Best of the Archives: Angel Unaware

Sandra here, and I’m jumping up and down doing a happy dance because this post was so much fun when we did it last year during our birthday month.

I have a question for you.

Who likes to read about angels?

Who likes angels in their stories? 

Have you ever written angels in your wips?

We have. The Seekers wrote novellas last year and each featured an angel. How fun is that? And doesn’t that just fit in with Christmas?

We are so excited about our stories and about our characters who are blessed by God’s helpers.

As a disclaimer, some traditional publishers don’t allow angels in their publications. I’m not sure why, but be sure and check your targeted publisher’s guidelines before you write an angel into your story.

In my novella, Holiday Homecoming, an angel helps the characters find their way to applying their Christian values.

The heroine in Holiday Homecoming is a surfer.

I feel comfortable writing angel characters because I have had angel experiences. Most of the time I didn’t know until they left, but have any of you had that feeling or inner knowing that you just had supernatural assistance?

I get together with three other girlfriends twice a year for a weekend slumber party. We all went to high school together and so it is a kick to get together and catch up on our lives. One of our favorite things to do is tell what we call our “angel stories”. Most of these involve ways we see God working in our lives. What a blessing when we see, because in the Bible, Jesus says we may entertain angels unawares. I’m sure we are going to be surprised to find out more incidents of divine intervention when all is revealed. I am excited about that day.

There is also divine intervention in Love’s Dream Song. Autumn's grandfather goes on a vision quest and has dreams which help them find Autumn when she is in danger. Using  dreams in our stories are one way we can have angels communicate with our characters.

Love's Dream Song:  In her search for her Navajo roots, archeologist Autumn O’Neill finds danger and romance on Jess Barron’s ranch in Northern Arizona. Together, they come to understand that finding answers means listening to the voices of their ancestors and the longings of their hearts.    

As I wrote in a previous post, I believe God uses what is important in our lives to communicate with us. For example I love animals. In a previous post Animals in Our Stories, I shared with you some of the experiences I’ve had where animals seemed to be comforting my spirit. If our characters live close to nature, animals can be used to show divine intervention. In the movie Dances With Wolves, the wolf appears to warn the hero.

One of my girlfriends loves her grandchildren. When she is down or troubled, she has had “strange” incidents of photos of her grandchildren suddenly popping up on her phone. Or she gets a call from a grandchild out of the blue. She calls those moments her God moments.  This is another way to work angels into our stories.

They can even be angels unawares and not be revealed as angels, but their behavior of protecting, comforting and loving us gives us clues. Og Mandino writes his angels in this manner. A person shows up in the character's life and helps them through their problem, then disappears, hinting at the fact he might have been an angel.  This is the manner I used an angel in Holiday Homecoming.

Holiday Homecoming:Debbie fell in love with surfer, David Martin. Against her parent’s wishes, she married her first love. Would the help of an angel and the influence of the Christmas season bring forgiveness and redemption?

Debbie Macomber writes wonderful stories from the point of view of the angels. They get into all kinds of mischief trying to bring a couple together so they will fall in love. Great romantic fun with angels. 

So check out my holiday novella Holiday Homecoming and find out all the way I used an angel in my Christmas novella. 

This is the angel photo I used on my cover. Isn't she adorable?

Please comment and share the way you have written angels in your stories.

Or if you’re a reader share if you like that element in a story. 
Also share the ways you like to see angels used in stories. 

Maybe some of you have read other books or seen movies with angels. 

Please share some of your favorite books or movies that feature angels.

Before you go, Sandra wants to jump up on her soapbox for a minute. Christmas is coming and I want to remind you that autographed books make delightful gifts. We are writers. We need to support our industry. Go to your local author groups and get signed books to give as gifts. If you see an author's book in the store that you know, buy it for a friend. Support the authors in your community and buy their books as gifts. A book is a priceless gift. It not only is a lovely present to unwrap, but it opens up a whole new world for your family members and friends. Happy shopping.

In my family we prefer to celebrate birthdays with our favorite pie instead of cake. So I have an array of pies for our treat.  There is creamy vanilla ice cream to scoop on top if you prefer. I also have fresh whipped cream and honey.  

Remember today there are no comments so we can all go and write.  Maybe you'll be writing about an angel.  smile

Sandra Leesmith writes sweet romances to warm the heart. Sandra loves to play pickleball, hike, read, bicycle and write. She lives in Arizona with her husband and during the hot summers she and her husband travel throughout the United States in their motorhome where she enjoys the outdoors and finds wonderful ideas for her next writing project. You can find Sandra's books here on Amazon. Three of Sandra's most popular books are also audio books at Audible. You can read more posts by Sandra here.