Marianne Evans: Be Still...and Know...

Marianne Evans

Some days, my inbox just swirls, a never-ending delivery system of opportunities good and bad. A lot of the junk mail is easy to toss—those winning lottery notifications from Nigeria, the ads for hair care, medications, dating sites. But along come the ones worth exploring: invitations to book launches for authors I love, invitations to speak at events, invitations from supportive booksellers who want to host signings.

One missive in particular ended my scrolling. It originated from my home church in Southeast Michigan. ‘Come to our three-day Lenten retreat and get in touch with the stillness of God’s presence!’

The message made me think. God. Stillness. How can I make them blend and harmonize in the midst of a world bent on supersonic speed, instant gratification, instant and quantifiable results?

I read through the registration information, and there came no twitches of excitement and eagerness. Rather, I sighed—and wilted at the keyboard. Defeat seeped in. I wanted to go, certainly. The offering was meaningful. But along came a spike in anxiety, a never ending battle to reconcile what I can do with what I can’t—no matter how enriching.

I’m ashamed to say my first thought was this: If I give up three nights during my overcrowded work week to attend this mission, how would I find the time and energy to pay attention to everything else that needed ‘doing’ in my life?

To be blunt, and perfectly honest, stillness is a precious commodity in my life. Professional obligations crowd in against my family life, my writing ministry, time spent with friends. Additionally, I find technology and its outpouring of information to be a blessing and a curse. So many wonderful opportunities vie for my attention. There are days I drink it in and find myself graced with spiritual growth. Other days, I just drown. So much to do, so little time. So many worthwhile endeavors, so spare my ability to spread thin and do it all.

When I become overwhelmed, prayer life suffers. Meditation suffers. Stillness and relationship with God suffers. None of that can stand. First of all, how could I have ever looked at this mission as ‘giving up’ time? That revised attitude followed me into the mission, which I gratefully attended. After all, nothing is ‘given up’ when I immerse myself in worship, in thanksgiving, in the restorative energy and vitality of God’s Word.

Attending the retreat at my church was a treat—an illuminating trio of evenings where I laughed, was touched, and grew in my faith. I was refreshed and renewed. Why? Because I stopped. I went still. I prayed. I focused—focused on the God who loves me, and provides for me always.

I needed that Lenten lesson, very much.

Scriptural Reflection and Prayer:

Psalm 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Let the words sink in. Absorb them. When life overwhelms, the most effective solution is often times the most difficult: Step back. Breathe.  Pray. Don’t be afraid to rest and reflect.

Lord, the assurance of Your provision is founded in the truth of Your Word. Help us always to know that You are watching over us, You are guiding our very footsteps toward greater life, and love, in You.


Marianne Evans is a multi-award-winning author of Christian romance and fiction. Her hope is to spread the faith-affirming message of God’s love through the stories He prompts her to create. Readers laud her work as: ‘Riveting.’ ‘Realistic and true to heart.’ ‘Compelling.’

Marianne’s novel, Devotion earned the prestigious Bookseller’s Best Award from Greater Detroit Romance Writers of America as well as Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements from the ACRA, a chapter of RWA.  Hearts Communion earned Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year honors in the Romance category as well as Best Inspirational Romance from ACRA. Her novella Finding Home earned the Selah Award for excellence in Christian fiction and Evans has also earned acclaim in such RWA contests as The International Digital Awards, The Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence where she has been a finalist twice, and the Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence contest.

Happily married and the mother of two, Marianne is a lifelong resident of Michigan who is active in a number of a number of Romance Writers of America chapters, most notably the Greater Detroit Chapter where she served two terms as President. She’s also active in American Christian Fiction Writers and the Michigan Literary Network.

Connect at:

Website

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Marianne's upcoming release,
JODIE'S SONG,

coming April 14th:

Nothing fills Jodie Cunningham's spirit like sharing contemporary Christian music and scriptural insights on her morning drive radio show at KWJD. But lately, she’s overwhelmed and depleted by family circumstances that have led her from Dallas to Angel Falls, Texas and Heart's Haven apartment complex.

Kevin Mitchell is the groundskeeper at Heart's Haven—a place famous for angelic intercession and loving connections. His uncle owns the facility, but he's ailing. Kevin eagerly chips in, and as he prepares the grounds for a spring wedding, he meets Jodie. They begin to work together to make Heart's Haven sparkle.

But just as Kevin succeeds at coaxing Jodie's heart to bloom, tragedy strikes in a double dose that tests both their strength of faith and the love they've found.

Purchase Link:

Pelican Book Group

Delia Latham: Team Writing - Who’s Pulling the Plow?

In the beginning was me. Just me. Me alone, writing my novels and being…me.

I couldn’t imagine co-writing a book. How is it even possible? Do the authors take turns, chapter by chapter? Do they argue over events in the story? How do they agree on all the little details involved in making a book work?

Then I became a part of Heart’s Haven. Mary Manners, Marianne Evans, Tanya Stowe and I write our own, individual stories in each 4-book collection, but they’re all set at the same time period, in the same location, and often with shared characters. These projects gave me a taste of the coordination necessary between writers to make an entire collection of books flow together, with all the details coinciding smoothly. I liked it. I liked it a lot.

Somehow, from the relationships formed writing those collections, Tanya and I discovered that our strengths and weaknesses played well off each other. During a time when I was physically weak and fast approaching a deadline for four contracted books, I enlisted her invaluable assistance to make it happen. She and I co-wrote two of those crunch-time books—both novellas, and both Christmas stories.

Tanya is a top-notch, wonderfully skilled plotter. I’m a pantster, and my stronger skill is in crafting words—making them pretty, seeing that they flow properly, and adhering to writing rules and mechanics. Does that mean Tanya can’t make words pretty? Absolutely not. Does it mean I’m a failure at coming up with a plot? No. But recognizing our strengths and weaknesses helped us form a great team as co-writers.
 
If you’re interested in giving co-writing a whirl, maybe these tips will get you started on the right foot…er, feet.

• Choose a writing partner you admire, respect, and trust implicitly. Through Heart’s Haven, Tanya and I came to highly respect each other’s individual writing skills. We also learned enough about each other as people—just one woman to another, writing completely aside—to know that we had quite a bit in common. We found that we could count on each other as strong prayer partners. A series of personal events convinced me that I could trust Tanya with private matters. All of these things combined to create a relationship strong enough to handle the pros and cons of co-writing—because, as in most worthwhile undertakings, there are some of each.
  
• Find out if you can accept critiques from your prospective partner.  We critiqued a few things for each other, and found that our critique styles were compatible. That’s incredibly important now, as we write together. A lot of back-and-forth critique-type comments are involved, and if your writing partner’s manner of delivering a criticism offends, hurts, or angers you, it’s never going to work. You both need to be able to point out problem areas without hard feelings or bruised egos.
  
• Know and own your strengths and weaknesses.  Are you strong at characterization, but a little shaky with description? Do you love dialogue, but deep POV ties you in knots? There is no shame in admitting your weak points. And there’s nothing wrong with knowing you’re good at the things you’re good at. You must be able to recognize and own your strengths and weaknesses, so you can properly balance them against someone else’s.
  
• Recognize and embrace your writing partner’s strengths and weaknesses.  Tanya is well-traveled. I am not. She’s a history buff. I have never been, and can’t imagine myself ever becoming one. So her life experiences lend something to our writing that I could never accomplish on my own. I’m character-driven, and do very well at creating strong, likeable, believable characters. Detail-oriented, I easily pick up on spots in a storyline where bits and pieces don’t agree from chapter-to-chapter, or where they just don’t work, based on other parts of the story. Combined, our strengths and weaknesses “play well” together and create a harmonic writing relationship.
  
•  Do a trial run.  If you and a prospective partner think you’re ready to form a team, try writing one book together. Make it a novella—they’re faster and easier for a first effort. Agree ahead of time that you’ll both feel free to cry off if it isn’t working for you, without straining your relationship. Just a simple, “Hey, we gave it our all, but I don’t think this is my cup of tea.” As mature adults, and certainly as Christians, your friendship (or whatever you choose to call your relationship) should be able to survive without a problem. If not…well, thank God you didn’t plow ahead into a bigger project!
  
• Have fun!  If co-writing really does feel like you’re hooked to a plow, and it’s all about hard, grueling work…something’s wrong. A little light-hearted fun and laughter goes a long way toward making the effort work and work well. Turn around and look at the crooked row the two of you just plowed, and make a joke about it. Laugh together. It’ll ease the weight of the halter, and you’ll find yourselves pulling with a little more togetherness on the next row.

Happy co-writing!

Delia Latham (c) January 2014