Far worse than one […]
When I first read about Unraveledon the ICFW (International Christian Fiction Writers) blog, the storyline fascinated me enough to prompt me to comment on the post—thus entering a drawing to win the book. And yep, I won! Funny, it’s the third time I’ve won a book in similar manner the past few years, prompting me […]
As promised, here are the ways I’ve been coming to understand some of the basic building blocks of story–with a certain Tale as Old as Time as example. 🙂 1. The Inciting Incident I first heard of this concept in a screenwriting class in college. This event is what gets the story going. […]
My sister and I are unashamed musical theater geeks. Sometimes I wonder what people sitting behind us in the audience think when we squeeze hands and sway and bounce together in time to the music during the overture—if they can even see us in a darkened theater—but we don’t care. We agree the most exciting […]
“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared…” Mary Magdalene The birds twitter in the pearly pre-dawn as we make our way up the stony path to the tomb. I want to shush them. It doesn’t seem right for anyone […]
Peter Darkness. I stumble through the Jerusalem streets, half-lost, wishing no one to find me. I stumble and fall, cracking my elbow against an abandoned vegetable cart, welcoming the pain. I deserve far worse. I huddle on the rocky ground and clutch my head in my hands, thankful for the night-blackness around me, though it […]
John I don’t understand, Lord. Ever since we sat down to supper, things haven’t been right. First You washing our feet—though only Peter had the guts to speak up to You about it. Then You saying things like “He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against me” and “one of you will […]
A little like Toward Bethlehem in December, I’m going to try a series leading us toward Easter–or as it was for Jesus and those who followed Him at this time of year two thousand years ago, up to Jerusalem. I hope we are all blessed as we turn our hearts to Him–to remember what He […]
The heat from the cooking fire dampened her face and plastered her hair to her forehead. Duck roasting, stew bubbling, bread baking. She glanced into the front room, irritation rising like the steam from the lentil pot. Her sister still sitting. Of course, it was a good thing to listen to Jesus. A very good […]
I rarely go to see movies in the theater—and almost never see the same movie twice on the big screen. But I did with Les Misérables. Many of my friends have loved this musical for years, whereas it’s only been this fall that it’s captured my heart–a combination of plugging through the book, seeing our […]
