S'up Saturday

Next week we have interviews with Frank Peretti (3 part) and Denise Hunter.

We're two weeks away from my pals, Jessica Dotta and Ane Mulligan coming on board Novel Journey to help and I can't wait!

I had a crazy dream last night that NavPress bought my second novel. Even as I slept, I knew it was a dream. What gave it away was Shannon Hill (Waterbrook) offered me the contract. I thought, you're not with NavPress. Crud. This is a dream.

But, I did get to talk with Frank Peretti for over an hour and that wasn't a dream. Unless I'm dreaming right now. That would be awful. I'm tired from my morning run and then I wake up and not only did I not talk to Frank but I have to run again? Ugh.

I'm working on the 4th chapter of my third novel,
Nailed Open. This is the story of a young psychiatrist whose husband is murdered in her arms before they even consummate the marriage. Her search for answers takes her into the bowels of a dangerous cult.

I'm still working on the tag line and the paragraph synopsis. I actually love coming up with those, but I may ask my buddy Al Gansky for his input. This man is incredible. He came up with the tag lines for both my other novels.

To get to the light, some must travel through darkness (Saving Eden)
Valencia wanted to serve God. She didn't know she'd have to go through Hell to do it.
(Demon Chaser)

I can zing them out for other people but have a harder time with my own.


I'm loving this story. My style has gotten a little more literary, but I've learned I don't really want to be a literary writer. What I really want is to write beautiful prose now and again like Charles Martin combined with the story telling skills of Peretti, Dekker or King. I've learned through writing a couple of books and reading a whole lot of books what I like to read and suspense/thrillers are what I'm best suited to write.

No demons in this one. I figure I should probably write something that has the best chance of getting my foot in the door, (then I can whip out my female exorcist book and get that 'you're a freak' look I've grown almost fond of).

And it's funny, I'm finding when you don't have the supernatural elements in your story, it's a whole lot easier to write. I don't have to worry how this metaphor will be taken or if that demon is biblically accurate or at least not contrary to scripture.

The story is flowing from me, unlike The Demon Chaser, which I had to pry from my brain, and every word frustrated me.

It's also so nice to write something light. And I use the word "light" lightly. A murder by page three. A cult. But, compared to demons, even a deranged antagonist seems breezy.

I didn't get to go to Mount Hermon but I hear it's a great conference. I asked a few people what went on there. It sounds like they had a lot of fun. Sigh. Dineen Miller was good enough to share her experience.

I Survived Mount Hermon

By Dineen Miller

Aside from a deluge of rain and an imaginary serial killer, I’m proud to say I survived the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. The week was packed with great speakers, in-depth workshops, intense writing tracks, and plethora of food. Here’s one writer’s POV of a week in “Writerville.”

I entered the scene last Friday, a wide-eyed innocent newbie who hoped one of her two submitted manuscripts would make an impression. Well, one actually. The other one I’d diligently packed up the week before with the prayer, “God, if it’s time to shelve it, let it come back with a ‘thanks-but-no-thanks.’” We wouldn’t get our submissions back until after lunch on Saturday. They do this intentionally so that we live one day of blissful ignorance, surrounded by peers also wrapped in the same aura of denial.

Dinner and a general session followed the Friday afternoon orientation and workshops, and would be the pattern for the week. Keynote speaker Phil Callaway’s humor and wit uplifted our hearts and minds each evening. Here’s a man who knows how to turn any situation into something to laugh about. If his books are as good as his speeches, then I plan to infuse my reading library with several. Lesson learned? If you can’t laugh at life, then laugh at your family. No, just kidding. Phil’s best words came the last day. “Courage is fear prayed for.” That one’s a keeper.

My surprise the first day? The worship. The place is bathed in the Holy Spirit. Eustace Scrub (Michael Snyder, Jeanne Damoff, and Chris Fisher) dazzled us with their musical talents each night (along with their body guard, Jennifer Tiszai). And a communion service for Palm Sunday blessed everyone in attendance. New friends were made, old friends reconnected, and agents and editors culled the sea of talent present at the conference. But each night we got to go back to the source and praise Him in worship, a reminder of who really was in charge that week.

Then came Saturday. This day is still a blur. I have this mental image, almost like a dream, swimming in my brain. As I walk through a crowd of people, their own yellow envelopes clutched as tightly in their hands as mine are, I see a range of expressions varying from delight, confusion and tears.

Put in me in the confused category.

The manuscript I’d had high hopes for came back with a “thanks, but keep refining.” The one I fully expected to be rejected, I received a “let’s talk.” My conference mentor buddy, Marilyn Hilton’s words came back to me. “What usually happens at Mount Hermon is what you least expect.” No kidding and, boy, was she right. I met with that editor and hope more will come of it.

My favorite part of this wild ride was the mentoring clinic I participated in with nine other writers. Brandilyn Collins was our mentor, and, prior to the conference, we were required to exchange a two-page synopsis and the first twenty pages of our manuscripts with the other participants. Our multi-talented and multi-genred group met Saturday for the first time and yours truly was initiated to give the first critique. Trepidation, fear, excitement—inadequate words for what most of us were feeling. By Monday we’d become a close-knit group bound by our determination (or stubbornness) to be better writers.

The next two days continued the pattern of appointments and meals with agents and editors, coveted times to talk about our work and pick the brains of these industry leaders. The common thread in their words? Write a good story, hone your craft, work hard.

Down times were filled with laughter and socializing. As Steve Laube said, “A needed release of tension.” And it was. Laughter more boisterous and louder perhaps than the normal day, we craved the time to let down our guards and just be people. The coffee shop didn’t discriminate between published and unpublished, agent or editor. All came to relax, unwind, and share a few, and, mostly ridiculous, jokes. The birthplace of the infamous Great Chick-lit Killer Caper, and forever the spot where I convinced a dazed and depleted Jeff Gerke to play a bubble game on my laptop. Talk about being memorable. Yes, I am bubble girl.

The key to surviving Mount Hermon? Keep an open heart, and more importantly, expect the unexpected. And if all else fails, take a nap.
What did I really learn during this week? Slow down, let God, and work hard. You can’t survive being a writer without writing friends, you can’t expect to get very far unless you’re willing to study the craft, and ultimately