Robin Lee Hatcher's Write Thinking

100 Great Movie Quotes

I LOVE this sort of thing!

Wasn't that a fun trip down movie-memory lane?

~robin

Fit for Service

When I got home from my 6:30 am workout at Curves, I got to thinking about my 2009 New Year's resolution to get physically fit this year. After all, this is the last day of November. Before we know it, 2009 will be a thing of the past.

I started off great, thanks to the Wii Fit and my stationary recumbent cycle. I worked out five mornings a week. I dropped several pounds and was feeling stronger and less easily winded. Then I injured my right elbow. The pain was bad. It took regular massages and regular chiropractic visits and several months for the pain to fully subside. I couldn't do any exercises that used my arm. Even riding the cycle while gripping the handles that measure heart rate was painful. You guessed it. I slacked off. I got softer. The weight came back, plus some thanks to a change in medication.

This fall, I finally returned to using the Wii Fit and my cycle on a more regular basis, but I soon realized I needed to add weight training to the mix. And so I hauled myself off to Curves. I fell in love with the 30 minute circuit training method when my oldest daughter owned a Slender Lady studio. I've completed seven weeks now and am enjoying feeling stronger and more fit.

Which got me to thinking about being fit for service to the Lord. He's called us to be His soldiers. Having good physical health is important. So is being mentally fit. But if we aren't spiritually fit we'll find ourselves doing KP duty instead of being in the thick of the battle against the evil of this world. I don't know about you, but I want to be right on the front lines. I want to do my part to defeat the plans of the enemy and be fit enough to still swing my sword when the Lord calls me home.

I want to be a vital part of God's Army, the Army that brings good news to the afflicted, that binds up the brokenhearted, that proclaims liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners, that comforts those who mourn, and that gives garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. I want to be among the people who will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. (Isaiah 61:1-3) Amen.
~robin

Great Christmas Reading

You're special to God, and here are three books (one for adults, two for children) to help us know just how special we are to Him. Great reading for the holidays.

TREASURED by Leigh McLeroy

Cigar boxes. Refrigerator doors. Scrapbooks and sock drawers and top shelves. These are the places we store our treasures–the keepsakes that tell the story of whom and what we’ve loved, how we’ve lived, and what matters most to us.

God is a collector, too, whose treasures are tucked securely into the pages of his book: a golden bell here, an olive leaf there, a scarlet thread, a blood-stained cloth, a few grains of barley. Each of these saved artifacts reveals a facet of his heart and tells the story of a Father whose most precious possession is…us.

In Treasured, Leigh McLeroy considers tangible reminders of God’s active presence and guides us in discovering evidence in our own lives of his attentive love.

GOD GAVE US LOVE by Lisa Tawn Bergren

As Little Cub and Grampa Bear’s fishing adventure is interrupted by mischievous otters, the young polar bear begins to question why we must love others… even the seemingly unlovable.

In answering her questions, Grampa Bear gives tender explanations that teach Little Cub about the different kinds of love that is shared between families, friends, and mamas and papas. Grampa explains that all these kinds of love come from God and that it is important to love others because ... “Any time we show love, Little Cub, we’re sharing a bit of his love.”

This sweet tale will warm the hearts of young children as they learn about all the different sorts of love, while the gentle explanations of each provide a valuable opportunity to encourage children to share with others a “God-sized love.”

 
GOD GAVE US CHRISTMAS by Lisa Tawn Bergren

As Little Cub and her family prepare to celebrate the most special day of the year, the curious young polar bear begins to wonder… “Who invented Christmas?” Mama’s answer only leads to more questions like “Is God more important than Santa?” So she and Little Cub head off on a polar expedition to find God and to see how he gave them Christmas. Along the way, they find signs that God is at work all around them. Through Mama’s gentle guidance, Little Cub learns about the very first Christmas and discovers that ... Jesus is the best present of all.

This enchanting tale provides the perfect opportunity to help young children celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and to discover how very much God loves them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's here. The day of the big feast. I'm up early and hoping I can manage to get everything done that needs done before the family begins to arrive. I'm hosting our Thanksgiving dinner for the first time in four or five years. Since the last time, I've downsized my home, so we'll be a close bunch. But we love one another so it'll be fine.

One of the best things for me about Thanksgiving is the tradition of the meal. The holiday to me means turkey and dressing, green bean casserole, a favorite-style Jello salad, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, deviled eggs, a relish tray, hot spiced cider, coffee with flavored creamers, and pies. Mmm, mmm, mmm.

I hope you're able to be with those you love on this Thanksgiving day and that you'll get to eat your favorite foods. And if you eat too much (and even if you don't), make sure you get back to your exercise routine come Friday!

~robin

Live Relationally, Live Deeply

Not Your Grandmother’s Bible Study

I'm a big fan of Lenya Heitzig's and Penny Pierce Rose's Bible studies (I've used them in my personal study time as well as in the women's Bible study group I led 8 to 10 years ago), and I'm pleased to tell others about their Fresh Life Bible study series published by David C Cook. Perfect for every age, appropriate for groups or individual study, and intended for today’s on-the-go woman, the Fresh Life series requires just 20 minutes a day for a meaningful contemplation of God’s Word. The two most recent books in the series are Live Relationally and Live Deeply (June 2009). The first two books, Live Intimately and Live Fearlessly, were released in the summer of 2008.

Live Relationally offers a fresh look at the important women of Genesis. Though women in the Bible are sometimes overlooked or downplayed, this fascinating Bible study curriculum reminds readers that women are central to God’s story—and His plan. Genesis alone is peopled with women who experience death, marriage, divorce, rape, and family tragedy. And if that sounds like something out of Desperate Housewives, it just goes to show that the Bible has a message for women—today.

With probing questions, insightful sidebars, and meaningful life-application exercises, Live Relationally offers the vivid lessons and rich wisdom of Israel’s founding mothers. From the complicated Tamar to the often oversimplified Eve, they are wives and mothers, slaves and owners, sinners and saints … and each woman’s story will touch hearts for God.

           

Live Deeply is for anyone who has ever read one of Jesus’ parables and asked, “What is He talking about?” Now women—alone or with a small group—can dig deeper into the meaning of these parables to uncover their important meaning for their walks with Christ. Designed with today’s busy woman in mind, each lesson can be completed in as little as 20 minutes per day, but will leave her with a lifetime of valuable insights.

Based on the inductive Bible study method, each lesson conjures vivid imagery of the sights and sounds of Ancient Israel alongside poignant application questions for today. The Fresh Life Bible study series offers something for Christian women of all shapes and sizes; everyone will leave with a more profound understanding of the important women of Genesis and Christ’s amazing parables.

~robin

Writers need Editors & other thoughts on recent publishing news

I am currently deep in revisions of the book that will be my next release (A Matter of Character). But even I cannot ignore the firestorm that has been stirred up with the announcement of Harlequin Horizons, soon to have a name change because of the firestorm, I believe.

If you've been living in a bubble or on a south seas island without Internet service, here it is in a nutshell: Both Thomas Nelson, using their Westbow imprint, and now Harlequin, calling it Harlequin Horizons, have opted to begin offering self-publishing to would-be authors for a fee. Other people have explained these services and the problem with them better than I have time to do so I will send you to those pages:

• Writer Beware Blog (Harlequin Horizons: Another Major Publisher Adds A Self-Publishing Division)
• Ashley Grayson Literary Agency Blog (Harlequin Horizons, a mug’s game)

Self-publishing has its place. If you want to write a personal memoir for your family members, this is a good way to go. If you want to write a book that will be of interest to a very unique and small target group, this can be the way to go. If some previously published books that are out of print to which you now have the rights back and you want to be able to sell the occasional copy to a fan, self-publishing might fill the bill. But for fiction, this is almost never the way to go. Sure, people can point to The Shack and say, "Look what they did." Yeah, and why does that book stand out? Because it was such a miracle. What other self-published novel can you point to that did the same? (A self-published book is considered a bestseller with 500 copies sold? Ye-gads!)

But all the above isn't the real reason for this post. There is one specific reason why self-publishing (fiction or non-fiction) isn't the best route that I want to discuss: the editor or rather the lack thereof. I know how desperately an author needs a good editor. I know because I didn't have one for too many years. My experience came not from self-publishing but from being with a small independent house. However, the end result was the same. My books suffered.

I sold my first book in 1982 to that small independent publisher for a whopping $1000 advance and 4% royalties (still better than paying to self-publish!). I wrote that book longhand on legal pads, then typed it (with an onion skin carbon copy) on the office IBM Selectric. Man, does that age me or what! I made certain that the manuscript was as good and clean as I could possibly make it. By the time I sold my third book to that same publisher, I was using a computer so fixing typos and revising my manuscript was a whole lot easier. But the revising and polishing were done on my own.

The way the publishing cycle worked with that publisher went like this: I mailed them the hard copy of my manuscript. Approximately nine to ten months later, I would get the printed galley of my book to proof. A couple of months later, I would be holding the book in my hands. That was it.

Just before my fifth novel was released, I attended my first RWA conference. I remember hearing writers talking about "my revision letter" or "completing my line edits." After a couple of days, I turned to a friend and said, "I think I'm being cheated." I was right. I was being cheated. And so were my readers. I was giving those readers the best I had to offer without editorial guidance, not the best my stories could ultimately be.

Beginning with my seventh novel, I did get an editor who would call me and ask for plot changes, but still the only time I saw the manuscript after turning it in was at the galley stage.

My new agent sold my eleventh novel to a different publisher, a large house that was a major player in the romance mass market world. And I just about died when I received from the editor a 7 page, single spaced revision letter, along with my manuscript covered in blue pencil marks and comments. Yes, I had known I was being cheated because I wasn't being edited, but that first real experience about gave me a heart attack. And not only did I get that manuscript back for revisions, I saw it again for line edits, then copy edits, and finally page proofs/galleys. That well-edited book went on to become my first RITA finalist novel.

Over the years, I've worked with a total of 11 publishers and 22 editors. Many of those editors are worth their weight in gold (cliche!). Seriously, I've been blessed to work with the best of the best, and my books are so much better because of them. Some book revisions and edits have been light, some have been massive, but the editors always see things a book needs that I've missed simply because I'm too close to the story.

I often tell people that all of my mistakes are in print. Yes, it gets a laugh, but I'm serious. I wish I could take those early books back. I wish they didn't still exist in used book stores and libraries. While I would get rid of or replace all of the books that I wrote in the ABA if I could because of story content, I am especially sensitive about those early, unedited books.

Writers need editors. We need to be forced to dig deeper, to write cleaner and truer, to be sharpened and challenged. We need a fresh eye looking at what we've managed to get on paper over months and months of writing. When we start a book, the idea is fresh and exciting and enticing. But it rarely lives up to what we first envisioned. A great editor can help get us closer to the vision than we can manage on our own.

There are very few writers who could afford to pay for the kind of editing service one finds through a traditional publishing house who is partnering with the author to put out a top notch product. And many couldn't understand all that they are missing without the full editing process.

God forbid the only fiction that will one day be available to consumers should be unedited works of the quality of my early efforts. Readers deserve better.

~robin

Peel a Potato without a Peeler

Holy cow! This is beyond cool. I'll be giving this a try before all the guests arrive at my house for Thanksgiving.

~robin

This is how I feel about the new breast cancer guidelines

Thanks to Investors.com for this great cartoon!

I have been getting mammograms every year since I turned 40. I have had two or three false positives. I've also discovered cysts that had to be drained. Yes, these caused me some level of anxiety. Two women in my family have had breast cancer, so I am on heightened alert. Nonetheless, I would much rather have a couple of days or even a couple of weeks of anxiety than to discover breast cancer too late to do anything about it.

And I'm sorry, but how stupid is the advice to not even do self-exams??????

I've heard that this could be our first taste of rationed care under a government run healthcare system. I tend to think that could be true, whether or not it was the intent of the task force. I've also heard that this would bring us in line with other countries like Canada or England (both of whom, I've also heard, have higher rates of death from breast cancer than does the US). The truth? Who knows? I'm starting to not trust anybody. Don't trust the government. Don't trust the media. Trying to be an informed consumer and citizen gets harder and harder.

~robin

The Power of a Dog's Love

Last week a friend sent me a link to a YouTube video of a dog, Gracie, welcoming home her master who has just returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Wow! The joy is infectious. The video, needless to say, has gone viral. Who can resist it?

While I was watching Gracie's video, Poppet heard the excited whimpers and reacted. So adorable that I had to capture it on film too. So here you go, Gracie's video and Poppet's video. Hope they make you smile as they do me.

~robin

Faith & Fangs

I'll confess that I haven't been swept up in the latest vampire trend. But I have friends and family who have devoured the Twilight series. Thus I thought it good to let my blog readers know about a couple of new books you might be interested in, one fiction and one non-fiction. My 17 year old granddaughter is reading them now, and I've told her I want a book report when she's done.

TOUCHED BY A VAMPIRE by Beth Felker Jones

People around the world are asking the same question, enraptured with Edward and Bella’s forbidden romance in the Twilight Saga, a four-book serial phenomenon written by Stephenie Meyer. The bestsellers tell the story of a regular girl’s relationship with a vampire who has chosen to follow his “good” side. But the Saga isn’t just another fantasy–it’s teaching girls about love, sex, and purpose. With 48 million copies in print and a succession of upcoming blockbuster films, now is the time to ask the important question: Can vampires teach us about God’s plan for love?

Touched by a Vampire is the first book to investigate the themes of the Twilight Saga from a Biblical perspective. Some Christian readers have praised moral principles illustrated in the story, such as premarital sexual abstinence, which align with Meyer’s Mormon beliefs. But ultimately, Beth Felker Jones examines whether the story’s redemptive qualities outshine its darkness.

Cautionary, thoughtful, and challenging, Touched by a Vampire is written for Twilight fans, parents, teachers, and pop culture enthusiasts. It includes an overview of the series for those unfamiliar with the storyline and a discussion guide for small groups.

THIRSTY by Tracey Bateman

There's no place like home, they say.

"Hello, I'm Nina Parker…and I'm an alcoholic."

For Nina, it's not the weighty admission but the first steps toward recovery that prove most difficult. She must face her ex-husband, Hunt, with little hope of making amends, and try to rebuild a relationship with her angry teenage daughter, Meagan. Hardest of all, she is forced to return to Abbey Hills, Missouri, the hometown she abruptly abandoned nearly two decades earlier–and her unexpected arrival in the sleepy Ozark town catches the attention of someone–or something–igniting a two-hundred-fifty-year-old desire that rages like a wildfire.

Unaware of the darkness stalking her, Nina is confronted with a series of events that threaten to unhinge her sobriety. Her daughter wants to spend time with the parents Nina left behind. A terrifying event that has haunted Nina for almost twenty years begins to surface. And an alluring neighbor initiates an unusual friendship with Nina, but is Markus truly a kindred spirit or a man guarding dangerous secrets?

As everything she loves hangs in the balance, will Nina's feeble grasp on her demons be broken, leaving her powerless against the thirst? The battle between redemption and obsession unfold to its startling, unforgettable end.