Rewriting My Least Favorite Tales

If you have been reading my blogs, you know that I've been rewriting some of the fairy tales to make inspirational, historical novels or novellas set in the Middle Ages. I am taking out the magic and make-believe and making them more plausible. I have just sent the first one, Roslyn's Rescue, to the editor. It is loosely based on "Little Red Riding Hood."

It has been interesting to me to discover that it is easier for me to rewrite the tales I did not like as well than it is my favorite ones. I guess that makes sense since I am more eager to change those I liked less. "Little Red Riding Hood" was never one of my favorites, but I had a wonderful time revising it. In my version, Roslyn and her sickly mother live alone, and the woodcutter everyone considers dimwitted tries to help them out. The wolf is actually an unscrupulous knight.

I have also finished the first draft of the next tale. Glenda's Gold is based on "Rumplestiltskin," a story that never made much sense to me. How I handled Glenda spinning the straw into gold to make it realistic still amazes me. The solution came to me from the Bible during my morning devotion time. God does indeed work in unexpected ways. It will probably take me several weeks to edit and check thousands of words to make sure they were used during medieval times before I send this one to my editor.

I am debating which story to work on next. I am considering "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Hanzel and Gretel," or "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." I may publish each story as an ebook first and then group two together to form the print edition. Glenda's Gold also has some of Roslyn and her family in it, although each book could also be read as a standalone. I am truly enjoying this -- all except looking up so many words.

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One Legend of the Brown Lady



In 1848, Chowan Baptist Female Institute (much later to become Chowan University) opened as a four-year women’s college in Murfreesboro, North Carolina. During the Civil War, a young lady attended but had to say goodbye to her fiancé when he went off to fight in the war. Sadly, it was their last goodbye, because he was killed and never returned. Not long afterward, the young lady developed typhoid fever and died, although some say it was more from her broken heart or at least not having a will to live. She was buried at the end of October, however, legend says her spirit could not find peace. Restless and driven, she began to roam the halls she had once walked as a student.

Most people who have sighted the ghost say she likes to appear in a mist or fog, and she’s always seen wearing the same brown dress. No one remembers her name and no records have been found to tell who she was, so everyone began to call her “The Brown Lady."  Custodians and staff also reported other odd occurrences – leaves gathered into little piles in the hallway after it had been left clean, twigs left in places where none had been; lights tampered with; a baffling rap on a window; and numerous other unexplained incidents. Especially, those working in the Columns Building reported hearing a distinct rustling like those of a long dress over petticoats and hoops. However, some students in the girls’ dorms have heard her sobbing. She's mainly been seen around the Old Column's Building, but she's not just restricted to there. Her second favorite place to roam is in the girls' dorms, but she might just turn up anywhere on campus. She especially likes to come out close to Halloween, the night of the roaming spirits and near the time she died.

As the years passed, the sightings and the legend grew. An early President of Chowan, W. B. Edwards, liked to encourage stories of The Brown Lady. He’d also been known to take students to the Wise graveyard near Halloween. No one knows for sure that The Brown Lady is buried there, but legend enthusiasts like to think so. In the 1940’s and 50’s, the college held a Brown Lady festival. As part of the event, a student would be nominated to dress up as The Brown Lady. She would lead participants around campus and to the Wise family cemetery.

This is the legend most often told on campus today. As with most legends with longevity, however, there’re several versions of the story. When Chowan University decided to publish a literary magazine showcasing students’ work, the committee decided to call it "The Brown Lady" after the legend. The magazine is available free each spring. In volume 3 in 2015, one of the short stories is about a new sighting of The Brown Lady in “The Legend Continues.” And so it has, over many years.

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Salvation Is the Kickoff Not the Touchdown

If we were honest, most churches have probably failed at reaching the lost in recent years. We tend to sit in our churches and expect the lost to come to us. Still, we do a better job of reaching them than of making disciples. Some Christians have gotten the idea that once a person comes to know the Lord as their Savior, the work is over, they've done all that is required, and nothing else is needed. However, salvation, although of utmost importance, is just the kickoff to a Christian life. It is not the final destination or the touchdown.

As with any good team, new members need training. We multiply by making disciples who can go out and make other disciples. This is the model the apostles used in the early church. How many Christians do you know who do this today? Do you? The pastor and his staff surely can't do it all. We are all commanded to do this in the Great Commission.

So, as football season continues, remember the analogy. No game is won at the kickoff. It takes practice, following the coach's instructions, learning, working with team members, making sacrifices, commitment, dedication, and perseverance. Let's not stop until the end of the game, when Jesus comes for us at the rapture or our life ends. Nothing else is as important.

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Living in the Story

Before I ever begin to write a novel, the characters have visited with me time and time again, and I've watched scenes play out in my mind. I know my characters well, like good friends. I know the setting, where the story will begin, and generally how it will end. This continues for months, sometimes even years, until I have time to get it on paper. It's how I sort through all of my ideas. I write the ones that never fade and keep me coming back to them.

Then, when I begin writing, I live the story with my characters. I see what they see, hear what they hear, and feel what they feel. This works better when I can find a large block of time in which to write and don't have to keep coming in and out of my characters' world. But I can do it with only snippets of time if that's all I have. I love this process, and if I don't get to write on a manuscript for several days, I begin to feel that something important is missing.

However, all this doesn't necessarily end when a book is published. Like any good friends, they still visit occasionally, which is good because I miss them. Sometimes they tell me things I wish I had included in the book, but that's okay. I always feel a book is complete before I send the manuscript to the publisher. These are just extras I can treasure. And when I write by living the story, my readers can live the story when they read it.

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Sari Days

Several years ago, I had the privilege of spending a summer in India on a Fullbright-Hays Scholarship. I studied under professors at the University of Madras and traveled and toured India. It was a wonderful experience, and I found the culture fascinating. I also found it interesting that most of the Indian men wore Western clothes, but most of the women wore saris (sarees).

A sari is six or more feet of cloth wrapped around a drawstring petticoat, pleated or gathered in the front to allow movement, and worn over a short blouse. There are hundreds of ways of wrapping the sari, and different regions and locales have their own style. I bought the three that I have in Madras (renamed Chennai) in southern India, and I wrap mine in the style they do there. I wore them especially when I taught about India.

Saris are comfortable once one gets used to them. They can still be worn if the woman's weight changes, she becomes pregnant, or if other styles change. They normally come in either cotton or silk and in an enormous array of colors. In addition, they are very feminine looking. These are likely some of the reasons they have remained so popular.

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Why Do You Attend Your Church?

Why do you attend the church you do? Have you even thought about it? You don't have to answer to anyone but yourself, so be honest. Answers are often as varied as the people themselves. Some say they attend where their families have gone for generations. Others go for the programs offered or music they enjoy or dynamic preaching. Some even go to large churches to get lost in the crowd so they don't have to do much.

I think too many might go about this all wrong. They try to find a church that appeals to them, instead of the one where God wants them. I find that more and more today, people look to be entertained and moved. They look for a church that can meet their needs. Perhaps it would be better to consider one where they are needed, where they can best serve God. Certainly, they need to pray and turn the decision over to Him.

It's fine to consider how well you'll be fed by God's word and encouraged by His people, but sometimes God wants us to go where we can make a difference -- where we can feed people and be an encourager. I strongly believe the key to any decision is seeking God's will. He can see the big picture - the past, present, and future. You can trust Him to never lead you astray. When we serve Him according to His will, we will have a special peace that we can find nowhere else.

I've known some people who have become church hoppers. They stay at a church for a little while, eventually see something they don't like, and move on to another church to repeat the process. This is not what Christ intended. We are to be servants, not spiritual gypsies. Unless God moves you, serve where you are planted. How active are you in God's kingdom building? How willing are you to answer God's call when He sends opportunities your way? In what ways could you make your church stronger, according to God's plan? 

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Historical Purist?

When I write historical fiction, I don't mind doing the research to get it right. Perhaps that comes from the fact that I got my bachelor's degree in history. Having a history background has also helped with the writing. I find I often have a sense of time and place that makes the writing easier and brings the books to life. Two of my historical novels (When Winter Is Past and It All Started at the Masquerade) are set in the 1700's and five (Cleared for Planting, Sown in Dark Soil, Uprooted by War, Transplanted to Red Clay, and Mountain Mishap) are set in the 1800's.

In addition to background research and specific research of facts as I need them in writing, I also check vocabulary words to make sure they were used in my time period. It bothers me to read books where the vocabulary is too modern for the book's setting. I want mine to remain appropriate and true. My husband thinks that my attention to these details is what makes my historical novels so popular.

However, when I started writing a series of books set in the Middle Ages, this has presented a problem. I find that not only is the vocabulary I can use extremely limited, but I'm also having to check about five words in every sentence to see when they first came into use. As you can imagine, this is very laborious and time-consuming. Some of my favorite authors of Medieval fiction don't restrict themselves in this way. They include words used through the 1950's but structure their sentences in a way that gives the impression of Medieval speech.

I have thought long and hard about this, and I can't bring myself to do less than my very best. I'm not entirely satisfied when I find modern words in the historical novels I read, and I wouldn't be satisfied writing that way. I have found that I tend to be a traditionalist when it comes to grammar and writing, and I guess this is just one more example. I may be too much of a historical purist, but I don't think I could be happy with the books I published if I thought I'd made easier choices instead of making them the best I can. I truly believe my readers deserve the best.

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A Spy Executed

On October 15, 1917, Mata Hari was brought before a firing squad outside of Paris, France, and executed. The Dutch exotic dancer had been convicted of spying for Germany during World War I. Because her trial produced no hard evidence, her execution remained a controversy for years.

She had been born in the Netherlands on August 7, 1876, and named Margaretha Zelle, the first of four children to a hatter and his wife. Margaretha was the only girl, and it is said she was spoiled during her early years. However, when she was thirteen, her father's business failed, her parents divorced, and her father remarried. He and his second wife had no children. During this time, Margaretha went to live with her godfather and trained to be a kindergarten teacher. However, the headmaster at the school became overly familiar with her, and her godfather removed her from the school.

At age eighteen, Margaretha answered an ad for a wife placed by Dutch Colonial Army Captain Rudolf McLeod. She married him in 1895 and moved to Java where he served. The marriage allowed her financial security and to move into higher Dutch society. Although the couple had two children, the marriage was less than successful. McLeod was an alcoholic who beat his young wife, twenty years his junior, and openly kept a mistress.

In Java, Margaretha learned dances of the region. For a while, she abandoned her husband to live with another officer. In 1899, their children fell violently ill, and only the daughter survived. There were rumors the whole family had syphilis. The couple moved back to the Netherlands and divorced in 1902. Margaretha gained custody of their daughter. McLeod never paid the support he was ordered to pay, and he did not return his daughter on one occasion she visited him. Margaretha didn't protest since she didn't have the means to support the two of them.

Margaretha first worked as a circus performer and artists' model. Then she earned fame as an exotic dancer, pretending to be a Javanese princess and calling herself Mata Hara, a name for the sun. However, she soon fell out of favor with many for her extreme "exhibitionist" performances. When the war broke out, a Russian pilot whom she called "the love of her life" was shot down and taken prisoner. The only way she would be allowed to see him was if she agreed to spy for the Germans. She was arrested several times and questioned over the next two years and was brought to trial in July 1917 for spying and causing the death of at least 50,000 soldiers. It was not until Germany unsealed certain documents in the 1970's that the evidence came to light. She had indeed been a German spy.

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When God Created

In the beginning God created ... (Genesis 1:1)

God spoke everything except man into being. On the first day, He created the light and dark, day and night. On the second day, He made the firmament or the heavens and waters. On the third day, He divided the waters from the land and created plants to cover the earth. On the fourth day, He established the sun, moon, and stars, which caused the days, seasons, and years. On the fifth day, He made the creatures in the waters and the fowls of the air. On the sixth day, he created the beasts of the field and man.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7).

Man was special. First of all, God spoke all the other things into existence, but He took a hands-on approach for man. Can you imagine him bending in the dust and using some water to form man? Then when he had the image he wanted, he leaned forward and breathed his own breath into the man's nostrils to give him life. And secondly, He made man in His own image. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Genesis 1:27). We are special, indeed!

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him (1John 4:16).

Why did He make us special? He saw all of His creation as good, but He made man to be the object of His great love and for us to love Him in return. When we love Him more than anything else and make Him the priority He should be, we will be obedient because we love and trust Him so much. We will surrender completely to Him, and our lives will become as He meant them to be -- complete because of Him.

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On the Road to Jericho

After publishing seven historical novels and five contemporary ones, I have just released my first Christian non-fiction. On the Road to Jericho covers the period in Jesus' life on earth when He traveled from Galilee to Jerusalem for the last time. From Jericho, Jesus will journey by foot up the steep incline and rough terrain to Jerusalem. He will enter the city amid palm branches and cheers, be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, stand trials, and suffer crucifixion at Golgotha. 

Knowing that the end of His time on earth is drawing near, Jesus’ teachings are especially poignant and filled with meaning. He wanted His followers to be ready for the tests and trials to come. They would need understanding to carry on His work and proclaim the gospel message across the world. We do, too, so it will be good for readers to travel along on the road to Jericho and study Jesus’ teachings.

I really need feedback on this book. I want it to be strong and meaningful, and since it is my first venture into inspirational non-fiction, I'm a little unsure. I can evaluate other writers' books, but I'm much too close to mine to have any perspective. I just pray that I wrote according to God's will and it will cause readers to be touched in a special way, recognize some of God's truths they can apply to their own lives, and grow in their faith while being encouraged and inspired.

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A Look at Columbus Day

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue and landed in the New World on October 12th. Of course, he still hoped that he'd made it to India for a new trade route, and he called the people he found "Indians." In the United States, we now celebrate this day on the second Monday in October. Ironically, this also marks National Native Americans' Day. But then, perhaps it's appropriate that we celebrate both on the same day.

Although Columbus hadn't found a new trade route to Asia, he did find more land for the Europeans to explore and settle, a mixed blessing depending on your ancestry and perspective. He certainly hadn't had an easy time getting here. First, he had a difficult time finding monarchs who would finance his venture. It took years of going between different courts before Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain agreed to furnish the ships and supplies (also see blog of April 30, 2015). And then, the voyage had been much longer and harder than he'd envisioned, and his crew was about ready to mutiny. They had sailed so far that many of them felt sure they were about to sail off the edge of the flat world and be gobbled up by the monsters there.

Christopher Columbus had been born in Genoa, Italy, in 1450 or 51. He became interested in sailing and navigation, as many Italians did. He made several trips to the New World, after his first one, but his later life was also plagued with controversy and adversity. He fell out of favor and developed an uncertain sickness that took its toll. He died on May 20, 1506. However, despite all the problems, he made a name for himself and is still in our history books today.

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Living Clean

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth... (Ephesians 4:29).

How we live our lives and the choices we make do make a huge difference. What we allow into our lives will have an impact, not only on us but also on those around us. If we read the wrong kind of books, listen to music we shouldn't, or watch immoral movies and shows, we weaken our faith. We can't put garbage into our lives and expect to stay clean. What we consistently choose to participate in will eventually become more commonplace and acceptable.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God... (2 Timothy 2:15).

This shouldn't be done from a legalistic point of view, however. It should be done out of love and respect for our holy God and His Spirit that dwells within us. It's not about a set of rules and regulations with which to condemn others but choices we make for our own lives. It's about choosing what is best and not just hoping to get by.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain... (Exodus 20:7)

This is why it's a good idea to refrain from cursing, taking God's name in vain, or hearing or seeing anything which contains it. It's why we shouldn't read or watch erotica or listen to music that is degrading. Our modern society seems to find more and more acceptable, but that doesn't mean Christians should accept it all. Perhaps it's time for us to take a stand for morality and God before it's too late.

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

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Behind the Reviews

Although book reviews are certainly helpful (I use them all the time to decide what books to buy, although I usually just look at the lowest reviews), they can also be deceptive. I recently had a five-star review on Amazon that got me to thinking. Here is the review:
"I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I wasn't sure if this would be a good read due to the low number of reviewers. However, the story was very good, the characters were developed, and the writing was "clean" and well-edited. This has a fair amount of suspense, strong moral and Christian values, and a sweet love story. I would recommend this to all readers from teens up."

When Winter Is Past, the book she reviewed, then had thirteen reviews and now has fourteen. However, many more people have bought the book than the number of reviews indicate. I've had hundreds of sales. Why the low number of reviews? As you can guess, most of my readers don't take the time to leave reviews. And, unlike most writers, I have not bought reviews by giving reviewers a free book, but I am pleased that all fourteen reviews are five-stars.

The fact is that many publishing houses, as well as indie authors, have a large group of reviewers in place who read a book prior to its release and are ready with their reviews. I know that, although these early readers don't usually lie in their reviews, they do tend to be lenient on the books, because they've been given a free copy. I'm not sure how I feel about the ethics of this, but it is a good way to get a lot of reviews. In fact, it's the main reason so many books have a large number of reviews. I just caution readers not to think a book isn't good just because it has few reviews.

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Medieval Names

I'm in the process of writing my first series of books set in the Middle Ages. Therefore, I thought I would take a look at the beginnings of some common surnames. Prior to this time period, people were know by their titles or their given name and the name of their village.

weaver

With the coming from the guilds, every occupation had a title.These eventually became surnames as well, and some of our surnames today come from these, especially if your ancestry comes from the British Isles. You make recognize many, but unless you are a history buff, some will likely not be familiar. Here are some examples:

Made bread, tarts, etc. (Baker)
Built roofing, floors, paneling, furniture, etc. (Carpenter)

Pulled teeth, did minor surgery, cut hair (Barber)
Tended hedges and fields of grass cut for animals (Hayward)
Made arrows (Fletcher)
Cut meats (Butcher)
Hauled the stone and wood to build a castle (Carter)
Grew plants for food (Farmer)
Worker or maker (Smith or Wright)
Secured and took care of the main doors (Porter)
Crafted bows as a type of weapon (Bowyer)
Made candles and sometimes soaps (Chandler)
Made parts of furniture, especially drawers (Joyner)
Cured animal hides and made leather (Tanner)
Made ales and strong drinks (Brewer)
Built strong structures, especially of stone (Mason)
Made footwear (Shoemaker)
Made wooden spoons, bowls, or fancy furniture legs (Turner)

Took care of parts of the household and some finances (Chamberlain) 
A professional soldier (Knight)
Supervised the household and great hall events (Steward)
Ground grains into a powder (Miller)
Prepared foods (Cook)
Cared for the cellar and the bottles stored there (Butler)

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