Dad's Missionary Memoir: My Surprise Book

Hey everyone, yours truly has a new SURPRISE LITTLE BOOK!

A few weeks ago, I decided to use my dad's unfinished memoir as the epilog for my WIP. Jade Cross: A Stone Ten Novel is the third book in my China/Taiwan trilogy, stories inspired by my family's experiences there for more than a century.

As I was working with Dad's memoir (b. 1904 in China, d. 1992 in Illinois), I thought: WOW, my brother Doug and I should "finish" this, add photos and explanations, and print it to give to our kids and grandkids. About two weeks ago after adding the photos, I thought: DOUBLE WOW, why not make this a Kindle e-book to share with others, with relatives and friends who know our family, plus with readers of my novels who are interested in historical China and Taiwan.

And of course, a CreateSpace paperback was a fairly quick and easy followup to the Kindle version. So HERE IT IS for your interest! The Kindle has been available for nearly two weeks, and I just released the CreateSpace paperback this week on Amazon.com. YAY! I do so love surprises, including special little ones of only 38 pages!

 

A Missionary Memoir by A. Fred Nelson is $5.11 in paperback, the minimum price Amazon would permit. As you can see from the cover photo, Dad served with the U.S. Marine Corps during WWII. He was an intelligence translator in China, and after the war, a "weekend" chaplain in Taiwan. But for most of his life, Dad was a wonderful missionary and often called a "white Chinese."

 

The Kindle version (only $.99) has a temporary red cover. Should you get this surprise little book of mine, I'm sure you'll especially enjoy the 25 rare photos and maps it contains, thanks to Dad's photo collection that includes some of his parents' photos from the late 1800s.

As you read this blog, I'll be in Colorado Springs celebrating my darling grandson Joe's 4th birthday with him. Guess what one of his presents will be? This little memoir by his great-grandfather, of course. . .   :-)

 

I hope some of you will comment on YOUR surprise book/s, or even on mine!

Millie Nelson Samuelson

"Yesterday's Stories for Today's Inspiration"

www.milliesbooks.org  

Procrastination: A Learned Way of Solving Problems

I sell or give away old books when I feel I've absorbed what they have to teach me, but hang onto those that  have something important for me which I haven't learned. Small wonder, then, that a book I bought some twenty years ago keeps showing up on my desk: The Now Habit, by Neil Fiore.

Fiore's subtitle is, "A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play." That's something vital I need to learn, not only in my writing but in the rest of my life.

This clinical psychologist says we teach ourselves to procrastinate because "delaying is rewarded and learned as a way of solving problems." Here are some of his examples (from p. 14 of my yellowed copy). See if they don't apply to some half-written story you keep putting off:

• "Occasionally a postponed, boring task is completed by someone else." (Ever stop writing because you come across a similar story by someone else, so you told yourself that you'd better replan your entire plot?)

• "If you delay long enough making a decision about buying something, it will eventually reward you by either going on sale or going out of style." (Did you start writing a story that was your own "spin" on some other writer's premise? Then you keep stopping because you suspect a dozen other copycats will beat you to it?)

• "Procrastination often goes unpunished; in fact, somewhere in almost everyone's childhood is an experience of great anxiety about not preparing for an exam, only to have that enormous tension ecstatically relieved by the news that a storm or strike had closed your school..." (OK, Fiore, who told you this? Probably my kid brother. He knows how I agonized over the impending disaster of a school play I wrote in the fourth grade, and my euphoria when a snowstorm closed school that day--canceling the play forever!)

• "Difficult decisions will eventually resolve themselves if you wait for additional information or allow the opportunities to pass." (My wife must have snitched on me now. She knows this why I keep researching a novel about Roosevelt's first Presidential campaign of 1932. I planned to pitch it as a great way to celebrate its 80th anniversary  in 2012, but more research gives me more time to write a really great novel for the centenary in 2032. Let's see, I'll only be 82 then...)

Fiore says, "When we identify our worth with our work ('I am what I do') we naturally are reluctant to face challenges and take risks without protection." (p. 15). So we keep on procrastinating because it's an effective way to protect ourselves. On the other hand, writing is a public way of taking unprotected risks--like walking a high wire across the Grand Canyon. 

__________________

Joe Allison and his wife, Judy, live in Anderson IN, where Joe serves as Coordinator of Publishing for Church of God Ministries, Inc. Joe has several nonfiction books in print, including Swords and Whetstones: A Guide to Christian Bible Study Resources. He's currently writing a trilogy of Christian historical novels set in the Great Depression.

Visit Joe's blog at http://hoosierwriter.wordpress.com

God Uses Fiction

by Rick Barry

Authors of Christian fiction, has anyone ever considered your writing unimportant simply because it is fiction? In other words, has anyone (even yourself) regarded your fiction as frivolous because it isn't a Bible commentary, or a tome on theology, or at least a devotional book?

Although much fiction amounts to simple entertainment, make no mistake: God can and does use fiction to mold people's lives. For instance, 2 Samuel 12 includes a remarkable work of fiction. In this passage, the prophet Nathan visits King David (who had committed adultery with Bathsheba and hid his deed by getting her husband killed in battle). By God's prompting, Nathan launched into a short story. The story was fiction, but David assumed he was hearing a true incident. In the story, a selfish rich man who owned large flocks of sheep seized and butchered the sole pet lamb of a poor man in order to feed a meal to a visitor.

Hearing of such an heartless act, David (a former shepherd who could relate to pet lambs) smoldered with rage. "The man who has done this deserves to die!" he declared.

Nathan replied with four chilling words: "You are the man!" He proceeded to deliver God's message of judgment on the king who--despite already having many wives--abused his power by seizing the wife of an honorable soldier in his army.

Nathan's powerful short story hammered home David's sin as nothing else could. He had no defense. "I have sinned before the Lord," he confessed.

Was Nathan's piece of fiction frivolous because it didn't explore the writings of Moses? Not at all. It became the stake with the perfect sharpened point to penetrate the hard shell around David's heart. Fiction became a tool of God's Holy Spirit.

Jesus, too, used fiction. He often told short stories. Whether the story starred a kind Samaritan, or a farmer sowing grain, or someone else, each one of these short stories tucked spiritual applications into fictional settings the listeners could picture.

I'm not claiming that all fiction penned by Christians is inspired by God. Just like unbelievers, Christians can invent characters and weave plots simply for entertainment, or to earn money. There is nothing wrong with that. However, the skilled writer who goes beyond entertainment and subtly weaves spiritual truth into stories joins the ranks of godly people like Nathan, who served God and worked in lives even with fiction.

Rick Barry is the author of over 200 published short stories and articles, plus two novels. Visit his personal blog at http://rickbarry.blogspot.com.

Reality: A Good Source for Fiction

News can be a wonderful source for ideas about fiction. Even without capitalizing on the actual people in a particular event and thus opening yourself to litigation. If you merely ask a few simple questions, you can unearth multiple story ideas in any genre, to use as the main part or the backdrop. How do you go about it?

While news reports of a tragedy may seem the logical choice, tucked between ads for insurance and mortuaries can be other thought provoking items. (Read the story in the photo above.) Here I used a headline without connection to death – at least one that no one realizes... Bwhaha...(Cozy Murder Mystery)

Women’s Fiction/Contemporary

Had this woman made someone angry? Was the wrong address recognized/posted by the angry party who decided to use it as an excuse to upset/ harm her, even steal her kitten? If so, what was the original grievance? Was it legitimate? What if this woman was an up-and-coming personality? Was it an act of cruelty or revenge or jealousy? Was it a prank? How does the woman deal with it? Or, how does the perpetrator change and grow through the consequences of this deed?

Romantic Suspense:

Does a police investigator become emotionally involved with the victim? To what lengths will he go to retrieve the missing items, especially when she reveals that they include a journal with notations of a highly critical matter? Does an old boyfriend that she’s afraid of still possess a key? Has the locksmith she’s hired to replace the locks kept a copy of the key? What about that hunky neighbor or boss or faithful old friend whose been in love with her and now has a chance to finally show it as he helps her though this difficulty?

Science Fiction:

Will some secret government agency become involved in tracking down the missing kitty because it really is an information gathering robot that was tracking a terrorist cell? Or, maybe the kitten is an extraterrestrial intelligence who knew that the new DVD this woman bought actually contained the plans to overtake the earth.

Young Adult

Does a ten-year-old child return the kitten, only to discover that the owner looks like an older version of herself and is actually the sister that she was separated from when the Department of Child Services took them away from their family? How do they get together again? What secrets ripped the family apart? 

Or…maybe the kitten is a werewolf/ shape-shifter…

Most of these are well-used, but you get the idea. 

What recent news item do you think would make a really good diving board into the pool of fiction?

Mary Allen has authored many articles and two books of poems, “Journey to Christmas” and “Ten Days to an Empty Tomb”.  She was named La Porte County Poet Laureate 2010 and currently is Poetry Chair for Arts in the Park La Porte, but that doesn't stop her from writing fiction.

Spotlight on Hoosier Author: Gene Stratton Porter

Gene Stratton Porter.

This month I'd like to share what I've written about one of my favorite Hoosier Authors: Gene Stratton Porter.

Swing on over to The Barn Door and enjoy learning about this fascinating author.

Click here for part 1: A Girl of the Limberlost

Click here for part 2: A Girl of the Limberlost Part 2.


Thanks for reading!

Karla Akins is an award winning author who loves to ride a motorcycle. Her book, The Pastor's Wife Wears Biker Boots is due out August 9, 2013. You can contact Karla via her website at KarlaAkins.com