The Plant-based Vitamin for Writers

Just writing this makes me crave a bite of my delicious brown vitamin! There must be a scientific reason why my mouth is watering right now. And even more interesting, why - when I am writing- the words come as smooth as the chocolate I am devouring.

And when writing my romance I need its comfort when I am so deeply involved in the struggle my protagonists go through to actually end up together.

So in my opinion, chocolate and romance seem so right for each other. Now, enough of chocolate.

How should we define Romance? Is it simply a thrilling feeling? Attraction?  A 'can't eat-can't sleep-for-thinking-of-him/her ailment? All of these?

I'm not the one with the answers as I am unashamedly biased. Yes I enjoy mystery, suspense, an occasional sci-fi, but I LOVE a true romance! Would you believe (perish the wicked thought) some view true romance as a little out-of-date?

If we judge romance by what we often see on TV and the way relationships are depicted, then we can understand where this jaded opinion comes from. Most often romance is mistaken for straight out lust. And everything is named sexy and hot. And it shows passion is immediate and the girl falls into bed for the equally 'sexy  male' who gets what he wants  then eventually moves to greener pastures. 

Of course attraction comes into play, and being human we have desires that we either learn to control, or allow them to control us. That is such a shame. A lost opportunity  for true romance to enter the relationship. Even the Bible speaks about 'the way of a man with a maid'. Look at nature, some of the courtship rituals of birds are amazing, but they're there and for a purpose. 

Every woman wants to be loved. Really loved for herself ... not just her body alone. She wants to be courted and shown courtesies. Lots of little things that add up to that person's actions saying they truly care for their sweetheart. Yet even there some men can be predators. They can cleverly twist an innocent into believing they are loved. The true test comes if they are willing to wait until marriage to consummate their love. A girl is not a car to test drive to see if she is compatible. What a sick comparison.

OLD -FASHIONED?  No one cares about waiting today. Maybe so, but they are truly missing out on a beautiful romance. because in itself, romance is the promise of a far deeper experience,  that of genuine, long lasting love. As writers with a Christian World View, basing our stories on the reality of true love is totally relevant for today.

Yet being human, mistakes are made. But that's where forgiveness comes in. First in forgiving ourselves and then with God's help a fresh, new beginning is always possible. How many stories have you read where the heroine discovers this for herself? They are truly touching. And we can identify with her. Also, a man willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for his sweetheart is a man we are drawn to.

I especially enjoy writing the historical romance genre. I love the way a man and a woman are attracted despite circumstances conspiring to keep them apart. Even so the temptations they face are at odds with the social proprieties of the day. Yet love prevails and somehow they find a way through what seems an impossibility. Perhaps that's why I am drawn to write about the Victorian Era with all its undercurrents, intrigues and meddling relatives adding plot twists to the story.

My brand is: Everything can change in a heartbeat.
                                                                    
Rita Stella Galieh is a co-presenter on a Christian radio program broadcast Australia-wide. She was a contributor to several US anthologies published by Adams Media. An attendee at several conferences, she has judged for ACFW, contributes to other writers’ organisations, blogs weekly, and participates daily on Facebook. After several years study at the Sydney National Art School, she joined the family ceramics business before attending Emmaus Bible College. Each year, besides Australia, she travels with her violinist husband throughout Thailand, with permission from the Buddhist Government, to explain the true meaning of Christmas. 

This past year she has enjoyed presenting the amusing Etiquette of the Victorian Era presentation to ladies and seniors fellowships, dinners, coffee evenings and similar functions. Her website is www.ritastellapress.com

Restore, recycle, let go.

On my recent trip to Europe I was reminded again of a concept I often wrestle with.        What to hold on to, maintain, restore, and what to let go of?                                                     

We saw so many amazing buildings throughout Europe, as I know others have done. Many travellers comment about seeing too many castles, churches, fortifications and palaces. Some are just ruins, left as reminders of past times, or restored in part so tourists can see and experience some of the history and see the architecture. Some have been restored and are being used as hotels, youth hostels, guest houses. Some are maintained at enormous cost, and have mostly become tourist attractions. Money raised from visitors is used to repair and restore. The amount of gold, marble and art works in some of these is mind bending. Some beautiful churches are still used for worship, which was wonderful to see, even though so much of the church’s resources still goes towards maintaining the buildings and icons. Many palaces and other lavish buildings have become museums; housing extravagant artworks, statues and furnishings from past eras.

I was torn between admiring the beautiful artistic works and architecture, and being appalled at the extravagant expenditure, both originally and presently, to maintain some of these structures. No matter how beautiful, they spoke mostly of wealth and power, of times past and priorities which are questioned in today’s society. It was interesting to hear some of our fellow traveller’s discussing how the money used to maintain and restore these structures would be better used to care for the needy or simply to improve the utilities and services for the local communities.

So what to do? Let the buildings fall down? Strip out the useful elements and recycle? Turn them into more useful structures? Keep using a huge proportion of resources to maintain them and charge the tourists highly for the privilege of gaping. I’m sure there must be such discussions at local council meetings if not at higher government levels.

I was almost amused to come home and hear the news that there’s a campaign to save the Melbourne Palais Theatre which needs 32 million dollars spent on it. Is this an appreciation of Australian’s history? Or nostalgia? Or is this just more resistance to change and reluctance to let go of anything that links us to our past or represents our achievements?

 

These reflection took me to my own values. What in my life has become an icon of the past, but too costly, or no longer useful, or even safe? How am I maintaining my real treasures and do I regularly examine the relevance and importance of what I hold onto?

I really love and appreciate history and what we can learn from it. I believe we need to remember, appreciate and learn from our own history. But I don’t believe we should be stuck in it, and I’m not sure we need to maintain expensive and extravagant representations of it, unless they serve a good purpose in the present.

Sometimes our finances dictate what we maintain in our lives or let go of. (Tourists wouldn’t pay to stroll through many parts of my life.) Our health and physical bodies will certainly shape what we can and cannot still do. My 25 k bike ride in Vienna was a reminder of that! I paid for it for days. Time can often regulate what we fit into our lives. Our best selves will be prayerful about what is still serving a Godly purpose, what is cluttering our homes, our minds, our relationships, our time. But in many instances we choose what possessions to hold on to, what kind of ‘palaces’ we really need, what practices to maintain, what attachments are important. Even what paragraphs or chapters to leave in our manuscripts!

Once we have created something, begun something, accumulated something, can we then let it go when it no longer relevant, or when it is not adding value, but rather taking up valuable space or time that something more appropriate and useful needs?  Certainly our lives will need some restoration at times. Definitely some regular maintenance. But sometimes maybe what they need most is a really good edit!

Still thinking about all this. . .

Carol Preston   

Carol writes historical novels based on her family ancestry in Australia from the First Fleet. They include the Turning the Tide series; Mary’s Guardian, Charlotte’s Angel, Tangled Secrets and Truly Free. Her earlier novels, Suzannah’s Gold and Rebecca's Dream have been re-released by EBP. You can see more about Carol and her novels on her website  

www.carolpreston.com.au

www.amazon.com/author/carolpreston

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