Accidental Grace and Creative Divinity

Recently, I held a retreat at my home. Each day we took time to do Morning Pages (as per Julia Cameron’s example) and allowed the writing to take us places we never expected.

Over the weekend, each person had a moment of creative divinity—a point where the pen, the past and the present collided with the divine.

The documentary Iris tells the story of Iris Apfel, the flamboyantly dressed nonagenarian who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. One story in the movie spoke to me in particular. 

When she was twelve years old, Iris found a little shop in the basement of an 'old rat-trap building' that was run by 'a little old man who was very elegant'. There, she fell in love with a brooch with filigree and rose-cut diamonds.

She lusted after the brooch and saved and scrimped. Sometime later, she went back. She haggled for the first time in her life and bought it for the huge sum of sixty-five cents. 

This moment of creative divinity in Iris’s life led to even more creative moments and a career in fashion and interior design. 

 Inspired by an excursion to a heritage-listed house when I was ten years old, I found myself writing a story. I have never forgotten the feeling of words flowing from my head, through my body, through the pen onto paper. 

I have never forgotten the physical mark of the pen on my hand. I’ve never forgotten the mark on my soul. I’ve never forgotten the day I first dreamed of being a writer.

We often ask, ‘What’s my purpose?’ and when that purpose is not clear to us at the outset we get frustrated. However, as Elizabeth Gilbert alludes to in Big Magic, sometimes our purposes are found in accidental grace. 

Curiosity will take you places along the way and you may even wonder what it is you’re meant to do. 

Detours can take our story off on tangents, but can actually start to make sense when things collide in one of those magnificent moments that causes you to say, ‘This is what I was made to do.’ 

I taught English for many years. I encouraged others to write. I read other writers’ work. I wrote academic papers. I wrote. But, I was on a major detour. One I don’t regret at all, but there was another story to be written. 

Ten years ago, I sat in my office and wrote a letter of resignation. It was time to honour the story promise of my life.

It’s not about one moment of divine creativity. If you’re curious you might just have those moments throughout your life. Maybe, like Iris, you may even get to still have them in your nineties. 

We all have creative divinity in us because we all have a touch of the Divine Creator and it’s our gift and responsibility to follow our curiosity. 

Iris said, ‘I never really knew what I was doing. I just followed my curiosity.’

That’s accidental grace. That’s creative divinity. 

Blessings, 

Elaine 

Elaine realised she wanted to be a writer at ten years of age when the words flew off the page during a creative writing lesson. 

She studied English and Education at university and went on to spend many years as a high school English teacher teaching others how to write.  

In 2005, Elaine took the plunge and began writing full-time. Since then she has published five books and blogs at www.elainefraser.co.

Elaine’s passion is to write about real issues with a spiritual edge. 

When she’s not travelling the world in search of quirky bookstores or attending writing retreats in exotic locations, she can be found in the Perth hills sitting in her library—writing, reading, mentoring writers and hugging her golden retriever. 

Book Review: The Masterpiece by Francine Rivers

by Carolyn Miller @CarolynMAuthor

Whenever I see a lot of buzz about a particular book I haven't yet read I get curious. When I hear it's a book by Francine Rivers, author of such thought-provoking best-selling novels like Redeeming Love, and one of my favourite series 'Mark of the Lion' then I'm tempted to find out more. And when it's staring me at the face in Koorong, okay, I'll bite. And I'm so glad I did!

Here's the blurb:
A successful LA artist, Roman Velasco appears to have everything he could possibly want—money, women, fame. Only Grace Moore, his reluctant, newly hired personal assistant, knows how little he truly has. The demons of Roman’s past seem to echo through the halls of his empty mansion and out across his breathtaking Topanga Canyon view. But Grace doesn’t know how her boss secretly wrestles with those demons: by tagging buildings as the Bird, a notorious but unidentified graffiti artist—an alter ego that could destroy his career and land him in prison.

Like Roman, Grace is wrestling with ghosts and secrets of her own. After a disastrous marriage threw her life completely off course, she vowed never to let love steal her dreams again. But as she gets to know the enigmatic man behind the reputation, it’s as if the jagged pieces of both of their pasts slowly begin to fit together . . . until something so unexpected happens that it changes the course of their relationship— and both their lives— forever.

Why I like it:
* It reads 'real.' The characters of Roman and Grace certainly don't fit the squeaky-clean images one can read in many Christian fiction books (but probably do fit Francine Rivers's usual type of characters). Both have made mistakes, both are trying to overcome their pasts (and occasionally slipping back into old habits), both experience God's redemptive power at work. Their emotions, backgrounds, language, struggles, reactions all feel authentic. Love it!
* It's a fast-paced read. It's a nice balance of action, description and reflection. I wanted to keep reading because I care about the characters.
* I like the element of the supernatural. It seems rare to read such direct references to visitations from angels, demons, etc in such a mainstream book. But it reminds us how true this is, and how we shouldn't dismiss what we cannot see.
* I like the supporting characters. They seem like the sort of people I would like to hang with their mix of honesty, faith and fun. Oh, and did I mention they feel real, too?
* I like the elements to do with art. My new novel is based on an artist, so it's fun to read about a very different type of creator of artwork.
* I like the cover - so beautiful! (And the artwork was created by a real Californian graffiti artist!)
* It shows how easy it is to misjudge others, based simply on what we see rather than taking the time (and effort) to truly get to know others. This novel shows how true that can be for church people, too.
* Lastly, I love it due to the emphasis on grace - God's grace, big enough and available for anyone. One can never read too many books that encourage us to reflect on God's grace and to extend that to others.

Well worth reading.

Available at Koorong, Amazon, etc

Carolyn Miller lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children. Together with her husband she has pastored a church for ten years, and worked part-time as a public high school English and Learning and Support teacher. 

A longtime lover of romance, especially that of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer’s Regency era, Carolyn holds a BA in English Literature, and loves drawing readers into fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace in our lives. Her Regency novels include The Elusive Miss Ellison, The Captivating Lady Charlotte, The Dishonorable Miss DeLancey, Winning Miss Winthrop and Miss Serena's Secret, all available from Amazon, Book Depository, Koorong, etc

Connect with her:        website | facebook | pinterest | twitter| instagram

Book Review - Hold the Faith by Susan Preston

by Jeanette O'Hagan  @JeanetteOHagan

The Book

As Benjamin discovers, it is not easy to be the great-grandson of the last living apostle. Every mistake is noticed.

When he is offered the opportunity to accompany his great-grandfather around the fellowships of the region in Asia Minor, he is overjoyed. Everything doesn't go to plan, and his faith is tested with the dangers and difficulties along the way. And another real danger waits for him when he returns home.

Hold the Faith is the first book in Susan Preston's Apostle John 5 book series.

The Author

Susan Preston is a Scot transplanted to Western Australia, and now a widow. This and the loss of a stepson has given depth to her writing that it wouldn’t have otherwise.

Susan M B Preston has won Finalist Awards from Readers’ Favorite and from the Independent Author Network. Now a widow, her main interest is her writing, Skyping with friends and family, and running the occasional beginner’s computer course.

Although she has written other types of books in the past, The Apostle John series of books is Preston’s first foray into the world of Christian, historical fiction. With a few projects to finish off, Susan has her eye on another series, this time set farther back in time. Before that – expect a few novellas about some of the people in the series.

Contact Susan through email (susan@susanprestonauthor.com); her website (http://www.susanprestonauthor.com); Facebook author page (https://www.facebook.com/apostleJohnseries), or Twitter (https://twitter.com/SPrestonPerth)

My Thoughts

Hold the Faith is biblical fiction in a fascinating period, the time when the last living witnesses of Jesus' life, death and resurrection are very old or dead (often martyred), with a new generation without such first hand experiences working out their faith in a difficult environment. It is also a time of increasing persecution from all sides (Jews, Pagans, the Romans) and the emergence of false sects that seek to disrupt the Brethren. 

Susan Preston introduces fictional characters, like young Benjamin, the fictional great-grandson of the Apostle John, as well as his Benjamin's family and others in the fellowship at Ephesus and in surrounding areas. She also references biblical and historical figures such as the Apostle John, Polycarp, and the heretic Cerinthus as well as drawing on John's writings such as the gospel, his letters and Revelation and on early church history.

Her presentation of John is delightful and believable and she does a excellent job of conveying the daily life and first century concerns of the people. As always, there is a degree of interpretation (eg did the early Christians keep the Jewish Sabbath or worship on Sunday, the day of the Lord's resurrection or what was the meaning of 'obtaining from the blood' in the Jerusalem Council in Acts). However, I think Preston does a good job of blending known facts, interpretation and relevance to modern concerns (the nature of faith, the need for young people to make faith their own, how to respond to hostility of non-Christians etc).

I will confess though that I struggled with the use of multiple points of view within scenes, which I found particularly jarring at the start, though the majority of the story is about Benjamin as he seeks to prove and grow his faith. Some parts were a little repetitive as characters discuss events and give opinions in different settings, and, until the end, conflicts were often quickly resolved.

Hold the Faith gives a good portrayal of what life might have been like for early (Jewish) Christians in Ephesus and the surrounding cities. It will be interesting to see how Susan Preston develops both the plot lines and the characters in the the rest of the series as Benjamin confronts the difficulties that face him and the Apostle John defies the might of Rome in his faithful and unswerving witness to Christ.

* * *


Jeanette started spinning tales in the world of Nardva at the age of eight or nine. She enjoys writing secondary world fiction, poetry, blogging and editing. Her Nardvan stories span continents, time and cultures. They involve a mixture of courtly intrigue, adventure, romance and/or shapeshifters and magic users. She has published numerous short stories, poems, two novellas and her debut novel, Akrad's Children and new release Ruhanna's Flight and other stories.

Jeanette has practised medicine, studied communication, history, theology and a Master of Arts (Writing). She loves reading, painting, travel, catching up for coffee with friends, pondering the meaning of life. She lives in Brisbane with her husband and children.

Find her on Facebook or Jeanette O'Hagan Writes or Twitter.

Why We Do What We Do by Elaine Fraser

Why We Do What We Do

We do what we do, because of who we are. If we did otherwise, we would not be ourselves. Neil Gaiman

This week I had meetings for two significant groups I belong to in Western Australia—Kinwomen and the Inspire Collective.

I’m a writer for Kinwomen and a committee member, of the Inspire Collective. At both meetings, most of the discussion was centred around why we do what we do, and the most effective way in which to do that.

As writers, we often concentrate on the what of what we’re doing and assume the why is implicit. Like me, you may have even written a vision statement at some time and included it in your bio, but only occasionally think about it. 

As we brainstormed and wrote our conclusions out, I thought the process was very much like preparing an elevator pitch–similar to what you may have done in pitching to an agent or publisher.

I thought it might be an interesting exercise to revisit the why of my writing as I’m about to complete a novel in a completely new genre, and I wondered if my why was still the same.

So, I answered the five questions we were asked to consider and I’ve included my answers below. As you read my answers, I hope you’ll try answering them for yourselves.

Who are you?

I’m Elaine Fraser—author, speaker, traveller, wife, mother, teacher, reader, golden retriever lover, and God-follower.

What do you do?

I write books that are honest, concerned with real lives and real issues, with a spiritual edge. My books are contemporary, don’t always have a perfect ending, but always have hope.

Who for?

I write for young adult and adult women who are looking for reading material that will challenge and inspire them to live an empowered and spiritually rich life.

What do these people want or need?

Women need books that tell a good story that they can relate to and that takes them on a personal and spiritual journey.  Women need to feel that they are not the only ones facing particular problems. 

They need be able to relate to the character and understand aspects of their own lives.  They need stories that allow them to say, ‘Hey, I’ve gone through that', and perhaps learn new ways to cope with struggles that they may be facing.

  

What is the outcome for them?

When women read my books, I hope they feel understood, or understand the emotions and struggles of others, and perhaps find some answers to questions they have in their own lives.

I hope that they see that life may not be perfect, but that there is always hope. That they may be empowered to grapple with issues they face. Through the lives of the characters, I hope they will be inspired to find that the real story, and the real answer, is found in the struggle. 

Life isn't easy and doesn't always have a fairy tale happily-ever-after. Life is worked out as we engage and wrestle with issues, faith, emotions and each other. I hope that women will find something in my books that they can take away. Something that will help them develop more faith, hope, and love. 

How would you answer these questions?

I’m still working on articulating the answers to these questions, but once I got started, I found that a lot of these answers were sitting there already. I’ll be very interested to read your responses to the questions.

www.elainefraser.co