My Broken Heart

/ kellyfbarr / 5 Comments

This post will be more personal than most of my posts, and I will be sharing some things about my beliefs. I posted the previous sentence as a warning, so if you choose to read this post, DO NOT leave a comment saying you were offended.

Recently, I have been reading about actions and decisions that some churches or denominations have been doing and making, and it has literally broken my heart–how the church can turn its back on the truth of God’s word and cling to and teach lies because they don’t want to offend anyone, or they find the truth of God’s word uncomfortable.

I’m sure in Bible times, when Paul was preaching, especially to the churches who were doing wrong or showing wrong attitudes, people were uncomfortable. I know that before I gave my life to Christ, I sat in church and squirmed in my mind at some of the truth that was preached from the pulpit because I WAS CONVICTED! That is what the TRUTH of God’s word does — it convicts people of their sins and opens their eyes to the freedom available through belief in Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection. And when someone knows and experiences this truth, freedom, and the unconditional love of the heavenly father, they WANT to PLEASE the heavenly father by being obedient to His Word.

My heart is aching for the churches in this world. They need to get back to the Truth of God’s word and not be afraid to preach it boldly for there are many who are hurting or are just hungry for Truth, and Only the real TRUTH can set them free.

I am praying that God will send revival to the churches and the country of the United States. If you are a true believer, won’t you join me in this prayer?

Okay, this post is finished, and if you chose to read this entire post and you choose to leave a comment, whether in agreement or disagreement (and I welcome both), do so respectfully, for that was the reason for my warning at the beginning of this post. Any disrespectful comments will not be posted and will be deleted, but I welcome a respectful debate using appropriate language.

Tea and Poetry

/ kellyfbarr / 2 Comments

For today’s Tea and Poetry post, I decided to combine three of the little tea facts from “365 Things Every Tea Lover Should Know” because they go together:

There are four major tea types–black, oolong, green, and white.
Black tea undergoes the longest process of oxidation.
White tea undergoes the least amount of the oxidation process

To add just a couple more facts that relate (that we learned at the Charleston Tea Plantation): 1) All four types of tea come from the same bush (what makes them different, is the amount of time they undergo the oxidation process); 2) Green tea does not require any oxidation.

Now, for today’s poem, I have chosen a poem by Anne Bradstreet:

THE AUTHOR TO HER BOOK

Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain,
Who after birth didst by my side remain,
Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true,
Who thee abroad, exposed to public view,
Made thee in rags, halting to th’ press to trudge,
Where errors were not lessened (all may judge).
At thy return my blushing was not small,
My rambling brat (in print) should mother call,
I cast thee by as one unfit for light,
Yet being mine own, at length affection would
Thy blemishes amend, if so I could:
I washed thy face, but more defects I saw,
And rubbing off a spot still made a flaw.
I stretched thy joints to make thee even feet,
Yet still thou run’st more hobbling than is meet;
In better dress to trim thee was my mind,
But nought save homespun cloth i’ th’ house I find.
In this array ‘mongst vulgars may’st thou roam.
In critic’s hands beware thou dost not come,
And take thy way where yet thou art not known;
If for thy father asked, say thou hadst none;
And for thy mother, she alas is poor,
Which caused her thus to send thee out of door.

Kingdom’s Dawn by Chuck Black

/ kellyfbarr / Leave a comment

So, after attending our local homeschool convention and meeting author, Chuck Black, I decided to read the books our youngest son loves, and it all begins with Kingdom’s Dawn. This is a series of books written for elementary and middle grade readers, but after reading the first book of “The Kingdom Series”, I have to say that I am hooked and looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.

Kingdom’s Dawn is very well written and it is a Fantasy story with knights, the world of Arrethtrae, and unusual creatures. The story included plenty of action and adventure, conflicts and battles. I came to love the characters quickly and my interest was held throughout the entire book. I forgot I was reading an elementary/middle grade book and just got caught up in the story.

In addition to being a great Fantasy story, I love the fact that it’s also an allegorical story that, as a Christian, pointed me to many of the truths of the Bible. However, if you aren’t a Christian or you don’t like to read Christian books, those things may not be evident to you, and the book is not preachy in any way. Therefore I believe these books would appeal to all Fantasy readers, most especially to those Fantasy readers who enjoy tales of knights, castles, and kingdoms.

I look forward to reading the next book in the series and following Leinad’s journey, with the hope of meeting Cedric, who tells Leinad’s tale, in a future book. Also, these books do not take long to read. I finished this first book in about six hours and our son, who is a middle grade student but reads above his grade level, finished each of these books in about a week (that’s reading about two hours a day).

So if you’re looking for a good summer read for your children, I highly recommend this book. Our son recommends all of Chuck Black’s books to ALL of his friends!

 

Tea and Poetry

/ kellyfbarr / 1 Comment

Today’s Tea Tidbit (from 365 Things Every Tea Lover Should Know):

In early eighteenth century Britain, tea was served in coffeehouses, which were restricted to men only. If women wanted tea from these locations, they had to have a man purchase the tea for them.

Today’s Poetry selection is one of my favorite fun poems by Jack Prelutsky:

We’re Four Ferocious Tigers

We’re four ferocious tigers,
at least, that’s what we seem,
our claws are at the ready,
our sharp incisors gleam,
we’re quite intimidating,
our start will make you blink,
our roar will make you shiver,
at least, that’s what we think.

We’re four ferocious tigers,
at least, that’s what we hear,
our ominous demeanor
will chill your atmosphere,
and yet you need not fear us,
don’t scream and run away,
we only eat spaghetti,
at least, that’s what we say.

The Value of my Critique Partners

/ kellyfbarr / 3 Comments

I have been in several critique groups: some large, some small; some that meet weekly, some once a month, and some twice a month; as well as an online critique group. Why have I been a part of so many critique groups? Because I believe having a critique group is important because it helps you improve your writing and your story–to write the best story you can write even before an editor gets to work on it. It helps make the editor’s job easier, and helps me not have to pay as high of an editing fee as if I didn’t put all of this work into it first.

After participating in all of the groups above, I have finally settled into one group that I believe is the perfect fit for me. I have read other writers’ opinions about critique groups and have found that most of them say that two or three critique partners is the best size. That is what I have found. The critique group I am a part of meets twice a month and is just two other ladies and myself, although a gentleman does join us over the summer months.

I have found that this group is the perfect fit for me and works best for the following reasons: 1) too many voices giving feedback can set my head to spinning, but two or three voices make sense and are easier to sort through; 2) meeting with the same people and having them critique my work from start to finish allows them to become very familiar with my work, my writing — both my strengths and weaknesses, as well as my goals — what my story is really about–what I’m trying to say.

Because of those reasons my writing continues to improve because of their comments, suggestions, and encouragement. Just a few weeks ago, one of them said to me, I don’t like where you’re going with this. There are too many new characters, and you’ve gone astray from the main goal of your story. (Or something very similar to that.) I left critique group that day feeling a bit frustrated. I’ve been working on this manuscript for over two years already–I want to finish it and move on to the next story! I don’t want to spend years on every book I write. (But, at the same time, I want every book that I write to be the very best it can be.)

However, because I value the opinions of these critique partners and have built a good, trusting relationship with them, I had to contemplate what she said, and I did. I took a week or two to mull it over and came to realize she was right. As a historical romance writer who loves history, I was trying to include too much history, and if I continued on the current path, my book was going to be too long. She was also right that I had lost the main goal of my story.

Once I came to that realization, I had to go back to find where I had veered from the proper path–eight chapters ago! Ugh! Well, I printed everything from chapter 17 (where I was last on track) through chapter 25, and I started writing from the end of chapter 17 again with fresh eyes and fresh ideas. I am still going through the other eight chapters to see if there is anything I can salvage and keep in the story, which my critique partners also assured me that I can, and they pointed out what they liked that still kept to my story goal and made it interesting.

Now, in just a few short weeks, I am writing my new 21st chapter and I love the direction the story is now going–much closer to my intended goal, and my critique partners have assured me that they are loving the new chapters and that my writing is better, stronger, and helps them to relate to the characters so much more.

So, if you’re a fiction writer, and you don’t have a couple of critique partners that you trust and meet with regularly, I greatly encourage you to find some. It will do your writing and your confidence in your writing a world of good!