Costume Drama of the Week: Pride and Prejudice
I couldn’t start a weekly Costume Drama feature without starting with the one that started the recent surge of movies and miniseries based on historical figures and novels.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man, in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time when I was a junior in high school. Because I was in a senior-level English class, in the two weeks after the seniors graduated, our teacher let us watch movies . . . movies based on the novels we’d read in class. And since we’d read P&P, of course that was one of the movies we watched.
The 1980 version has definitive flaws—most noticeable in the cinematography (or lack thereof). But it stayed relatively true to the story. It wasn’t the first adaptation to be made, and, as we all know, not the last. And even with as much as I love David Rintoul in the role of Mr. Darcy, even I will admit that it wasn’t until 1995 that a version of Pride & Prejudice came out that not only gave us the quintessential film version of the story, but changed the way costume dramas were made.
In 1995, a new version of the film was made. I’m not going to get into casting—I did that here.
Adapted by the inimitable screenwriter Andrew Davies, and produced by the BBC and A&E TV (back when A&E actually used to live up to the A in their name), the 1995 miniseries gave us lush settings and better costumes. It took a few minor liberties with the story and, as Andrew Davies is apt to do, had a few added scenes exploring the friendship between Darcy and Bingley that, though Jane never wrote, did enhance the story and add to Darcy’s character.
Once this version aired and then came out on video/DVD, there was no need to ever make another version, right?
When a theatrical version of P&P was announced, I was leery about the ability to compress the story into a two-hour film. And I was correct to be leery. And then when I learned that one of my least-favorite actresses, Keira Knightley, had been cast as Lizzie I was certain I was going to hate this adaptation.
While I didn’t hate it, and there were parts I actually liked about it, this is a story that just can’t—shouldn’t—be told in two hours.
Now, if you’d like to know more about the three versions and the story itself, you can read my previous posts on it:
Pride & Prejudice (Part 1) [Actor Comparison]
Pride & Prejudice (Part 2)
Pride & Prejudice (Part 3)
So, which version is your favorite and what’s your favorite scene (from any/all of the versions)?
Open Mic Wednesday 9/1/10
It’s Open Mic Wednesday. What’s on your mind?
Brainstorming The Art of Romance–You can help!
Okay, y’all know me and my different methods—all visual—of working out my story ideas.
First, there are the notes I made about the characters when originally coming up with the story idea, as well as things that came up when writing the first book of the series:
And of course, there’s the synopsis I wrote that the publisher bought the series from.
But still, I somehow always manage to get myself lost after starting the book. Sometimes it’s about 1/3 of the way through. With The Art of Romance, it’s at the beginning of Chapter Three!
So, since I’m going to have a few hours of alone-time with my laptop in the car this week and a lot more than a few hours in the car next week, I decided I needed to know where the story is going.
Now, you’ve seen me post the picture of when I use Post-it Notes to do scene cards to work out the direction of a story by figuring out what scenes I’ve already planned for still need to be written:
Scene cards from Ransome’s Crossing
But even after reading the synopsis for The Art of Romance, I still didn’t have a clear picture of the scenes/conflicts (other than the main story conflict) that need to happen in the story. So, since I was preparing to teach a session on writing synopses using Billy Mernit’s Seven Story Beats, I decided I needed to go back to the beginning with this story and outline the synopsis in the way I was getting ready to teach forty other writers to do it.
So, I pulled out the trusty Post-it Note Flip Chart Pad (down to only three or four sheets—yikes! Time for a new one!) and started outlining:
I started this last week—and got stuck right where I’m stuck in the story! (The Post-it Notes along the top and on the page are questions and ideas for the characters/settings.) And this week, I’ve got two editing projects clamoring for my attention in addition to needing to get moving on this manuscript (only 46 days left until deadline—which means I need to be writing at least 2,000 words a day on this thing!).
So I decided I need help brainstorming this story. And who better to help brainstorm it than my readers?
Here’s the story summary:
- English professor Caylor Evans moved in with her grandmother five years ago when Sassy’s eyesight became too poor to get her driver’s license renewed. Though she is now writing sweet/inspirational romance novels, Caylor still draws inspiration for her heroes from the portfolio of covers and sample images drawn/painted by Patrick Callaghan for the steamy romances she used to write (as “Melanie Mason”), and dreams of meeting a man like that cover model.
After losing his teaching position at a prestigious art college and being shunned by the fine-arts community in Philadelphia, artist Dylan Bradley has returned home to Nashville to regroup and determine the next step for his life. His grandparents offer him their guest house for as long as he wants it—along with plenty of opportunities to meet young women. Though it was years ago, Dylan is uncomfortable with the fact that his face—slightly disguised—is on the covers of half a dozen steamy romance novels by Melanie Mason, the artwork he did to put himself through college under the pseydonym Patrick Callaghan. Especially after he meets Caylor Evans, a woman who has her life together in a way he only dreams of. Will Caylor and Dylan learn that the true art of romance is grounded in honesty and truth?
And here’s the first draft of Chapter One.
Now . . . what kind of “what if” questions does that raise for you? What kinds of things would you like to see in Caylor and Dylan’s story? What would you like to find out about Zarah and Bobby? about Flannery? How much involvement/viewpoint would you like to see from the grandmothers (Sassy and Perty)?
And don’t think this will go unrewarded. It’s this kind of situation that Acknowledgment pages were made for!
Writer’s Window: Jen Stephens
Congratulations to Amee, who won the drawing for Nancy Mehl’s book from last week.
I’ve known Jen Stephens for several years now—she’s a member of my local writing group, Middle Tennessee Christian Writers. It’s been so much fun to see Jen go through the process from unpublished to published, and to see the reception her debut novel, The Heart’s Journey Home, has received.
Jen has graciously offered to give away a signed copy of The Heart’s Journey Home to one lucky commenter. Deadline for getting into the drawing is Friday. When you leave your comment, be sure to indicate whether or not you want to enter the drawing! (No need to include your e-mail address in your comment, just make sure it’s correct when you sign in to leave your comment.)
The Heart’s Journey Home
Three years after the unexpected death of Kate Sterling’s husband, she moves back to Harvest Bay, Ohio, with her young daughter. She soon discovers that things have changed in the sleepy little community she grew up in. When she suffers another devastating loss, she finally understands that the One who loves and cares for her has given her a second chance at love. But is God leading her to a love linked to the past… or to one who will walk with her into the future?
What do you like best about being a writer?
- It sounds super simple, but I just love telling stories that may move people or maybe just entertain them for a while.
What do you like least about being a writer?
- It’s pretty scary to me to have my creation, my baby, out there for anyone to develop an opinion about. It really hurts when someone says something negative about something I worked so hard on. I don’t like that part. I also become frustrated that I don’t have more TIME to write. Time is always a big issue for me.
Pop, Soda, or Coke? What do you call it, and what’s your favorite variety?
- Pop and my favorite is Diet Dr. Pepper. Yummy!
Describe your favorite pair of shoes.
- Kaye, I’ll tell ya, shoes are my LEAST favorite thing in this whole wide world! I have incredibly flat feet with bunions which require me wearing orthodics. Seriously, I hate my feet and anything that goes on them but if I had to pick a favorite pair, I’d have to say my New Balance walking shoes because they’re really comfortable and they’re white with hot pink accents. Anyone who knows me knows I love pink, but an added bonus was that this particular pair was part of the Lace Up for the Cure collection and a portion of the sales of this collection goes to the Susan G. Komen foundation.
What’s the most fun/interesting/crazy/scary/unique hands-on research you’ve done for a book?
- In The Heart’s Lullaby, which is what I’m currently writing, many of the scenes take place on a farm with horses. I know nothing about how to care for a horse, let alone how to ride one. So just recently I took my girls to a local farm and spent a lot of time with the horses. The owner gave each of my girls a riding and grooming lesson while I asked a TON of questions. It was a very, very fun day!
Candles. We all have them. But do you burn them? What scents are your favorite?
- Yes, I burn candles, particularly from late fall to early spring. There are very few things cozier than the glow of a few candles. My favorite scents are the nutty ones. Also, vanilla or coffee.
Have you ever re-gifted something someone’s given you?
- I’m quite sure I have, but I can’t think of a particular example right now.
If you were to write a novel about what your life would have been like if you’d become what you wanted to be at eight years old, what kind of character would the story be about?
- This sounds odd, but it probably wouldn’t be much different than it is right now. When I was 8, I wanted to be an author and a mama. As I got older I was told that I really needed to choose a different career path because I’d never make any money at writing. So I became a teacher! Isn’t that the funniest thing?! Sorry I don’t have a more interesting answer like maybe, I don’t know, an astronaut that discovers a new planet which supports human life and eventually everyone on Earth leaves for this newer, better planet . . . all except for this one lonely little orphan boy . . . yeah, I’m pretty boring.
What makes you happy?
- Well, the very first thing that pops into my head, obviously, is when my girls are happy. Their laughter is just the sweetest sound to me. I’m happy when I’m doing special things for other people and, likewise, I’m happy when someone does something thoughtful for me—something as simple as emptying the dishwasher or fixing me a cup of coffee. I’m happy when the words to my stories flow and I get in “the zone.” I’m happy when my students really get a concept I’m standing on my head (not literally) to teach them. The simplest things in life make me really happy.
What makes you nervous?
- Oh, geez, where do I begin? Tornadoes and flying. They don’t just make me nervous. I have recurrent nightmares about both. Another thing that makes me nervous is being a parent! Every time my girls get sick or hurt I get a little knot in my belly and I steer them away from anything that might be remotely dangerous. Sometimes interstate driving and big crowds make me nervous. The more my mind has a chance to wander, the more things I become nervous about—a disadvantage to a vivid imagination.
What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?
- Back when I was first starting to pursue writing for real, I met author and speaker, Ramona Richards. She taught me about POV and instantly it was like going from seeing in black and white to color.
What’s your biggest dream for the future?
- My biggest dream for the future is to see both of my girls become mamas because I know then they will really understand how much I love them. I really would love to write full time one day, but just to be able to keep writing and keep getting my stories into people’s hands would be a dream come true. And, of course, I have the same dream as every other American: to be debt free!
Tell us about what you’re currently writing (or your newest release, or both).
- Well, I’ll start with The Heart’s Journey Home, which was just released this past February. It’s a story about life, love, loss, and finding love again. It’s a story about how faith can lead you home . . . though it may not be on the path that you expect. The Heart’s Journey Home is very special to me, and I hope and pray that whoever reads it will be as touched as I was writing it. I believe that many of the scenes were Spirit-led because of the way it flowed and the way I felt as I wrote them. This is NOT my biography, but I come from a blended family and my Daddy passed away nine and a half years ago, so in many ways writing this book was an emotional release for me. I pray that my readers can sense even a fraction of that emotion.
The second book in the Harvest Bay Series, The Heart’s Lullaby, is scheduled to be released in May 2011. It’s about two things I care deeply about—children and our United States military:
- After two years of trying without success to have a baby, Elizabeth Truman’s world is turned upside down when she learns that her husband may already be a father. Amy Beauregard arrives in Harvest Bay with her ten-year-old son and a lot more baggage, convinced that God has long since abandoned her. Through a strange twist of fate, Elizabeth and Amy are drawn together in a way neither could have imagined, and heavenly healing begins to take place. But will their renewed faith be strong enough to withstand another devastating blow? Or will The Heart’s Lullaby be left unsung?
Where can people find out more about you/connect with you online?
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Jen Stephens grew up in a small Ohio town where she developed a passion for writing at an early age. She participated in Young Authors contests in grade school, wrote her first novel in high school, and wrote dozens of poems and short stories in between. She majored in elementary education with a concentration in English and the humanities at the University of Toledo.
Jen lives in the Nashville, Tennessee, area with her husband and two beautiful daughters. She teaches third grade at a Christian school and is very active with the youth in her church. A member of Middle Tennessee Christian Writers, American Christian Fiction Writers, and Nashville Christian Writers Association, she writes in her “spare” time. Her first novel, The Heart’s Journey Home, released in February 2010. The second book in the Harvest Bay series, The Heart’s Lullaby, is scheduled to release in May 2011.
New Weekly Feature Idea
I’m thinking about adding a “Costume Drama of the Week” post to the blog. What do y’all think? If I do, what movies should I include?
Fun Friday–I Need a Laugh
Things have gotten way too serious—both for me personally and, thus, here on the blog—recently. Since I’m in need of a good laugh, and since someone posted a cute video on Facebook yesterday that sent me over to Youtube for a couple of hours clicking through other cute videos, I though I’d share some that I thought were funniest/cutest. Feel free to post some you like in the comments!
Teach them respect when they’re young.
Aw, Hope, I feel the same way about bananas.
This one actually brought a little tear to my eye.
You can tell these dogs are siblings.
Well, now you know why the pool deck and furniture are always wet when you get home from work.
Makes me laugh, every time!
Isn’t that just like a big sister, to keep picking and picking and picking—and then who gets in trouble?
True Lifestyle Evangelism?
Authentic Christian living tends to be a more powerful and persuasive influence to pre-Christians than sermons, songs, or religious programs. Pre-believers are more interested in the genuineness of your personal faith than they are of your doctrinal purity or your denomination.
~Barry Howard, pastor of First Baptist Church, Pensacola, Florida
This was quoted in the July 2010 edition of Baptists Today. (To which my father got me a subscription a few months after I “converted” to the Methodist church—think he’s trying to tell me something? 
)
So, my thoughts on this quote . . .
First, I have some trouble with the terms “pre-Christian” and “pre-believer”—as much as I have a problem with unpublished novelists calling themselves “pre-published.” On one side, yes, it looks like an optimistic viewpoint. But on the other side, it’s setting up what may be unrealistic expectations. There are a lot of people who will never become Christians, no matter how many times they hear the gospel. (Just like there are a lot of people who will never be published, no matter how much they write or submit.)
To me, someone who views non-Christians as “pre-Christians” or “pre-believers” is already skewing their view of a nonbeliever with presuppositions and preconceived ideas that those people are easy pickings, and that all it takes to get someone to stop being a “pre-Christian” and become a “Christian” is one tiny little step—repeating some pre-written words of a prayer that may or may not truly bring about a change in that “pre-Christian’s” heart.
Granted, I don’t know the whole context of this man’s statement, and perhaps he was talking about those who are already seekers, who are on the cusp of making the decision.
Evangelism is not one of my spiritual gifts. It took only one mission trip and a short stint in college involved in Campus Crusade for me to realize that. I’m not good at the “hard sell” when it comes to influencing others for Christ. In all my years, I’ve only been used by God once (that I know of) to bring someone into relationship with Him—
and I’d been friends with that young woman for at least a year. We worked together, we went to lunch together, we went out together on the weekends—we had a relationship. It didn’t take her long to discover I went to church, and after she’d known me a while, she asked if she could go with me. After several months of going with me, she asked me if we could sit down one Sunday afternoon and “talk about God.” She asked me questions; I answered them the best I could, showing her passages in the Bible she’d heard at church or that talked about what I was trying to tell her. I didn’t make her pray the “sinner’s prayer” or make any kind of a commitment. We talked about it off and on for several more weeks. And then, on her own, one Sunday she walked down the aisle and made a profession of faith.
Not once, on the mission trip or in all of those college dorm-room visits I was forced to go on as a leader in Crusade, did I ever see a single person come to believe in God the way I saw her come to believe in God. And until she asked me about it, I never actually talked to her about God or about my faith. I’m not saying I live an exemplary Christian life. But I definitely agree with Mr. Howard that authentic Christian living will make a more positive impact on non-Christians than preaching or witnessing or carrying signs or yelling or quoting Bible verses. Because bringing someone to faith in Christ is not about learning the Roman Road or the Four Spiritual Laws and saying the Sinner’s Prayer. Faith, belief, Christianity is about relationship. It’s about what happens after the person makes that profession of faith as much or more as it is about bringing them to the point where they’re ready to enter a relationship with God.
So, that’s what that quotation makes me think about. What about you? We don’t have to agree—but we do have to be polite!
Open Mic Wednesday 8/25/10
It’s Open Mic Wednesday. What’s on your mind?
A very happy fifteenth birthday to my only niece, Michaela!
What Are Your Qualifications?
How many job applications have you filled out that have a space for you to list your qualifications? How many cover letters have you sent with your résumé in which you’ve tried to tailor it to highlight how you’re specifically qualified for the position you want? What do you list? Education? Past work experience? Life experience? Have you ever had the experience of applying for a job that was perfect for you—your abilities and qualifications lined up perfectly with the job description—only to be told that someone else more qualified was hired instead?
There’s a book I’ll pick up from time to time when I need a spiritually creative boost: Madeleine L’Engle’s Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art. It’s a book that I bought for an undergraduate Creative Writing course ten years ago and promptly set aside with all of my other writing-related books. So nice to look at on a shelf, but not usually of much use.
But when I do pick it up and begin reading it, it’s hard to put down, whether I’m looking for a specific quote to use here on the blog or in a critique/contest feedback. No matter what I pick it up for, whatever I’ve read has spoken to me on a deep intellectual and spiritual level. Such as this, from the chapter “Healed, Whole and Holy”:
We are all asked to do more than we can do. Every hero and heroine of the Bible does more than he would have thought it possible to do, from Gideon to Esther to Mary. Jacob, one of my favorite characters, certainly wasn’t qualified. He was a liar and a cheat; and yet he was given the extraordinary vision of angels and archangels ascending and descending a ladder which reached from earth to heaven. . . .
Moses was past middle age when God called him to lead His children out of Egypt, and he spoke with a stutter. He was reluctant and unwilling and he couldn’t control his temper. . . .
In a very real sense not one of us is qualified, but it seems that God continually chooses the most unqualified to do His work, to bear His glory. If we are qualified, we tend to think that we have done the job ourselves. If we are forced to accept our evident lack of qualification, then there’s no danger that we will confuse God’s work with our own, or God’s glory with our own.
Could Beethoven have written that glorious paean of praise in the Ninth Symphony if he had not had to endure the dark closing in of deafness? . . . Could Milton have seen all that he sees in Paradise Lost if he had not been blind?
When we are “qualified” to do something, that means we can do it with no outside help. When we complete a task, we feel we have done it under our own power and are proud of the accomplishment. But it doesn’t push us beyond our boundaries, to move outside of our comfort zones, to grow. We are called to do works we aren’t naturally equipped to do, not to so we will fail, but so that we will turn to a source other than our own strengths, abilities, and knowledge, to be reminded that we are but a small part of a larger world—and that we need the resources of that larger world to help us achieve our calling.
This is especially true when it comes to writing. A writer doesn’t sit down with pen and paper or at the computer and immediately, on the first try, write a perfect, publication-ready manuscript—not even the best storytellers in the world. Even those renowned authors like Tom Clancy and John Grisham who sold their “first” manuscripts had to struggle to sell them and then had to go through major editing processes to get the novels ready for others to read. (And I would imagine they rewrote those “first” manuscripts several times before submitting them in the first place.) They needed the help of professionals to make them the best selling authors they are today. Alone, they weren’t “qualified.”
Writing is an ongoing learning process. No one comes to writing “pre-qualified” to do it. Sure, we can always write for our own edification and the amusement of family and friends. But even if writers have no desire to be published, they will find themselves continually practicing the skill of writing and seeking out knowledge from others on the craft of writing.
As a child, I was so far from feeling qualified to write I tried to hide the fact I did it from everyone. In my first Creative Writing class, my senior year of high school, I received encouragement from my teacher such that I thought it might be something I could parlay into a career—if I learned enough about it. So I majored in Creative Writing in college. Because I didn’t go into it with the understanding that most college Creative Writing programs expect literary-style writing, I dropped out of college after three years, writing prolifically (for my own mental health) but feeling even less qualified to do it.
It wasn’t until 2001 when I attended my first Christian writing conference (Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers’ Conference) when I realized I didn’t have to be qualified, I just had to be obedient to the calling to be a writer, then seek out the training I needed to do become more proficient.
Now, four years after receiving a Master of Arts in Writing Popular Fiction, with six books out and three still to come out, do I feel like I am qualified to call myself a good writer? I have a certain skill-set that makes me a good “emerging author.” I have a Christy Award–nominee medal hanging on my wall beside my diplomas and master’s hood. I have requests from publishers for proposals for new series. But are those really qualifications to be a good writer?
If I were to have written about this three weeks ago, right after I finished the manuscript of Ransome’s Quest, my answer would have been a resounding NO. Now, having received an e-mail from my editor in which she told me (twice) that she loved the story (with several large items of revision detailed between those two affirmations), I’m reminded that on my own, no, I’m not qualified to do this. I still need to grow. I still need to improve my craft and my storytelling. I need to be exposed to new ideas and differing viewpoints. I need to be told that what I’ve written isn’t good enough. But because I’m not on my own in this process—I have a wonderful agent, Chip MacGregor, and fantastic editors at both publishing houses, along with the world’s best Beta Readers as my support team—I appear qualified to the outside world.
May I never become someone who begins to believe in my own “qualifications” as a writer! Because then, I truly would NOT be qualified to continue to do what I do!
What are you qualified to do? What have you been called to do for which you don’t feel qualified? Are you pursuing that seemingly unattainable calling, or are you letting the feelings of inadequacy keep you from doing what you know you’re being called to do?
Writer’s Window: Nancy Mehl
I’d been seeing Nancy Mehl’s name for a while, getting curiouser and curiouser about her and her writing. So when I learned she was going to be going to ICRS and that I was going to get to do some book signings with her for our Barbour books, I was thrilled. Y’all are going to love Nancy—and if you haven’t heard of her or her books, be sure to check them out. I know you’ll enjoy them.
Nancy has graciously offered to give away a copy of one of her books. The winner will be drawn from comments on today’s post—with the cutoff date for entering on Friday. So be sure to indicate if you want to be entered and which book you’d like to receive in your comment!
Simple Secrets
Can graphic designer Gracie Temple have it all: the big city life and a job at a successful advertising firm? Just when she feels life coming together she receives an unknown uncle’s inheritance in a quiet Kansas Mennonite community. The house comes with a dark legacy and a cast of interesting neighbors, including farmer Sam Goodrich. Can Gracie shake off the dust of this town or will its secret charms pull her in to stay?
Missing Mabel
A strange twist lands a beautician in a funeral home mystery.Watch the tangled mess a Kansas hairdresser gets herself into when she reports to the funeral home that the body she is to work on is not the same as in her reference photo. Is she being punished when the director accuses her of stealing a diamond ring? Will Hilde Higgins’s former boyfriend help her unravel the issue or only bring more trouble to her life?
What do you like best about being a writer?
- I would have to say that getting a letter or email from a reader who says that something I wrote affected them spiritually or emotionally. One woman told me that my books helped her to get through chemo. Others have commented that they felt closer to God after reading one of my books. I always pray over every book and ask God to use me to reach the people He wants to touch. I believe He honors that prayer.
What do you like least about being a writer?
- Trying to balance the rest of my life and my writing time! It’s difficult to get everything done. I have to say no to things I’d like to do, and the time I can spend with friends is limited. I wonder sometimes if I’m not losing precious time with people who mean a lot to me. I’m not sure my choices are always right.
Pop, Soda, or Coke? What do you call it, and what’s your favorite variety?
- Pop! I only drink diet pop. We’re kind of stuck on diet orange Sunkist right now, but I’m also partial to diet A&W root beer.
Describe your favorite pair of shoes.
- Okay, this is embarrassing. I just bought two new pairs of sandals, and I have a very comfortable pair of black leather Ecco shoes – but my very favorite shoes are my pink rubber thongs with flowers! LOL! I wear them around the house, and they’re soooo comfortable. My husband bought them for $1.00! Is that sad or what???
What’s the most fun/interesting/crazy/scary/unique hands-on research you’ve done for a book?
- I visited a cemetery once because I needed to find out what kinds of epitaphs were written on tombstones 100 years ago. Of course, the research I’ve had to do for my “Curl Up and Dye” series has been a little weird. The main character is a hairdresser who works for funeral homes. But there hasn’t been any “hands on” experience yet. And with a little luck, there never will be! LOL!
Candles. We all have them. But do you burn them? What scents are your favorite?
- I love the idea of candles, and I buy them frequently. But I have a tendency to forget them after that. When I actually burn them, my very favorite scent is Christmas Cookie.
Have you ever re-gifted something someone’s given you?
- Of course not. (That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!)
If you were to write a novel about what your life would have been like if you’d become what you wanted to be at eight years old, what kind of character would the story be about?
- Hmmm. Not sure, but it would have included horses. At eight, I loved them – but I also thought Super Girl was cool. So I suppose my character would be a cowgirl with super powers!
What makes you happy?
- My family makes me happy. I have the world’s most wonderful husband and son. And my puggle, Watson, makes me laugh. But the real joy in my life comes from the relationship I have with God. He is everything to me. It’s incredible to be loved as much as He loves me, and to know that no matter what happens in life, it’s not too much for my Father.
What makes you nervous?
- I wasn’t sure how to answer this question so I asked my husband. He had an immediate response. You see, he usually waits until the very last second to get ready to go anywhere. I have a thing about being on time, and his procrastination can really make me uptight. LOL!
What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?
- Always keep your story moving forward, and never take yourself seriously.
What’s your biggest dream for the future?
- As far as my writing career, I want to be a full time writer, concentrating on my novels and not having to work another job. But my biggest dream is probably to see my son married to a wonderful woman—and have grandchildren who think I’m cool!
Tell us about what you’re currently writing (or your newest release, or both).
- Right now I’m writing the third novel in my Mennonite-themed Harmony Series. Before the end of the year, I will also complete the third book in my Curl Up and Dye mystery series. As far as newest releases, the first book in the Harmony Series, Simple Secrets just came out, as well as the first book in the Curl Up and Dye series, Missing Mabel. These are two different kinds of books, but I hope readers will enjoy them both.
Where can people find out more about you/connect with you online?
- They can learn more about me through my Web site at www.nancymehl.com, my blog at www.nancymehl.blogspot.com, or they can find me on Facebook.
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Nancy Mehl lives in Wichita, Kansas with her husband Norman and her son, Danny. She’s authored nine books and is currently at work on her newest series for Barbour Publishing.
All of Nancy’s novels have an added touch—something for your spirit as well as your soul. “I welcome the opportunity to share my faith through my writing,” Nancy says. “It’s a part of me and of everything I think or do. God is number one in my life. I wouldn’t be writing at all if I didn’t believe that this is what He’s called me to do. I hope everyone who reads my books will walk away with the most important message I can give them: God is good, and He loves you more than you can imagine. He has a good plan especially for your life, and there is nothing you can’t overcome with His help.”
She and her husband attend Believer’s Tabernacle in Wichita.
