GUEST BLOGGER LIZ CURTIS HIGGS: Loving the Labor (and you won't BELIEVE the giveaways!!!)

Hi, Julie here, and seven years ago, my life took a dramatic turn for the better—I traded in my secular romance for Christian romance, and the number one reason why is because of our esteemed guest today, Liz Curtis Higgs.

Most of you know I’m a Gone With the Wind freak, totally enamored with rich historical storytelling interwoven with a love story so deep and powerful, it changes not only the course of the characters’ lives, but the reader’s as well. I’ve been searching for love stories of this caliber ever since, and when I turned the first page of Liz Curtis Higgs’ Thorn in my Heart, book 1 in her phenomenal “Lowlands of Scotland” series, I felt like I had finally come home.

Recently I had the privilege and honor of endorsing Liz’s latest book, Mine is the Night, a New York Times bestseller, and let me tell you that it was a labor of love that blessed me far more than it did her. “Few authors stir my emotions more than Liz Curtis Higgs,” I said, “a legendary storyteller of epic proportion. One does not merely read a novel by Liz Curtis Higgs, one forges a bond so deeply with its characters that reader and story become one, embarking on a journey that both inspires and transforms. But be warned—Mine is the Night will steal your night from the first page to the last, and never will hours be better spent.” And trust me—in an endorsement—never were truer words spoken.

With great pride and affection, I give you the woman whose books I have on auto-buy … Liz Curtis Higgs.

Loving the Labor

by Liz Curtis Higgs

You and I have not taken the easy path, beloved. W. B. Yeats called writing, “The fascination of what’s difficult.” But then, we didn’t CHOOSE to write fiction—we were CALLED to write fiction!

Telling stories is part of our DNA, created when we were “made in the secret place,” when we were “woven together in the depths of the earth” (Psalm 139:15). We didn’t decide to become storytellers one bright, sunny afternoon. By God’s design, storytelling was knit into our being from the start. We’re happiest when we’re writing, and rather miserable when we’re not. Maya Angelou confessed, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” Our job—and our joy—is telling those untold tales.

Though being published is a blessing, I find the writing process itself is the real reward. The intense research, the time spent on character development, the crafting of the story, and the fine-tuning of each sentence—that’s what makes my heart sing. Holding a finished book in our hands is wonderful, and receiving letters from readers can be very encouraging. But unless we enjoy the work itself, done in the solitude of our writing spaces, we’ll be hard-pressed to finish one novel, let alone a series. Katherine Mansfield said, “Once one has thought out a story nothing remains but the labour.” That’s why we gotta love the labor, the actual work of writing.

One thing that makes staring at a blank computer screen easier is the knowledge that God has already read every story we’ll ever write: “Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord” (Psalm 139:4). Our job is to listen for his gentle voice and follow his certain leading. I keep my Logos Bible software open while I work, so I can turn to Scripture for encouragement or direction with the click of a mouse. I also keep Anne Lamott’s reminder close at hand: “The right words, the true words, are already inside you.”

I plot extensively before I begin writing and stick to that plan quite closely at first. But invariably the characters start living and breathing and going about their own, messy lives and I have to start following them instead of following my plot. Rather than leading me astray, they’ve taken me to the heart of their real issues, and therefore to the heart of the novel. (Only fiction writers get this; nonfiction writers think we’re out to lunch!)

But if the characters don’t ring true, if I don’t taste their tears and feel their sorrow, if my heart doesn’t leap with joy in tandem with theirs, then something is amiss, and I start the scene over, reassuring myself that no writing is wasted writing. The hardest thing is throwing out those hard-earned sentences and paragraphs. I move them to a file called Save This, simply so I won’t feel the time and effort were for naught. Those words are still on my computer; they’re just not in my story. Every now and then I’ll realize some piece of dialogue or turn of phrase that didn’t work in Chapter 5 is a perfect fit for Chapter 25.

To be honest, most of that saved material will never see the light of day. For my 133,000-word novel Mine Is the Night, there are another 10,000 words parked in my Save This file. I edited them for the benefit of the novel, but kept them for my sake. (If you’re thinking, “Ooh, why not post them on your website like deleted scenes from a movie?”, let me just say those bits were deleted for a good reason: they’re boring!) Henry Miller is right: “Concentrate. Narrow down. Exclude.”

One of the many joys of the writing process is having the Lord teach you an important truth when you least expect it. While you’re busy spinning a tale about a frightened woman giving birth to her first child or a young father facing the loss of his job, the Lord is busy teaching you about the timelessness of his Truth and the complex workings of the human heart. My love for my happy family has grown while wrestling with dysfunctional families on the page. And my appreciation for my faithful friends has deepened after struggling with characters who are lonely or unloved. I always pray my readers will grow spiritually, but that will only happen if I’m willing to grow too.

God has placed deep inside us stories we alone can tell. Our labor of love is to sit down at our computers, take a deep breath, and dive in, heeding the advice of seasoned novelist Ray Bradbury: “You fail only if you stop writing.”

ABOUT LIZ:

Liz Curtis Higgs has been telling tales since she attempted her first novel—handwritten in a marble notebook—at the tender age of ten. A college degree in English and award-winning careers in radio broadcasting, public speaking, nonfiction writing, and children’s books honed Liz’s storytelling skills, bringing her back to her first love, writing fiction.

She's the author of nearly thirty books, with more than three million copies in print, including Here Burns My Candle, winner of the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Inspirational Romance of 2010, and her latest Scottish historical novel, Mine Is the Night, a New York Times bestseller. Liz has also addressed 1,600 audiences in all fifty states and thirteen foreign countries, with her Women of the Bible Tour of Israel next on her calendar.

Liz and her husband, Bill, live in a nineteenth-century farmhouse in Kentucky and are the proud (and relieved!) parents of two college grads, Matthew and Lillian. When Liz isn’t writing or speaking, she’s buried in a novel, taking a nature walk with hubby, planted on the couch watching Netflix, petting Jack the Cat, singing in her church choir, or baking Scottish shortbread. Mmmm.

CONNECTING WITH LIZ:

Website: http://www.lizcurtishiggs.com/

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/LizCurtisHiggs

Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/lizcurtishiggs

Free e-newsletter, O Gentle Reader!

http://www.lizcurtishiggs.com/tlh/nlform.htm

Don't miss out on a virtual tour of Liz's adorable writing studio at:

http://www.lizcurtishiggs.com/scrapbook/study.htm

JACKET BLURB FOR MINE IS THE NIGHT (WaterBrook Press, March 2011):

She lost everything she loved.

He had everything she needed.

But could she find the courage to trust him?

Stepping from a battered coach on a rainy April eve, newly widowed Elisabeth Kerr must begin again, without husband or title, property or fortune. She is unafraid of work and gifted with a needle, but how will she stitch together the tattered remnants of her life? And who will mend her heart, torn asunder by betrayal and deception?

Elisabeth has not come to Selkirk alone. Her mother-in-law, Marjory Kerr, is a woman undone, having buried her husband, her sons, and any promise of grandchildren. Dependent upon a distant cousin with meager resources, Marjory dreads the future almost as much as she regrets the past.

Then a worthy hero steps forward, rekindling a spark of hope. Will he risk his reputation to defend two women labeled as traitors to the crown? Or will a wealthy beauty, untainted by scandal, capture his affections?

The heartrending journey of the Kerr women that began with Here Burns My Candle comes to a glorious finish in Mine Is the Night, a sparkling gem of redemption and restoration set in eighteenth-century Scotland.

"The crown of the series!" I loved the historical setting, the details, the love stories, the charac

ters who change and grow.”—Francine Rivers, author of Redeeming Love

HOW TO WIN ONE OF FOUR FABULOUS BOOK PACKAGES FROM LIZ:

Leave a comment for me or Liz, and you will be entered into the contest for one of four wonderful book packages including her New York Times bestseller, Mine is the Night. Please note that Liz is days away from a book deadline immediately followed by a tour she is leading to Israel, so she will not be able to respond to every comment, but I definitely will. She will, however, pop in to say hello as she can and even possibly answer a limited number of questions. AND ... she has been MOST generous with the following giveaways:

4 PRIZES for 4 WINNERS!!! (Winners chosen first will have first choice in selection)

1) Liz's Contemporary Fiction
Mixed Signals, 2000 Rita Award Finalist
Bookends, 2001 Christy Award Finalist

2) Liz's Lowlands of Scotland trilogy (TO DIE FOR!!)
inspired by the biblical story of Leah, Jacob, and Rachel
Thorn in My Heart, Christian Fiction Bestseller
Fair Is the Rose, Christian Fiction Bestseller
Whence Came a Prince, 2006 Christy Award Winner

3) Liz's special Lowlands duo
Grace in Thine Eyes, 2007 Christy Award Finalist
inspired by the biblical story of Dinah
My Heart's in the Lowlands: Ten Days in Bonny Scotland
an armchair travel guide to Galloway, the land of Leana, Jamie, and Rose

4) Liz's new Scottish historical saga
inspired by the biblical story of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz
Here Burns My Candle, 2010 RT Reviewers' Choice Award Winner
Mine Is the Night, a New York Times bestseller,
inspired by the biblical love story of Boaz and Ruth

SIDE NOTE FROM JULIE:

I would be remiss if I did not point out that Liz's "Lowlands of Scotland” series is one of my favorite series of ALL time, jolting my world of fiction as I knew it. It is loosely based on the biblical account of Isaac and Rebecca, their twin sons Jacob and Esau, and Jacob's search for a wife. I cannot recommend it highly enough.