tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76420677914655304292024-03-19T18:40:40.192-07:00Susan Foy BooksSusan Foyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05350255910663761537noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642067791465530429.post-5951411007501952112017-09-30T13:15:00.002-07:002017-09-30T13:15:21.407-07:00Life with the HuguenotsMy fifth novel, <i>Ellen's Endeavors</i>, was just released last Saturday. In many ways, this book was the most labor-intensive of all of them. It occurred not just in a historical setting, like its prequel <i>Johanna's Journey</i>, but with a specific group of people that many Americans know little about - including myself before I started researching them!<br />
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The Huguenots were French Protestants in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century France, followers of Jean Calvin (aka John Calvin). Although theologically they resembled the Puritans in England, they differed from the Puritans in the fact that they lived in an overwhelmingly Catholic country and had relatively little political power. As a result, they suffered severe persecution at different points in their history, to the point where there were nearly eradicated in France. Many Huguenots fled the country during these persecutions, ending up in Switzerland, England, Holland, and America.<br />
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Ellen's story takes place in America, when Ellen escapes her broken heart by traveling with her friend to a small town in New York settled by Huguenots. (This town, although fictional, was based on New Rochelle, NY.) Although the characters have left France, several flashback scenes describe their trials and persecutions in their home country, which become relevant as the story progresses. To research this time period, I traveled to New Paltz and New Rochelle, both towns settled by the Huguenots in America, and also read several books, one about the first-hand experiences of a French galley slave!<br />
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I also needed to research various medical procedures, since Ellen as an aspiring midwife helps to deliver a baby and also amputate a leg. I read a whole book about smallpox in order to describe a case in the story.<br />
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Writing <i>Ellen's Endeavors</i> was a lot of work, but also fun and educational as well. I hope that my readers will learn something about history while reading a great story!<br />
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<br />Susan Foyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05350255910663761537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642067791465530429.post-84357437392691656802016-01-31T12:44:00.000-08:002016-02-03T07:20:54.558-08:00Back in the Old DaysThe first two books that I released, <i>Finding Father</i> and <i>Kerry's Calling</i>, were contemporary novels with modern American characters. <i>Kerry's Calling</i> involved research about the South Pacific, Bible translation, and various dialects, but the lifestyles, social situations, and habits of thought were pretty easy to write about. Both of these stories were set in evangelical church situations where I have spent my whole life and so I felt right at home in these stories. But my most recent novel, <i>The Rebel's Return</i>, as well as the next two that I plan to release are set in Colonial America. Of course, these involved a whole different level of research!<br />
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For <i>The Rebel's Return</i> I had to research the course of the Revolutionary battles so that I understood the timeline of that year, the end of 1776. Along the way I learned some fun tidbits, like about spying during the Revolution and George Washington's possible mistress. But just as important as the battles themselves were the lifestyles and social situations of the characters themselves. I needed to be able to get inside my characters' minds. For writing <i>The Rebel's Return</i>, I needed to understand how the people of the time felt about the great political upheaval taking place around them. For <i>Johanna's Journey</i>, the story of a young indentured servant in New England, it was really important to understand social class in colonial society, how the different classes related to each other and felt about each other. In the sequel, Ellen encounters the Huguenots, French Protestants who have fled religious persecution in France. For Ellen's story, I needed to research their dramatic history and flight from France and the challenges they encountered along the way.<br />
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One thing that all these books share is that they are all romances, and all involve weddings of some kind or another. So for writing these books I had the fun job of researching colonial weddings. I learned that weddings during that time were pretty different from modern American weddings. The elaborate white wedding gown was unheard of back then. (It actually came into use during the Victorian age.) Instead, brides wore their best dress. If they could afford it, they had a new dress for the occasion, but they planned to wear it again for other special events. Weddings in the South were bigger events, but in New England they were usually just vows spoken in front of a magistrate. The Puritans considered marriage to be a civil, not a religious, ceremony, so magistrates instead of ministers performed the weddings in those colonies. I wanted Justin's niece in <i>Johanna's Journey</i> to have a big wedding, and it seemed likely that with her mother growing up in New York, she would have been exposed to the fancier Dutch affairs in that colony and would want a large wedding for her daughter. Bridesmaids were in style, but I found no evidence that they all wore matching dresses!<br />
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Events leading up to the wedding were similar in some respects to our own but different in others. Girls generally married in their early twenties and young men in their middle or late twenties. If a young man wanted to court a woman, he was expected to go to her father and ask permission. Then the couple were allowed to spend time together without being chaperoned too closely. Among wealthier families, the parents would sit down and agree on a marriage settlement: the property that each partner would bring to the marriage. Marriages weren't usually arranged, but the parents had more say in choosing a partner than they do in modern times. However, during the course of the eighteenth century the influence of the parents began to wane, and it became more common for a young woman to get pregnant before marriage in order to force her parents' hand.<br />
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We like to think that premarital sex was a rare occurrence in the old days, but the statistics show that a quarter of all brides were pregnant when they married. Those who were caught in this condition were expected to confess in church, but the situation was so common that some churches had preprinted "confessions" for the couples to sign. A custom that seems odd to us was bundling: allowing a courting couple to spend the night together with a board down the middle of the bed, or with the young people tied into bags. With customs like this, it's probably not surprising that pregnancy was so common, but the advantage was that the parents were witnesses to the situation and the young man would be obligated to marry the girl if she became pregnant. Unlike today, both partners faced strong pressure to marry when pregnancy occurred.<br />
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Those who have read The Rebel's Return may ask, "But where was the wedding that story? Phoebe's story ended before the actual wedding!" The good news is that I am adding an epilogue about Phoebe's Revolutionary War wedding, and would be happy to send it to anyone who would like to read it!<br />
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<br />Susan Foyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05350255910663761537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642067791465530429.post-27377318376173587602015-02-27T11:09:00.001-08:002015-02-27T11:10:59.336-08:00Kerry's CallingAnother excerpt from Kerry's Calling - to be released in March!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Linux Libertine";">Luke was
silent a moment, sipping his drink, then he spoke with a thoughtful wrinkle
between his brows. “I wouldn’t say that I prefer celibacy. I don’t know many
people who do. It’s a sacrifice, like so many of the other sacrifices we both
make to be here. Like being separated from our families, or catching malaria,”
he smiled, “or having my truck break down every time I come into town and
trying to repair it from my tool kit in the back. This time it was just a flat
tire, but once I was stranded on the side of the mountain with an overheated
engine for two hours before another vehicle came along and rescued me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Linux Libertine";">The
conversation moved on then to the trials of operating a motor vehicle in rugged
mountainous terrain, but it was the first part of their exchange that Meg
recalled off and on throughout the day, and in greater detail before she fell
asleep that night. It was the first time they had spoken openly of the question
that had recurred to her many times in her acquaintance with Brother Luke. What
would make any man, and Luke in particular, take vows of celibacy? In his case
at least, it didn’t appear to be an aversion to women. She admired his
single-minded devotion to God, if that was his true motivation. She was devoted
to God too, of course, but not in the same way— at least, not single-mindedly.
Luke probably thought of her as a nun, a sort of Protestant nun, and he would
be shocked if he guessed what unspiritual ideas sometimes crossed her mind. Did
he guess? She hoped she had not given herself away in her remarks today.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #515151; line-height: 19.5px;"><a href="http://smarturl.it/wippet" style="color: rgb(108, 184, 58) !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Links active once published">Christian Fiction Friday</a> is a weekly blog hop where authors post short (400-word or less) snippets from their current works in progress. It is hosted by <a href="http://www.alanaterry.com/blog" style="color: rgb(108, 184, 58) !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Links active once published">Alana Terry</a> and <a href="http://www.hallee.bridgemanfamily.com/" style="color: rgb(108, 184, 58) !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Links active once published">Hallee Bridgeman</a>.</span></div>
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Susan Foyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05350255910663761537noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642067791465530429.post-60470711269315216492015-02-06T17:11:00.001-08:002015-02-06T17:13:21.123-08:00Kerry's CallingAn except from <i>Kerry's Calling</i>, to be released in March:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"> “You’re thinking about <i>leaving</i>? You mean,
quitting? But, Chad, why? What’s wrong?”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"> “Oh,
there are a lot of reasons,” he sighed. “Any one by itself probably wouldn’t be
enough, but...”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"> He was silent for a long time, while
she watched his face. Finally he glanced at her and realized that she was still
waiting for an answer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"> “I guess it all started a year ago,
when I was home on furlough,” he began. “You know about the girl I was going to
marry—Laura. We had a rather whirlwind courtship, and before I came back we got
engaged. The plan was for her to apply to Harvest and then I would go home this
summer and we would get married. She seemed really happy about it at the time.”
His voice trailed off. “Then in February I got an e-mail from her. She wasn’t
sure she wanted to leave home and move halfway around the world to a strange
country. She wasn’t sure she wanted to live in poverty when she had a proper
job making good money in England. She wasn’t sure she loved me enough. And that
was that.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"> “I’m sorry, Chad,” Kerry said
softly. She knew there was no easy answer that would take away that pain. She
could only listen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"> He shrugged. “I told myself all the
things that people do in a situation like that. I would get over it. It wasn’t
meant to be. It was God’s will. All those things. But right after that I fell
ill with malaria. I couldn’t work; I couldn’t do anything but lie around
burning up with fever and shivering with chills and wanting to die. I felt so
dreadful. And—well, I know this sounds idiotic, but I kept wishing my mum was
there to take care of me, but she was so far away and I felt so alone, like the
whole world had forgotten about me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Susan Foyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05350255910663761537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642067791465530429.post-1824571953147326452014-10-15T15:47:00.000-07:002014-10-15T15:47:21.038-07:00A Tale of Two Missions TripsWhat do Bulgaria and the Solomon Islands have in common? They are on opposite sides of the world and contain different racial and ethnic groups who speak different languages. The one thing that they share is that they were the locations of the two missions trips that I have participated in.<br />
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In 1981 after my junior year in college I participated in a 6-week summer internship with Wycliffe in the Solomon Islands, southeast of Australia. I loved the Solomon Islands. I loved the beautiful tropical scenery, the warm friendly people, the food, and the language. The most common language spoken in the town was Pijin, an English-based creole, and our task was to learn as much Pijin as possible and help teach the Pijin literacy classes. After six weeks I was proud that I could easily understand sermons in Pijin, and at the end of this summer I began to think seriously about becoming a Bible translator with Wycliffe.<br />
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The team of American college students consisted of 6 girls and 2 good-looking young men, who for me were the icing on the cake that summer. Although I never thought I was terribly popular with the opposite sex, for some reason, with that particular mix of girls, I was the Scarlett O'Hara of the group. I was more extroverted than most of them, I liked to flirt with the guys, and I liked dressing in frilly girlish clothes. As the summer progressed I developed a closer friendship with one of the guys on the team. We had a "date" attending a soccer game and would often stay up late, sitting out on the front porch and talking. The team had strict no-touching rules between the guys and girls, partly because of the local culture, and we would push these rules by squeezing each other when we thought no one was looking or playing footsie under the table.<br />
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I should have been more sensitive to how this appeared to the others in the group, but I was pretty oblivious. During the last week the situation came to a head. One of the other girls sat me down and told me that everyone thought my behavior with the guys was obnoxious and they were all sick of it. I was crushed. I had been having such a wonderful summer, only to learn that everyone hated me! My great experience was ruined!<br />
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I had the blessing to be able to talk the experience over with one of the older women on the team, who was able to help me put it in perspective and tell me that no one hated me, but that I needed to be more sensitive to the other girls. In retrospect, I figured out that some of the girls were probably interested in the guy that I liked, and so our behavior was especially irritating for them in stirring up jealousy.<br />
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Fast forward 33 years to the summer of 2014 and my second official missions trip. Our church was sending a team of 16 adults and teens, including me and my son Jonathan, to Bulgaria for 12 days to lead Vacation Bible Schools in several small churches there. I loved Bulgaria. The weather was perfect, the people were warm and friendly and happy to see us, the food was delicious and just unusual enough to be interesting. Although I didn't speak the language, enough Bulgarians spoke English that this wasn't a serious difficulty.<br />
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Our work proceeded smoothly with no serious mishaps. It was tiring at times, but the churches seemed grateful for our help. But for me, the trip was often lonely. I knew everyone on the team casually, but not well enough to talk about anything that was important to me. Small annoyances bothered me more than I knew they should, and I found it hard to shrug them off and move on. When I got upset, I felt that I had to put on a happy face so that I didn't bring anyone down or sound like a complainer. And I've never been good at putting on a happy face when I'm upset, so this made me feel like a failure as well.<br />
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To make matters worse, Jonathan was having difficulties of his own. At the last minute two good-looking young people had joined the team, completely altering the group dynamic. The girls followed this particular boy around, and certain teenagers were included in this nucleus while others were excluded. I felt angry that these Christian young people were treating each other this way, which only fed my own discouragement.<br />
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In thinking over these two trips, it struck me how similar they were in one way. In particular, my stress didn't come from the food, strange language, or hard living conditions, but from relationships on my own team. In the first case I was the "insider" who created resentment in the girls who felt left out. On the second trip, my son and I were the ones who felt left out, which led to discouragement and loneliness. Perhaps it is something about my personality which made these situations difficult - or perhaps the Wycliffe member hit the nail on the head when he told us, "One of the hardest things about being a missionary is getting along with other missionaries."<br />
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This second trip may have been providential for another reason. My first novel, <i>Finding Father</i>, was released in July, and now I am working on my next one, <i>Kerry's Calling. </i>It is the story of a young missionary woman on her first assignment and her relationships with her teammates. Maybe I needed this timely reminder of the real difficulties that can occur!<br />
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<br />Susan Foyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05350255910663761537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642067791465530429.post-11882119045835223382014-03-27T06:46:00.000-07:002014-03-27T07:39:11.462-07:00God Is Not DeadLast Sunday my husband and I went to see the new Christian movie <i>God Is Not Dead. </i>The movie had been highly publicized at my church and the subject matter held particular interest for me, so I was looking forward to it. At the same time, based on past experiences with Christian movies, I approached the experience with a dash of wariness. My mixed feelings were justified, and the movie turned out to be very much as I might have predicted.<br />
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The movie was geared for a Christian audience and the message was directed toward Christians. The main character, Josh, is given the daunting task of defending his faith in front of his philosophy class and his particularly hostile professor. He takes on the challenge in spite of some discouragement from other Christians. As the result of his stand, he influences other characters, both believers and unbelievers, some of whom come to faith. Several characters in the story needed to make very hard stands for their faith which were inspiring. The message of the movie seemed to be, "Don't be afraid to take a stand for your beliefs; you never know what influence you might have." With this message for this limited audience, the movie was successful.<br />
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The movie had also been touted as an evangelistic tool, and in this way it mostly fell flat. Josh barely scratched the surface of Christian apologetics in his philosophy class, and expecting more from a movie of this sort was probably unreasonable. Unlike some Christians, I was not offended by his references to the Big Bang theory and macro-evolution. I thought his arguments were fine as far as they went, but they certainly weren't strong enough to inspire the whole class to rise to their feet at the end of the movie declaring "God is not dead!" I found this scene a bit ridiculous, and suspect that most unbelievers would have the same reaction.<br />
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The biggest weakness of the movie was in the portrayal of several of the characters, especially the unbelievers. I was beginning to feel some sympathy for the professor until the scene portraying his inexplicable and unmotivated rudeness toward his girlfriend. This behavior was also unnecessary for the plot: the girl already knew she should break up with him and didn't need that experience to tell her so. The movie thus took a character that had the potential for sympathy and complexity and turned him into a caricature of an arrogant professor.<br />
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Even worse was Amy's boyfriend, whose name escapes me. He was so heartless, cold, and selfish, and made so little effort to hide it, that he hardly seemed believable. I don't understand why this character needed to be portrayed in such a way. Almost as bad in a smaller way was Josh's supposedly Christian girlfriend. She was so selfish and unsympathetic I couldn't understand why he had dated her for six years. It seemed contrived and incredible that she would abruptly ditch a long-term relationship over a disagreement about a college class.<br />
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Overall I enjoyed the movie. I thought the story line was interesting, the better characters engaging, and the acting much better than I've seen in some Christian films. The Christian message was important, especially for young people on secular campuses. However, I was rather glad I hadn't invited any unbelievers to attend with me. The movie would have been far more effective as an evangelistic tool if the unbelievers had been portrayed as real people instead of heartless arrogant caricatures.<br />
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<br />Susan Foyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05350255910663761537noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642067791465530429.post-21208944362440714592013-10-27T11:09:00.001-07:002013-10-27T11:09:28.333-07:00The End of the DreamMy heart is broken today.<br />
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My son Michael, now 18, was two months old when I attended my first writer's conference in Philadelphia. I remembered pushing him around the college in his little umbrella stroller, nervously showing my first draft of my first novel, <i>Johanna's Journey</i>, to the few editors I had landed appointments with. A few years later at a Maryland conference, an editor for the first time wanted to show my proposal to his committee. I was so excited - surely this was it! A few weeks later I received a rejection letter addressed to Dear Author. I cried when I read the letter. They couldn't even use my name! I knew the road to publishing might be harder than I had first thought, but had no idea how hard.<br />
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The years passed with more novels, more conferences, more meetings with editors. I received some nice compliments and encouraging words, and more rejection letters. I completed<i> Ellen's Intercession, The Return</i> <i>of the Rebel</i>, and<i> Kerry's Calling</i>. After about eight years of writing, an editor requested the complete manuscript of<i> The Return of the Rebel.</i> Again I was so excited - here was my big break! I waited a year before following up, only to be told that the manuscript had been lost in a computer crash. I resubmitted, waited another year, and then received a rejection letter. The publishing guidelines had changed in those two years, and my novel no longer fit the criteria, although "it was a pretty good story and we probably would have accepted it."<br />
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Finally, about three years ago, I told God I was done. I had one more conference to attend, and after that I wasn't going to try anymore. At that conference I met with three different editors who all requested that I submit my latest novel, <i>Finding Father. </i>So began another round of submissions, revisions, resubmissions. One editors seemed genuinely excited about my idea and requested that I rework the entire manuscript so she could take it to her committee. I complied, spending many hours over several months revising the manuscript according her suggestions. On Thursday I received an e-mail from her, saying that her committee felt my writing "isn't quite there."<br />
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So there I am. I hesitate to use the word "never," but at this moment I feel pretty certain that I will never submit a manuscript to a traditional publisher again. I have never gotten as close to publication as I did with this latest house and can't believe that I ever will again. I have five novels that I would like to share with the world, but I seem to be hitting brick walls over and over again.<br />
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I am wrestling with this situation spiritually as well. If God didn't want me to write, why did I keep getting encouragement over the years, only to have doors slammed in my face? Why did he take me so far only to lead me to a dead end? Or maybe it wasn't God leading me at all, but my own wishful thinking, my own fantasy of being a writer? Does God want me to be happy writing novel after novel and not care if I have an audience or if anyone reads them? All these questions are circling through my mind, and I have no answers yet.<br />
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The one possibility still open to me is self-publishing. Up till now, I've hesitated to go that route for several reasons. The first, I suppose, is my own insecurity and need for validation. If the "professionals" don't think my books are worth their time and money, why should I spend family's money on something that isn't all that worthwhile? The other reason is a realistic knowledge of my own strengths and weaknesses. If I have a strength in this field, my strength is writing, not marketing. If I self-publish, the burden of marketing my own books is entirely on my shoulders, and that isn't something that I feel completely (or even slightly) comfortable with.<br />
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But at this point I don't have much to lose. I am at a crossroad, but I am going to think and pray and explore the possibility of self-publishing. Maybe it will turn into another dead end. Maybe I will manage to sell a few hundred books through this method and my books will speak to someone or touch their lives or influence them in some way, and that will be worth it. Maybe I will even be one of the rare success stories. Only God knows. <br />
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<br />Susan Foyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05350255910663761537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642067791465530429.post-7401386887203892122013-06-24T06:34:00.000-07:002013-06-24T07:36:53.689-07:00Self-confidence or Presumption?What is the difference between self-confidence and presumption? How do I have true humility and also the confidence to promote my work?<br />
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As I wait to hear from another editor, this is the issue that again I wrestle with. For some reason, when it come to my writing, I've always needed a lot of reinforcement from people around me. If I don't have people telling me that they like my books, that they were meaningful to them, it's hard for me to believe that they are any good or that my writing is worthwhile. Or maybe I feel that I'm wasting my time if no one is going to read my books anyway.<br />
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I suppose this is a personality issue, at least partly. I've read books that I really didn't think were all that good, and yet clearly their authors had enough self-confidence to go through the painful process of publishing. In the process, they found an audience: a group of readers who enjoyed their books enough to shell out the money (or at least go to the library) and spend the time in the imaginary world the author had created. This seems like presumption to me, but maybe it's really just healthy confidence. And, of course, different audiences enjoy different types of writing, and what seems like trash to me might be thoroughly enjoyable to someone else.<br />
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In <i>The Screwtape Letters, </i>C.S. Lewis talks about pride and humility, and the true purpose of humility: "Let him think of [humility] not as self-forgetfulness but as a certain kind of opinion (namely, a low opinion) of his own talents and character. Some talents, I gather, he really has. Fix in his mind the idea that humility consists in trying to believe those talents to be less valuable than he believes them to be. No doubt they <i>are</i> in fact less valuable than he believes, but that is not the point....[God] wants him, in the end, to be so free from any bias in his own favour that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbour's talents."<br />
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Alas, I am not there yet. I fear I am a long way from that true type of humility, and I wonder if I will ever get there. I want to be told that my writing is good and meaningful, but even when I hear that (as I have, many times - one of the women in my writer's group told me I should look in the mirror every day and tell myself, "You have a really good book here!"), it never completely satisfies me. Perhaps the reason that I want to be published so badly is that I see it as that final validation: Some professional actually thought my writing was good enough to take a chance on. But since I know that professionals often take a chance on writing that really isn't good at all, why should that matter so much?<br />
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I am bracing myself for another rejection and wondering how I should react to it. I know my initial reaction will be that I will never want to try again. I have never gotten this close before, I don't believe I will again. But should I be happy to continue writing without any real audience except the circle of loyal friends who have been my readers for the last 18 years? Or should I try the self-publishing route - which demands more self-confidence (or presumption) than I have ever yet managed to find in myself?<br />
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These are the questions that I wrestle with as I wonder and wait.Susan Foyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05350255910663761537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642067791465530429.post-76886842248818685782013-05-04T13:56:00.000-07:002013-05-07T03:30:26.743-07:00Death Comes to PemberleyIf one definition of a really good book is one for which readers want a sequel, then it's not surprising that sequels have been written by lesser-known authors for several of my favorite old classics. <i>Gone With the Wind</i> has been one of my favorite novels since I first read it as a teenager. Almost 20 years later, <i>Scarlett </i>by Alexandra Ripley was published and my sister gave it to me for Christmas. As a novel it was adequate, but never something I would read more than once. As a sequel to <i>Gone With the Wind, </i>it was a huge let-down. Scarlett was suddenly more sensitive and conscientious, less greedy and manipulative, and the reconciliation between her and Rhett (the real reason anyone wanted to read it) was underdeveloped and unconvincing.<br />
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Since then I've read several sequels to Jane Austen novels with similar reactions. One sequel to<i> Mansfield Park</i> really annoyed me. Although she did an admirable job imitating Austen's style, the author had the nerve to make Henry Crawford into a hero and changed the details of the original ending, so that his affair with Maria Rushworth was really just a big misunderstanding. I'm sure many readers liked Henry more than Edmund and wished Fanny had married him, but in my opinion it requires massive conceit to try to rewrite anything as brilliant as <i>Mansfield Park.</i><br />
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At least P.D. James did nothing to undermine the beauty of <i>Pride and Prejudice</i>. Her murder mystery <i>Death Comes to Pemberley</i> takes place on the Pemberley estate six years after the marriage of Darcy and Elizabeth. It includes many of the original characters, including Jane and Bingley, Wickham and Lydia, Colonel Fitzwilliam and Georgiana, adding other characters as might be expected. She creates a suitable tone for the novel, less humorous and more mysterious. Most importantly, the characters and details of the story remain true to the original. (The worst inconsistency that I noticed was her statement that Wickham was not welcome in the Bingleys' home, whereas <i>Pride and Prejudice</i> states that he visited there frequently.)<br />
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Although the novel could be called a murder mystery, it departs from the genre in several significant ways. The main characters, notably Darcy and Elizabeth, aren't involved in solving the mystery in any way. In fact, the guilty parties come forward at the end and make voluntary confession, begging the question of why they didn't do that in the first place and save everybody the hassle. Darcy and Elizabeth, and by extension, the reader, are merely spectators of the whole show, giving the story a passive feel. Several secondary plots could have been developed more to make the story more interesting and add romance.<br />
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But the book was an interesting picture of life on the Pemberley estate and the marriage of Darcy and Elizabeth. It provides closure for a few of the secondary characters of <i>Pride and Prejudice </i>while creating clever connections with characters from <i>Persuasion</i> and <i>Emma</i>. For Austen fans, it was a nice read. Of course, it falls far short of the wit, humor, and insight of her own novels.<br />
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<br />Susan Foyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05350255910663761537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642067791465530429.post-32001804592487281492013-03-20T15:14:00.001-07:002013-03-20T19:08:52.951-07:00When Christians DisappointOkay, I should be used to this by now. Back in the '70's, when divorce was still a new thing in Christian circles, we were all shocked by Hal Lindsey and Anita Bryant. Later the Christian music stars Sandy Patti and Amy Grant each left their husbands and took up with new men. And, of course, we all have innumerable examples in our personal lives of Christians who decided that their marriage vows were just too hard to keep. So this latest disappointment shouldn't be such a big deal. Should it?<br />
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Five or six years ago my husband borrowed a book that had shown up in the lounge at his work, <i>What's So Great About Christianity</i> by Dinesh D'Souza. I had never heard of D'Souza at that point, but I read the entire book in one afternoon. It was fascinating. In the book he explored the scientific, historical, and philosophical basis for belief in God, responding to numerous atheistic books attacking Christianity. Later my daughter and I attended a debate in Princeton on the topic "Can there be Morality without God?" in which D'Souza debated the famous atheist professor Peter Singer. Again, I was impressed by his intelligence and spiritual insight. I began to buy other books he had written, including <i>Life After Death, The End of Racism,</i> and (for my son) <i>Letters to a Young Conservative</i>. I loved them all. My son even gave <i>What's So Great About Christianity </i>to a skeptic friend of his from high school.<br />
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When I recently heard a rumor that D'Souza was getting a divorce, I decided to go on the internet and check it out. The story seems to be that he and his wife have been separated for the last two years (at his wife's request, he says). Then he showed up at a Christian conference in September with a much younger woman whom he introduced as his fiancee. Since he was still married, this caused some natural consternation. When confronted, D'Souza said, "I had no idea that it is considered wrong in Christian circles to be
engaged prior to being divorced, even though in a state of separation
and in divorce proceedings." (Really?) The divorce wasn't filed until a few days after the conference, but who knows how long he had been thinking about it. There is also hot debate about whether or not the two shared a hotel room at the conference.<br />
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Okay, so another one bites the dust. Why does this bother me more than Amy Grant? Maybe it has to do with the nature of their respective fame. Amy Grant was a young girl with a pretty voice who was noticed by the right people and became a big name. A pretty face and a pretty voice do not a spiritual giant make. But as I sadly read the reports about D'Souza, I kept remembering his books and wondering, "How could someone who so wonderfully articulated the philosophical basis for belief do such a disappointing job of living it out?"<br />
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Maybe the answer is found in D'Souza's words themselves. At the Princeton debate, Peter Singer argued that Christians are not necessarily more moral than unbelievers. D'Souza replied, (and I'm quoting from memory, not verbatim,) "If you are saying that Christians don't do a good job of living up to their own moral code, I agree with you. But that supports my claim that morality is transcendent, not man-made. If we were going to create our own moral code, we would make one that was easier to live up to."<br />
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In <i>What's So Great About Christianity, </i>as he discussed the nature of man, D'Souza said, "For Plato, the problem of evil is a problem of knowledge. People do wrong because they do not know what is right. If they knew what was right, obviously, they would do it. But Paul denies that this is so. His claim is that even though he knows something is wrong, he still does it. Why? Because the human will is corrupt. The problem of evil is not a problem of knowledge but a problem of will." (pp. 55-56)<br />
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My grandmother was a quiet, shy, self-effacing woman who stayed in a difficult marriage with a difficult man for 68 years. After her death, my mother was reflecting on why she stayed with him for all those years. "I can only assume it was because she believed God wanted her to do that."<br />
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Imagine that.<br />
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<br />Susan Foyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05350255910663761537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642067791465530429.post-69478367649201865502013-02-28T20:36:00.001-08:002013-03-01T03:57:58.604-08:00Perfect Ending?Lately I have been reconsidering the ending to my latest novel, <i>Finding Father</i>. Most of my readers have told me that they like the ending, and several have said they would like to see a sequel. I considered this a compliment and thought that it was a good plan to end a novel with the readers wanting more. But recently a professional who read the book told me that I ended the story too early, that I didn't show enough of the romance, and that I left several of the secondary conflicts unresolved - in particular the tension between the hero and the girl's mother.<br />
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I know as a reader that I like to feel a sense of closure at the end of a novel. One of my favorite books, <i>Gone With the Wind,</i> had a very open ending, with Scarlett and Rhett actually separating and Scarlett planning how she could win him back. But it is difficult to pull off an ending like that, and I don't pretend to be anything close to Margaret Mitchell in literary prowess. So it's possible that, in leaving my ending somewhat open, I was being a bit too ambitious.</div>
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On the other hand, I want my story to be believable, and in real life many difficult relationships never become happy, close, and loving. I've also read novels in which characters who spend the whole book fighting and hating each other suddenly fall into each other's arms in the last chapter. To me, this sort of pat, unrealistic resolution is worse than anything. I would rather read a book in which some tension and conflict remain at the end than feel that the author sacrificed truth and realism for a "happy ending."</div>
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So that brings me back to the ending of <i>Finding Father</i>. Can I find a resolution between Steve and Bonnie that is satisfying, but doesn't feel trite and contrived?</div>
Susan Foyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05350255910663761537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642067791465530429.post-49521983668345435882013-02-06T07:16:00.000-08:002013-02-06T07:17:03.478-08:00Downton AbbeyLike half the female population of the United States, during the last six months I have become engrossed in the PBS series <i>Downton Abbey.</i> I watched the first two seasons on DVD at least twice each, and now am watching Season 3 every Sunday night on PBS. Sometimes I watch the same episode two or three times during the week if I can squeeze it into my schedule and steal the television from the males in the family. I'm sure I'm not the only American who would love to relocate to England and be adopted by the Crawley family (if we could figure out a way to travel in time!)<br />
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Although <i>Downton Abbey</i> is a television series instead of a book, one characteristic that it shares with many novels is its excellent characters. Each character is distinctive in personality and his or her way of responding to crises, and yet none are unrealistic and few are idealized. As I watched the most recent episode on Sunday night, I pondered which character I admire the most, and came to a surprising conclusion.<br />
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As I watched the various characters react to the most recent crises in the story, I decided that Matthew's mother Isobel Crawley is the character that I would most like to emulate. She is one of the less glamorous women in the story, maybe because she is middle-aged and comes from a prosaic middleclass background. When she first appeared in the story soon after Matthew learned he was the new heir to the estate, I felt a bit sorry for her because of the way she was patronized and looked down upon by some of the other women, especially Violet. But Isobel never let herself be intimidated by the difference in wealth and class. She was so confident, but was also very gracious and courteous.<br />
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Isobel always acts according to her own principles, even when others criticize and disagree. I especially admire the way she cares about Ethel Parks. So many of the other characters want to shun Ethel because of her fall into sin, but Isobel actually hired her as a cook in order to give her another chance in life. Although <i>Downton Abbey</i> isn't a Christian story, I see Isobel Crawley as the most Christian character in her attitudes and outlook on life.<br />
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<br />Susan Foyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05350255910663761537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642067791465530429.post-19017090903364297892013-01-23T07:38:00.000-08:002013-02-06T06:47:37.262-08:00How I Got HereIn beginning my new blog, I want to go back and reminisce a bit about the journey that I've been on for many years now. I've written off and on ever since I was nine years old, and in my early twenties began a romantic fantasy about two characters named Rodwyn and Lisare. I never finished more than the initial story, and my personal life in my late twenties was so full of upheaval that I put my writing aside for a number of years, not sure if I would ever take it up again.<br />
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In my early thirties the idea for <i>Johanna's Journey</i> began to grow, and I continued to develop the story and characters in my mind for several years. Still, I hesitated to actually start writing a novel. It seemed like such a big commitment, I was afraid that I wouldn't finish it, and if I did no one would want to read it and all my effort would be wasted. But Johanna (a colonial indentured servant) refused to die. One day in discussing these concerns with my twin sister, she said to me, "Write something for me, Susan. Write it for me, and I'll read it." Knowing that I would have one reader of my new novel encouraged me to sit down and start writing, and the story was so complete in my mind that I finished the first draft in six months. A few months later I learned about a small local writer's group, and when I joined it I now had three readers for my novel. Without this support, I would never have been able to continue writing.<br />
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For several years I continued working and refining <i>Johanna's Journey, </i>until one day an author I met at a conference suggested that I create a series that I could promote to editors. Soon afterwards I began a sequel based on Johanna's stepdaughter Ellen, who appears as a small child in the first book. Although I loved <i>Johanna's Journey</i> and was happy with the result, I believed two weaknesses were that I focused only on Justin and Johanna and developed few secondary characters; also the plot was not very complex. In writing <i>Ellen's Intercession,</i> I created a more plot-driven novel with many twists and turns to the story. I also included three men and three women whom I tried to develop well. The romantic pairings kept changing so that it was difficult to predict who would end up together (a technique I admired in Jane Austen's<i> Emma</i>). I thought this worked well, but the downside was that the reader does not become as attached to Ellen's ultimate hero as she does to Justin in the first book. This book also required a great deal of research. I read about the Huguenots, French galley slaves, 17th century midwifery practices, and smallpox, and also took a couple of trips to visit Huguenot towns in New York.<br />
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I thought I would keep writing about Johanna and her progeny forever, but a few years later I was given the chance to submit a novella for a three-story book. The theme for the first book was a historical "Christmas Homecoming" and the second was a contemporary "Love on the Job." I decided to stay with the colonial time period for "Christmas Homecoming" and wrote my first novella about a Revolutionary War soldier returning after the battle of Trenton in 1776. In researching this I learned a lot about the American Revolution (more than I remembered from school!). I later expanded this into a longer romance called <i>The Return of the Rebel.</i><br />
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I had never written a contemporary novel and at first was stuck for a idea for "Love on the Job." At this point my sister suggested I write a story about two missionaries who fall in love on the mission field. I have always been interested in missions and spent a summer as a summer intern with Wycliffe Bible Translators in the Solomon Islands. I also studied linguistics in their school and have met many Bible translators that way. I decided to set my story on a fictional island in the South Pacific based on the Solomon Islands, creating a fictional organization modeled on Wycliffe. In writing the novella I fell in love with the characters (especially the struggling Bible translator hero, Chad) and decided to expand this story into a novel. I introduced more characters to add tension, and created a terrorist element as well.<br />
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As I was finishing my missionary book, the idea for my fifth book came to me. I was still polishing <i>Kerry's Calling</i> so I didn't start writing it for several years. Of all the books I have written, this is the one that I was most hesitant to begin. The idea seemed far-fetched even to me, I was afraid it would turn my readers off, and I wasn't sure how to end the story in a way that would be both believable and satisfying. But the story wouldn't leave me alone, and finally, with great fear and trembling, I decided to write the first chapter and see how my writer's group reacted to it. <i>Finding Father</i> is the story that most of my readers have had the strongest response to, mostly in a positive way. Although I have gotten some negative reactions, they were much fewer than I expected. Many readers have told me they didn't want to set it down once they began.<br />
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So this is where I am, many years after I first began to write. It has been a long journey, and I wonder where it will lead next?<br />
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<br />Susan Foyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05350255910663761537noreply@blogger.com2