Cinderella to her Fairy Godmother – “Thanks for the dress, lady, but where were you ten years ago when I was enslave by my stepmother?”

Why fiction has to make sense but real live doesn’t.

Don’t you sometimes wish in our writing we could just toss in completely illogical things?

I use the Cinderella quote to show you an example of a time fiction did NOT make any sense.

Cinderella is being watched over by her Fairy Godmother who is...not that observant, apparently. Why oh why did she stand by invisibly all those years when Cinderella was being mistreated? Why did she finally snap to when there was a pretty dress needed?

Maybe she’s not all that powerful. After all the coach turned back into a pumpkin after a few hours. (I wonder why the shoe didn’t vanish. Hmmm….)

Maybe the Fairy Godmother is all knowing and bides her time and steps in  when there was a prince to lasso?

Maybe that cat driving vermin (I HATE MICE) out of the castle is somehow the bad guy. I’m sure he’s just cranky because Cinderella is protecting the stupid mice. It is perfectly reasonable for the cat to kill them. This is NOT villainous behavior, people! (hard not to root for the cat here!)

Whatever it is, it makes no sense. And, other than classic fairy tales, our books need to make sense.

Examples I think of where fiction did NOT make sense…I remember this scene. I think it was from live action George of the Jungle. There was a narrator talking now and then and once he says, “All movies need a really big coincidence and here’s ours.”

We do that, we have coincidences…and we have LEAPS, a crime solver makes some connection between a clue and the criminal and I arch my brow and wonder how he got THERE?

And also, as it pertains to Christian fiction, we can’t have miracles. I’ve worked for seven or eight different publishers mow and did you know they don’t like you to put miracles in your books?

That’s frustrating because a miracle can get you out of a tight spot, but I understand and respect why it's a no no. Mostly we don’t get flat out miracles in our daily lives. Mostly fire goes ahead and burns you. Lions go ahead and eat you. Poisonous snakes bite you and you go ahead and die.

To solve your problems with miracles disrespects their true power and also it weakens your own plot because working through the problems is the point of fiction, creating a mess and then cleaning it up, usually with the maximum amount of pain is the whole point of the exercise.

I’ve had a few miracles in my books but my main miracle is the still small voice of God. No finger carving words into a stone, no voice like thunder coming out of a boiling cloud, no burning bush. It’s people who pray and actually listen to that quiet voice and is open to the Lord enough to act on it, even when it’s as quiet as an idea.

And we all know there IS NO GREATER MIRACLE than God forgiving and saving the eternal soul of a sinner.

What about you? Do you have miracles in your books. I love intervention from God in a book in those quiet voices, but what about miracles? What about ‘convenient’ things that fall right into place at the right time.

Do you like that? Or do you wish you’d get a Fairy Godmother who’d be a little more pro-active?

Leave a comment to get your name in the drawing for a signed copy of No Way Up.

I got nuthin' on Sleeping Beauty. Do you realize she pretty much SLEPT through the whole movie? The scenes, the little clips of her singing, that's it. She's not on anymore than that.

And NO I’m not starting a series on Disney Princesses. I’ve just had a couple of ideas.

COINCIDENCE OR MIRACLE?

Good Morning.  Sandra here with a pot of chocolate velvet coffee, Teavana teas and hot chocolate. Grab a cup and lets talk miracles.  I picked oranges and tangelos off my tree this morning and they are juicy and sweet. So please help yourself to some Arizona sunshine.

Photo A

Have you ever pursued a project or a dream and all of a sudden the people you need appear or the information you need falls into your lap? Some would call this coincidence. There are even scientific studies where they have proven that your brain tunes into things when you have a goal.  Their example showed how you decide you want a certain type of car and suddenly you are seeing that car everywhere, ads for that car, information for that car. I'm sure these rationalizations can be proven, but personally, I believe they are miracles. I believe they are divine intervention and support for my work in progress.

Photo B

Let me give you some examples.  When I finished my first draft of DREAM SONG, one of my earlier novels for Warner, I got called to give some seminars on the Navajo Reservation. The setting for DREAM SONG is Northern Arizona. Debra, the heroine, is searching for her roots. Debra was adopted by Anglo parents but her mother was Navajo. Several ladies I met at the seminar gave me some valuable assistance in developing the characters in DREAM SONG. They even offered to be beta readers which was great, as they found things that would have been inconsistent with Navajo culture. Now I had never worked on the reservation before nor since. Was that coincidence? Did I go looking for that job? No. I was asked by ASU to go because of work I had done as a teacher. But did I need that information? And was it provided in a beautiful way?  You bet.

Photo C

By the way, I'm working on getting DREAM SONG back out there. Hopefully it will be on Amazon some time this spring.

Another example: Have any of you read LOVE'S MIRACLES?  I was spending the summer at Lake Tahoe when I was writing that novel. The hero in LOVE'S MIRACLES is a Vietnam Vet dealing with post traumatic stress syndrome.  I joined the closest RWA group which was in Reno, Nevada and met a woman looking for a critique partner. Guess what her day job was? She was a psychologist at the Reno VA hospital. Now was that coincidence? Did I go looking specifically for a psychologist? No. And was I there all summer to work with her?  Remember that was written in the 80's way before the Internet and online crit partners. So what a miracle that we were able to work together because she provided me with amazing information.

Photo D

CURRENT OF LOVE was written because hubby and I went on a cruise up the Mississippi on a riverboat cruise. And being a writer I interviewed the crew and the story brewed in my mind. It was a year later that I started writing this novel so I did not have contact with the crew members. The hero nearly drowned as a child so is not really happy on the water. This is why he is going with his father on a river boat cruise instead of a sea cruise. So of course, we had to have a huge storm, flooding and boat evacuation. I needed to know what they did in that situation. We were camping in our RV and guess who is camped near us? Yep. A retired river boat captain. Now is that coincidence? Did I go to an RV park to find one? Nope. But guess who provided one for me?  Yep. Our Father.

Photo E  (black and white)

My hero in my current work in progress is a retired Army Colonel.  One of the gals I play pickleball with is married to a retired Army Colonel. I have already been interviewing him and getting some great information that will ramp up my plot. Now is that coincidence? Did I go to an RV park looking for a retired colonel? And do I need to know one?  You bet.

Photo F  (sepia)

Not only do these miracles happen in my writing, but in all things related to writing. Many of you know that I signed books in November at the Scottsdale Library. Well book selling was a wash. Who goes to a library to buy books?  LOL   But God makes good out of all things. I met a publicist and since Amber was hired by a publishing house, I needed one. Nanci advised me that I need to update my photos. Well I am presently RVing in a resort on the outskirts of Tucson and its pretty isolated out there. But guess what? The RV resort features a photography club and I met Linda Needham. She took these photos and wow did we have fun. Not only did I get photos, but met a new friend. Oh yes, one of my pickleball friends is an actress and she had fun putting on the makeup and fixing my hair. (something about which I am completely hopeless)

So this brings me to the PHOTOS. Have you been thinking that I'm getting vain? Or losing it?
chuckle

Photo G

These are some of the headshots. What I need is help with picking out the best ones for my profile shots. I like the black and white. (shows less wrinkles) There is the sepia.  And color shots.  Also we tried some without the glasses which looks better, but hey, I do wear glasses so what is your opinion? Should I have them on or does it really matter?

I have numbered each photo. Please pick your favorite and you will be entered into a drawing for a signed copy of one of my books or your choice of an available Seeker ebook.

Also, PLEASE SHARE any miracles you've witnessed along your writing path. I love miracles. I believe in miracles. And I love hearing about them.

If you don't have any to share,  start looking for them. Seeing the big and small miracles that happen every day are what build your faith.  And they bring you joy because they are reassurances that the Lord is with you.