Love IS the Answer

by Peter Leavell, @PeterLeavell 

God, are You good? Are You everywhere and know all things?

Yes? Then why does evil exist? (Theodicy)

Evil: Harm. Injury. And the decision to cause harm and injury. Enter the villain.
What overcomes evil? Gumption? Bacon? A can-do attitude? All good thing—maybe even great—but that’s not the Biblical, or even the philosophical answer.

Love: A feeling of constant affection for a person. The great commandment and the golden rule. Enter the hero.

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The Two Longings of a Story According to C. S. Lewis

by Peter Leavell, @PeterLeavell

He wanted to be a better man because of a character I created. After a lifetime of alcohol, he stopped drinking. He stopped hitting his wife. He hit off on the TV and took her to a museum and dinner.

He hasn’t looked back.

One of dozens of similar letters about my Western series made me revisit my writing philosophy to figure out why these men are cleaning up their lives and thinking outside themselves.

The idea comes from the first book I read on how to write, written by C.S. Lewis.

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Businesses Shake Hands Over Publishing Contracts

by Peter Leavell, @PeterLeavell

Oh, how I love everything about the publishing business!

But lately, there’s been so much banter about publishing lately, specifically Christian publishing, my compass seems to have added up and down to the cardinal four.

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She Couldn't, But She Did

by Peter Leavell @PeterLeavell

Once upon a time, a young girl wanted…

But then she was told she couldn’t. And she believed them.

My temperature rose 10 degrees writing those words, even though my heart chilled to absolute zero. Repression of any kind is wrong and must stop. But here's the rub. Overcoming repression makes for fantastic stories.

I’ve written on gender bias, slavery, Native Americans, and religious topics. At the moment, I'm obsessed with female repression. (To be clear, I love hearing how the oppression was overcome, thus learning a bit more about how I can be of service to the oppressed.)

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First Page: Level—Expert

by Peter Leavell @peterleavell

The novel’s first page is a sacred contract with the reader. The fine print is written between the lines. This is my best writing—continue if you want more.

I’ve read 25 books already this year, and frankly, the self-published novels are getting this wrong.

Take great pains to craft the first words carefully, because the reader will fling the book aside if she can’t figure out what the book’s about.

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Everywhere A Story

by Peter Leavell 
@peterleavell

You have one job.

Like troubadours of old, you tell stories.

This blog page's name hints at your storytelling medium. Novels!

That's good. No, that's better than good. That's fantastic.

So, a little scope about how stories propel our lives might be in order.

The first human did something—something either so stupid or so profound he had to tell someone about it.

Storytelling and taking in a story is a part of every breath we take.

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More Complicated Than Icebergs—But More Fun

By Peter Leavell @peterleavell

She spills on the fancy tablecloth again.

With practiced efficiency, my family finishes the dishes, whisks off the fine linen, and tosses it into washer.

My kids are good at cleaning up messes.

You’ve heard writing teachers compare character development to icebergs. Icebergs? Engines full reverse! Writing fascinating characters is so much more than a floating chunk of ice.

When the laundry is done, we put the cloth back on the table. The color across the center of the squared tablecloth is a cheerful yellow and blue. The bright patterns reflect our love and joy.

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Literature in the Hands of an Angry Secondary Reader

by Peter Leavell @peterleavell

The parents were gone and the child was bored. The kid went to the bookshelf and picked up a book.

Twenty years later.

*The boy treated women like the male characters did in his father’s action novels.

*All she knew about romance, she learned from her mother’s novels. One unrealistic relationship after another failed.

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Origins of Christmas

by Peter Leavell

When I was a youth, I read an article written by a Christian fiction writer I admired. Don’t have a Christmas tree in your home, she said. They are pagan.

When taking a present from under the tree, you’re bowing to the tree. Worshiping it. Adoring it. Christ is all we should bow to.

The thought stayed with me. And yes, I used the argument to belittle others and try to make myself look spiritual. I only did the reverse.

Now that I have a Liberal Arts degree from a University that has a great football team, and read enough theology and philosophy, I think I understand things better.

Christmas is an enigma.

Giving gifts? Absurd.

And awesome.

Flashing lights. Slippery sidewalks. Red noses. Laughing families. Hot cider. Reflection and peace. Stories we watched just one more time.

Ahhh. Christmas.

Where did Christmas come from?

Pagans.

Painful, I know. But Jesus didn’t set dates for holidays like God did with the Passover.

Christians didn’t want any association with riotous paganism. Increase Mather, a Puritan preacher, knew the origins of Christmas and banned the holiday between 1659 to 1681.

But Jesus’s birth should be celebrated. And what better way to celebrate than to supplant a raucous festival with one centered around love and selflessness?

Rome. (I’m fresh off writing a manuscript of Rome.) Saturnalia. A weeklong festival celebrated between December 17-25. This week, the Roman laws were no longer enforced. None. Here’s why—drunken people walked naked, sang, and raped people (per Greek observers). Every community picked a foreigner to enjoy every pleasure imaginal, and at the week’s end—they killed him.

Glad the holiday was replaced yet?

Constantine and Church elders believed the foundations of Christianity should displace such horrible practices, and after Constantine died, a Nativity feast was celebrated in 354 AD. But many of the traditions stayed, such as marching through the streets drunk, naked, and singing. Not too terribly Christian.

For the next thousand years, not much was written about the holiday, except that the more pagan practices fell away during the celebrations. That was, until Pope Paul II in 1466 reinstated the pagan rituals, which were enacted on the Jews. Jews were stripped naked and run through the streets, while Rome’s onlookers laughed. As late at the 1800’s, Jews in Rome were dressed in costumes and marched through the streets and pelted with snowballs and ice.

Not everyone reveled in the bad parts of Christmas. In fact, most simply partied. Christmas was a time of revelry, wild fun. But as time wore on and home grew more comfortable, the party was brought indoors with quiet traditions like the tree, mistletoe, presents, and Santa Claus.

Today, rededication to the reason for Christmas has added solemnity and focus to the holiday.

Christmas is so much more than remembering a child’s birth. Yes, Christmas has pagan roots. Yet, didn’t we? Wild then controlled. Selfish revelry then holy sacrifice? Solitary hedonism then communal worship. In total, Christmas is the birth of so much more, the meaning will take far more than twelve days to discover the holiday’s nuances.

Perhaps discovery should take a lifetime.

Do I have a Christmas tree? You betcha. Never went without one. Of course, I scoot on my back, reach over my head, and grab a present. 

TWEETABLES

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The discovery of Christmas should take a lifetime~ Peter Leavell (Click To Tweet)

Do I have a Christmas tree?~ Peter Leavell (Click To Tweet)

Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest, and 2013 Christian Retailing's Best award for First-Time Author. Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho. Learn more about Peter's books, research, and family adventures at www.peterleavell.com.

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Historical Accuracy in Novels

By Peter Leavell

Herodotus’s Third Law—for every historian, there is an equal and opposite historian.

There’s no record that Herodotus wrote such sage wisdom, but I’m sure I’ll come across it soon.

How important are historical facts in novels?

Two extremes:

Tossing history through a black hole because the past doesn’t fit your plot.

You can’t simply disregard history as some sort of nuisance just because it doesn’t fit the plot. For goodness sake, if Henry VIII switches on the light, you’re in the wrong genre. When Genghis Khan paused at the taco shack on Tuesday to get his salsa fix, you did it all wrong. And Susan B. Anthony didn’t squeeze into skinny jeans, did she?

Stymied completely by making sure every nuance, every word, every fire lit actually happened.

I know a writer who started looking for small Nebraska town’s train schedules from 1905 to accurately portray historical fact, aka, the train will pull in on such and such a time. She started at age 26 and I met her at age 45. And she’d just found her holy grail! She actually found a brochure—copied into the internet—and saw the train arrives in that small town at 4:37PM. She could finally move on with her manuscript…until I asked if the train was late that day. She went into concussion.

Tips on historical accuracy:

History is the pathway from which all we know has come. Explanations for who we are and why we do what we do can be found by studying the past. Staying true to events, known events chronicled by participants, is important, because misrepresentation of the past might change how we proceed with out future. However, the leeway the writer has is picking who to listen to when those chronicles differ. How many stories have been written of John F. Kennedy’s assassination? Everyone picks a specific eye witness chronicler and runs with a fresh version of the story. If you chose to write that the FBI was behind the assassination, then the reader will come away with possible undeserved distaste for the FBI. Be careful.

Don’t lose the main plot in details, ever. John F. Kennedy’s death is sometimes overlooked by the thrilling theories behind the assassination. A man dying is the heart of the story. An important man. The characters need to be drawn back periodically to the main point, like a ship orbiting earth’s gravity.

The political setting of every historical novel is important. A story with John F. Kennedy would miss so much if the writer didn’t research détente, mutually assured destruction, and Catholic phobias of the day. Those tidbits draw out how we came to be the way we are today. Historical romance that incorporates the free spirited heart of the cowboy fenced in by closing ranges and barbed wire adds a new level of emotional tension. How characters reacted to those political tensions can be found in diaries and interviews. You must use your imagination to picture what your characters might do under those circumstances and overlay them into the character.

Instruments used in the past give the story verisimilitude. Knowing they had electricity in the 1960’s can add a nice little historical element. Is the story lost if you can’t find out if electricity existed in the ‘60’s? No. Imagination and writer’s tricks can solve the problem. But before my dad strangles me about ‘did you have electricity when you were a kid, dad?’ we must admit that root beer in the 1960’s was probably more amazing than today. But characters don’t say, ‘oh my, this root beer is far better than they will have in 1999.’ They simply like what they like.

Looks like we’ve run out of time! Keep in mind the two extremes, and find a happy medium!

TWEETABLES

Historical Accuracy in Novels by Peter Leavell (Click to Tweet)

History is the pathway from which all we know has come~ Peter Leavell (Click to Tweet)

Peter Leavell

Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest, and 2013 Christian Retailing's Best award for First-Time Author. Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho. Learn more about Peter's books, research, and family adventures at www.peterleavell.com.

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Blog-Flinging——Should Authors Use Their Platform To Preach?

By Peter Leavell

Disciples of political and doctrinal ideals are lobbing blogs at each other in attempt to articulate their position. I’m not really a blog-flinger myself—but I’d love my own work hurled at people. There’s a problem though.

I’m not a political advisor. Or an opinion piece writer. I don’t chat with the political pundits weekly, nor do I dig through the volumes of work daily that necessitate a semi-informed position.

I have to face facts. I write novels.

I’m an entertainer. An entertainer of the highest quality, but still, an entertainer.

At Novel Rocker, we’re all entertainers.

For some odd reason, people listen to entertainers.

Do you know what it takes for me to be comfortable sharing my opinion? I’m going to share my opinion about how a person should offer their opinion.

A few years ago, I wrote myself a letter, and I’m sharing the highlights with you.

Dear Peter,

—You get angry at Hollywood actors who mumble their opinion and their quote is heralded as high thought. You’re as much an entertainer as actors. Don’t be a hypocrite. Learn your subject before you offer opinions.

—Offend as few as possible. Your platform wasn't built on offense. The goal is to obtain fans, not alienate them. Yes, truth sometimes divides. But remember Winston Churchill said “Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip.”

—If you’re not having fun, they’re not having fun. You’re an entertainer, Peter, and people pay money for your work.

—Peter, airing your thoughts might make you feel better that you’re doing your part for what’s right, but ramifications for the position might not be best for the future.

—Apologize for being wrong yesterday but be right today.

—Put forward ideas that have ramifications not for one presidency or immediate policies, but for generations into the future. The founding fathers of the United States had classical educations in Roman, Greek, and modern European traditions, and you cannot offer opinions unless you’ve studied in a similar vein. All that is said should ring with the truth of eternity.

—Make sure you are good friends with one enemy of every position you hold.

—There are two political parties, but several movements. Champion the movements, and you’ll outlast any party.

— Remain forever positive.

—Chose battles with utmost care. Remember? This has happened many times—regret strikes a few seconds after a comment is delivered.

—Peter, most of all, remember—you’re a Christian. They’ll know you by your love. Finding it hard to love, and instead want to fling blogs to fix people? Then Peter, are you sure you’re a Christian?

TWEETABLES

Blog-Flinging:ShouldBloggers use their platform to preach? By Peter Levell (Click to Tweet)

There are two politicalparties, but several movements. Champion the movements, and you’ll outlast anyparty. ~ Peter Leavell (Click to Tweet)

Peter Leavell

Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest, and 2013 Christian Retailing's Best award for First-Time Author. Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho. Learn more about Peter's books, research, and family adventures at www.peterleavell.com.

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Emotional Dragons Eating Authors: Emotions and YOU!

Peter Leavell

Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest, and 2013 Christian Retailing's Best award for First-Time Author. Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho.  www.peterleavell.com.

I heard dragons devour authors who write boring books. Or maybe dragons burn the books. I can't remember.  

Repeat after me—my writing will not be boring.

Jesus wasn't boring! (Jesus juke!)

You know what deflects boredom? Not reading a boring book. 

But even better, add this key ingredient:

Emotion.

Galadriel: "The quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail to the ruin of all." LotR

Your quest is to evoke emotions in readers. 

Emotions and Me

I hate waiting. Groans, pleadings, cries for mercy come from my side of the car at every red light. Why? Anger covers my boredom. Makes the dull moments manageable. I’m not emotionally engaged in the bored moment until I’m angry. 

David Banner: "Mr. McGee, don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." TIH

Love can work the same way. Humans are intolerable. We're writers, so we can admit that little secret. But love makes me want to be with my wife every second of every day. 

Miracle Max: "Sonny, true love is the greatest thing, in the world-except for a nice MLT – mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe. They’re so perky, I love that." PB

Credits: Relatable.com 

Getting Philosophical

Postmodern America. Emotions reign as king. Emotion is truth. Science is proved and disproved and proved again with no answers to the meaning of life. Philosophy is depressing, and worse, confusing. Religion builds massive structures then erects signs to advertise like banks, promising huge rewards for deposits. How can that be truth?

To most, how I feel is the only motivation that matters. It's the only truth we can verify. We’re told we can’t control how others feel, only ourselves. So if we control our stimuli, or situations, then we can have a pretty good time. 

*Special INSERT: Christians

The truth is Christ. But if Christ is king, then emotions are prince. We look for joy and peace from Christ. God delivers. Beware of guilt, though. We work to assuage guilt, then the lack of guilt is pleasure. Is lack of guilt true joy? For some.

Col. Jessep: ''You want answers?"
Kaffee: "I think I'm entitled to."
Col. Jessep: "You want answers?"
Kaffee: "I want the truth!"
Col. Jessep: "You can't handle the truth!" AFGM

Practical Writing Tips

Readers desperately want to feel their pain reflected back through our work. They want joy. They want boredom squashed. They want to learn so they can feel as if they are getting smarter. Evoke emotion!

These are extraordinarily boring for today's readers:

Endless Flashbacks.

Narrative longer than Tweets.

Mindless monologs.

Action with no point.

Kissing and sex with no point.

Clichés. 
Gardening. Just kidding. Gardening is awesome. 

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. -Greek Proverb

Last Tidbits of Advice You Can Skip But Shouldn't:

Sometimes we see the world in a problem/solution kind of way. Society and religion, yes, they have problems. But we use our fiction to dispense solutions. That’s not art. That’s propaganda. Stop it. It’s boring. The line is too fine to walk. Focus on story, and if there's a statement in there somewhere, great!

Tension on every page? It’s a cheap emotion and readers grow immune. Vary emotions like you would vary sentence structure.

What’s exciting for some is boring for others. Vary the thrills.

Conclusion:

Counterpoints can be set out like drinks for every problem that enters the café. But there's one truth we can't get around. Boring doesn't sell well, unless the professor assigns it. Emotionally engage your reader. Give them something to feel. And maybe, just maybe, they'll feel alive.

Doc. Frankenstein "It's Alive! IT'S ALIVE!" YF

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Flippant Christianity and Flannelgraphs Slapbox in Church

Peter Leavell

Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest, and 2013 Christian Retailing's Best award for First-Time Author. Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho.

—Early Christian art tells us the artists were amateurs. Their ability didn't stop them. Paintings in the catacombs were focused on the relationship between their helpless position as sheep, contrasted with Christ as the Good Shepherd. Not only did the paintings confirm the beliefs of the dead and those who buried them, but inspired 2000 years of believers.

I can’t even color the new coloring books on the Psalms. Are you kidding? For the past twenty years, the only reason I picked up an art utensil other than black was because blue was the only pen not lost in my office.

—Iconic Christian art reflected the inability of peasants to read. Biblical stories were crafted onto wood, plaster, and glass stains as emblems of the Good News. These items resonate not only through time, but across cultures.

I remember my flannelgraph lessons in Sunday School. King David looked like a European monarch with a secret, and Goliath was definitely a guy I would hang out with now. When the teacher left, I acted out my own stories. The other students hung around to watch.

—Scientists who believe in Christ abound. Hildegard of Bingen, Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, Francis Bacon, Rosalind Picard, and so many more. Some preach their beliefs—others dabble in the fact there’s a Supreme Being.

When I took science classes, I learned to love the natural world. Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to think more about contracts than content, and the passion was distilled to can we make it through the textbook this semester? Science was hard for me, unlike history, so I was left behind to barely grasp a handful of important concepts, like lava is hot enough to shape islands and roast marshmallows.

—Augustine of Hippo’s writings set a high standard for Christian writers. Few authors throughout history can match the philosophical standard and doctrinal influence. John Bunyan, C.S. Lewis, John Foxe, John Calvin, Oswald Chambers and maybe, maybe, many Christians believe John Piper, but he has to die and then we give it fifty years.

In the past, I avoided these writers for one million reasons that make no sense.

~~~~~

N.D. Wilson posed an idea that changed my flippant attitude—Our brothers and sisters in Christ are beheaded, blown up, massacred. Go through a Christian Store and purchase something that will bring them comfort. A figurine? A fiction? A painting of Mary crying? A cardboard cutout of Joel Osteen? 

I know my work falls short.

Christianity has a long history of incredible thinkers, motivators, artists and artisans, men and women who have shaken the world through their arts and disciplines. Most were persecuted, shamed, laughed at. None were comfortable, all were compelled, each as curious about the world God created as the next.

You are a part of that history. They have handed the torch to you, burning bright, filled with hope and promise and dreams and joy, all reflecting God. What are you doing with it?

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Coins in a Fountain

Inside the three-acre play-land castle, the woman wiped away tears as three exhausted boys passed the Coins for Charity sign and approached the fountain.

The oldest boy looked to be 9 or 10, the second a year younger, and the smallest about 4 years old. She held a hand to her mouth as all three waddled closer, reached into their bulging pockets, and grabbed coins by the handful. The deep plop of coins falling in water was louder than the light spray from the statue.

No one watched. No parent stood nearby.

Yes, there was some good in this world. The sacrifice these boys made for the less fortunate surely represented a lifetime of savings.

She rounded up her daughter and left the play land.

She vowed to be a better person.

THREE HOURS EARLIER

Mom took us to Wylie Park in Aberdeen, South Dakota, a rare treat since it was an hour drive away. A center castle with nearby attraction was the most fun a kid could have. I was the oldest at 10, my brother Chris 9, and Joe was 5.

“Hey,” I told my brothers. “Check this out.” I led them to the bridge, crossed the moat, and headed past a sign I didn’t bother to read and stopped at the center fountain. Under the shimmering water lay a vast carpet of silver and copper treasure.

I let my imagination slip directly past my brain and gave it complete control of my tongue and body. In a few moments, I’d convinced my brothers to take part in the biggest get-rich-quick scheme I’d ever devised, and soon we were shuttling coins from the fountain to outside the castle and into a hole. We covered our loot with dirt and returned to playing.

When mom called us to return to return to the car, I’m not entirely sure how she missed our bulging front and back pockets, scooped shirts, and handfuls of coins. We started counting in the car's back seat. $28, which was almost 28 times my life savings. My pounding heartbeat made me dizzy. The thrill!

“Where did you get that money?” my mom asked.

Two seconds after our explanation, we were back in the parking lot.

As we started back to castle, I think I heard my mom say “I wondered why the car felt so heavy.”

Returning money is heavier work than acquiring it, and by the time we made it to the fountain, we were played out. My imagination thought we should flick the coins in one at time, but Chris opened the pouch he’d made with the bottom of his shirt and coins poured in. I shoved in handfuls.

I didn’t even care a lady was watching. She was so mad at us, she was crying. She snatched her daughter's hand and left.

We returned to the hole and dug up the other half of the treasure and returned the coins to the fountain. I think we got them all.

Nuances of writing mirror life. We want to see our pain reflected in characters. We want our experiences normalized in fiction. We want winners to be happy and evildoers to repent. But everyone brings different experiences with them when they read. Predicting what our readers take away from our work is impossible.

Takeaway values don't come from manipulating the emotions of readers, but through depth of character, first in our life, then naturally appear in our work. Focus on writing about humanity. Because you never know what an onlooker will take away from the story.

Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest, and 2013 Christian Retailing's Best award for First-Time Author. Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho. www.peterleavell.com.

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Writing Westerns

Cooking up an antiquated western is easy!

First, grab a mixing bowl—we call it The West. Throw in a trusty horse and a cowboy with a white ten-gallon hat. Next, add spice—a gorgeous female in distress who wants a cowboy to take her to a ranch where she'll have babies and keep the house clean for him. To add a bitter flavor, pour in a thin-lipped villain in black. Mix well. Dollop scenes in sequential order and bake in the Arizona desert until burnt. Serve with a side of angry Indian, a crusty gold miner looking for the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine, and beans. 

Used with Permission. Laura Harkins

Gone (we hope) are the days of formula westerns. So why do numbers say westerns are making a comeback? Because new westerns have qualities the enduring American West novels embraced.

High stakes keep readers turning the page. Losing a few head of cattle (the stakes are steaks) won't keep the reader’s interested. If the lives of many are troubled by the fight between the hero and villain, the more interesting. Granted, Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry is a cattle drive. But an entire way of life is at stake.

Give the girl a gun, please. Helpless damsels in distress are no longer in fashion, unless it's simply a person rendered defenseless. Historically, women in the west were cast-iron. Charles Portis wrote True Grit’s Mattie Ross as the toughest person in the novel, with more sand than even the meanest marshal she could find. She’s just awesome.

Envio

Embrace Ethnicity. Many of the famous western writers loved the Native American’s way of life and portrayed their point of view. Some included the Chinese, African American, Mexican, and countless others. Movies, however, needed faceless villains. The plot lines wreaked havoc on minorities. I’m thinking of the stagecoach chase scenes with feathered and painted Caucasian stuntmen galloping on horseback, only to be slaughtered by bouncing riders with small Winchesters. In today's westerns, everyone’s point of view matters.

No person is perfect. Even heroes and heroines suffer from limitations. Giving them a fault or a medical condition makes them more believable. Jubal, in Louis L’Amour’s Jubal Sackett, seems to suffer from ADHD and possibly a mild hyperkinetic disorder. But yet, he finds a place where he can be himself and discover love.

These tips and more are played out in my western West for the Black Hills!

Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest, and 2013 Christian Retailing's Best award for First-Time Author. Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho. www.peterleavell.com.

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Philosophy of Swearing: Words Like OUCH in Christian Fiction

Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest, and 2013 Christian Retailing's Best award for First-Time Author. Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho. For entertainment, he reads historical books, where he finds ideas for new novels. For relaxation, he writes westerns. Whenever he has a chance, he takes his wife and two homeschooled children on crazy but fun research trips. Learn more about Peter's books, research, and family adventures at www.peterleavell.com.



A pit bull bit me, and days afterward, the wound was still sore. As I sat down, it hurt. “Ouch!”

The man at the meeting turned his gaze toward me. “I wish you wouldn’t.” He sat to my left.

“Wouldn’t what?” I leaned back on the hard bench.

“Say that.”

“You mean…” I didn’t say the O word. “Why?”

He glanced at the speaker, who seemed preoccupied for a bit longer, took a deep breath, and said, “You’re replacing the word you said with one you might have said. But the meaning is clear. You used it as a swear word.”

I pointed at my hip. “But it hurts.”

“It’s your heart. Let God get a hold on your heart.”

I rubbed my hip. “It really hurts.”

“God works with you through your pain.” The man crossed his arms. “Give your pain to Him the moment you feel discomfort, and you won’t need to swear.”

Discomfort? More like agony. What was this guy getting at? “It’s not like I used a euphemism of the seven dirties.” I shifted, and pain shot through my hip. I didn’t say it. Instead, I grunted.

He gritted his teeth. “Again?”

“What? What?”

“Look,” he said. “Language is fluid, flexible. Groans are as valid a language as any. The point is, you’re using the sound as a swear word. This is an issue of your heart.”

Thankfully, as a writer, I’m a target for philosophies, and I’ve heard ideas like this before. I say philosophy because his idea fits more a Platonic society with a Christian twist—creating a ruling state of spirituality in the church—than a doctrine regarding sin. The rules to this game can be made up on the spot.

It’s best, I’ve learned, to stay quiet.

I kicked him.

He said, “Ouch!”

I love writing Christian fiction. But I've noticed two camps that sometimes leave discussion and start tossing angry words at each other—one that attacks Christian fiction, while the other defends it. One side celebrates the clean fiction and wants it cleaner, while the other is stretching the boundaries and definitions of Christian fiction.

It’s best to remember that both sides are philosophies, not doctrines. Will one or the other go to hell over their belief? If you believe the answer is yes, perhaps it’s time to bring in my other buddy who believes fiction of any kind is sin. He’ll kick you in the shin so you swear.

Both camps are pretty much valid. They're both wrong, as well.

There’s room for (almost) everyone in Christian fiction—from the person who is heartbroken over the filth in Christian fiction (she said the word guts! *Ramona the Brave) to Christian fiction is sweet romance with a moral lesson that brightens the day because purity of mind is to not knowingly allowing entertainment to include certain sins.

In the end, this election for who is right and who is wrong is decided with the vote of the dollar. Christian consumers will decide who will win the debate, and publishing companies will be one step behind.

Just remember, critical thinking skills are only honed by honest, cool debate. Not hot, emotional words.


(Edit: The above story is true, in case reading fiction is a philosophical problem for the reader)

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Pilates for Your Imagination

Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest, and 2013 Christian Retailing's Best award for First-Time Author. Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho. For entertainment, he reads historical books, where he finds ideas for new novels. For relaxation, he writes westerns. Whenever he has a chance, he takes his wife and two homeschooled children on crazy but fun research trips. Learn more about Peter's books, research, and family adventures at www.peterleavell.com.

Imagination—To create a picture without using your senses.

Does crafting the perfect sentence—both grammatically correct and rhythmically pleasing—get you published?

Does owning a bank account with free refills get you published?

Does marrying the CEO of a publishing company get you published?

Help your odds at getting published—write a stellar plot. I don't want to read a book you published through manipulations. I want to read a stellar book, one the publisher was forced to publish because the plot was brilliant.

You’re going to need an imagination, and no bottomless bank account’s going to buy one. Here are a few tips to exercise your plot-making skills.

—Daydream. In pictures, not words. If you can’t, I’m sorry. So sorry.

—Imagine a smell. Then imagine a taste. Next, a touch. Now a sound. And finally a picture. Anything. Then try combining two. Can you mix three? All five?

—Read. Turn off the blasted TV. Throw it over a cliff.

—Study gorgeous paintings. Make the figures move. Give them a story.

—Think of a sarcastic statement to everything around you. WARNING: Choose what comes out of your mouth carefully.

—Talk to children—toddler to teen. Brainstorm anything with them.

—Make your main character your imaginary friend.

—When telling stories to friends, work it. Make it funny, visual, and expressive.

—Spend time with creative people.

—Don’t resist. Observe people. Make up stories about them.

—Don’t keep your imagination in your comfort zone. Challenge yourself. Be curious. Be daring. Be naughty.

You’re responsible for your education. Work it!

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God's Two Incompatible Tasks

Her hands shake. Black, swollen eyes are covered by hurried strokes of makeup, and I worry she’s been beaten. I ask. She says, ‘God told me to write. Then He gives me four kids and a husband who doesn’t earn enough for me to stay home. I’ve no time to write.’ It rips her heart into six pieces.



At the same conference, I discuss the problem with a man. His arms are crossed, and his fingers work as if squeezing a stress ball. ‘If I don’t write, I die. But I can’t get a moment to myself.’ He hunches over and his face contorts. He cries.



These are writers. They care little for being published, for fame, for perceived money. They must write. But there is no time to set aside.



Photodune

We’re in trenches. This is war. 



We can’t be normal writers. No one will give us time to write, so we take it from the day’s hands like an open knife from a toddler. When we do, fifteen minutes opens like sunshine through a misty morning. We snatch our laptop and write. Five sentences, and it carries us through to our next fix. 



Our families are our life. They are the few humans who try to understand us. So we bask in the love of our people. Quality minutes. Quality hours. And when they lay their heads down on pillows, we write as if Satan were on our heels and the click of the keyboard is the shield that keeps the devil from ripping our hearts out.



While other writers suffer from writer’s block and low energy and broken self-esteem, we suffer from fits of jealousy that someday we might have battles so time consuming ourselves. God reminds us it’s all wasted emotion, and we wonder what our characters would do when as depressed and frustrated as we are, because our characters are heroes. We listen to our imaginary friends and we take their advice, because it is good advice. They read their Bibles more than we do, so they know…



And our phones are connected to social media 100% of the time, because publishers and God want us to talk about our adventures, and we do, and we answer our fans and their questions, but we do it in the bathroom (don’t judge), or walking across the street (walk around us, please), but never driving, because we’re not stupid.

We’re not locked away in a study typing all day, and we’re doing all we can to not destroy our family’s lives by writing—but we know this is God’s calling. And we're learning that God has not abandoned us by giving us two incompatible tasks—life and writing—but we're learning our writing reflects life. Because we’re living our lives to the fullest. And one day, despite swollen eyes and stressed bodies and fragile minds, we wake up, look at our lives, and realize we have become a spokesperson for our God.

Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest, and 2013 Christian Retailing's Best award for First-Time Author. Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho. www.peterleavell.com.

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Editor in a Windshield

Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history, was the 2011 winner of

Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest, and 2013 Christian Retailing's Best award for First-Time Author. Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho.

If I were to hang a label on my car rearview window, it would say Windshield: Eyes Only.

My holy shrine is the inside of my car windshield. So sacred is the space that I will let a bug roam unmolested leaving its filthy footprints. Until it reaches the dashboard.

My windshield is like the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea—a no-man’s land sanctuary for flora and fauna. No one touches. No one thinks of touching.

Why? Because if there’s a chip, I stare at the mark instead of the road. Because a fingerprint leads to smudges and a professional clean leaves streaks. Any mark inside the windshield, at that point, I install a new windshield.

I should have told my family.

Frosty winters in Idaho are the norm, and with no garage, we pull out the scraper and clean off the ice and snow. The outside of the windshield is touchable with the right utensils. But one day, as I packed my bags, my wife started the car and the kids beat me outside. My son and daughter had already cleared the frost from the windshield. 

What I saw next is seared into my memory. Six hands pressed against the inside of the windshield. 

The world around me moved in slow motion, including my voice.

“Noooo!”

“No. No. No. No.” I jerked the door open.

My wife, son, and daughter leaned forward and pressed their palms against the consecrated glass. “Look, Daddy,” my daughter said. “We can melt the ice faster. It’s cold, though.” She pulled her hands back and rubbed them together.

Numb, and as if in a dream, I sat in the driver’s seat and surveyed the damage.

I could see through the windshield.

Incredible. They’d destroyed the sanctity of the untouched glass, but I could see. Clearly.

Sometimes our manuscripts are sacred ground, and we’re loath to let an editor touch our work. Yes, when the editor is finished, our work will be smudged with their fingerprints. But with their input—their hands against the windshield—the manuscript will be cleaned efficiently. And you'll learn to let go of your sacred windshields. 

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I Read, I Write, and My Daughter Does Arithmetic

My twelve-year-old daughter crafted a way to bolster reading time.

Why does my reading time matter to me?

Readers know when authors don’t study.

We all know the books written by men and women with no interest in literacy. The book has no hope of lasting works defined as genius, and there's no motive other than a bit of an ever-diminishing paycheck. These stories litter the shelves of both general and Christian market.

Of course, you write works of genius. That’s why you read books. And read Novel Rocket. And read Peter Leavell novels.

Reading, to an author, is more important than writing.

What happens when you don’t read? Is there danger in not feeding fiction plotlines into your brain? What does it matter if you don’t study interesting characters of biography? What if the ‘little gray cells’ never grapple with the fascinating biosphere of nonfiction?

Or more harshly said—can you live in a vacuum filled with fellow lifeless drones who strive for their next phone and reproduce nothing other than artless humanism?

If you need an excuse to read more, here’s your stamp of vindication on your timecard—your writing is shallow when you don’t read.

The thought’s brutal, but your characters, plotlines, and the worlds they live in are only as brilliant as you. And you’re not getting any smarter unless you’re reading.

Reading expands your thinking. Reading bolsters your writing skill. Reading strengthens your writing voice.

My daughter made 10 bookmarks, numbered 1 through 10.

My crafty daughter!

Any given book I should be able to finish in ten days. When I divide a 300 page book by 10, I place the first bookmark at page 30, the second at page 60, third at page 90, and if you don’t get the pattern yet, read a math book. Marker 10 is on the last page, unless the book is over 400 pages, then I divide the total pages by 11 and give myself an extra day.

If life is going smooth, I’ll be reading three books at a time. I rarely read over the bookmark, unless the book is so compelling I can’t help myself, or I’m close to finishing a chapter.

I also keep one nonfiction history with 1000 or more pages I read, simply when I need a history fix. I have 10 markers, but 1 represents the first year. Ha!

Happy reading!

Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest, and 2013 Christian Retailing's Best award for First-Time Author. Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho. www.peterleavell.com.

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