Complete in Thee: Updates on my Novel

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Updates on my Novel

H.M.S. Bounty

Writing has been going great lately. After my ship got stuck in the doldrums (so to speak) for about a week, I finally pulled out of them and have been going at full speed, usually writing between 1,000 and 1,500 words a day. I am on chapter 23, with (I'm guessing) fifteen chapters to go. Wow, that seems like I a lot, especially if I am to finish by December.

I've been able to get in a lot of study for it as well. Last Saturday, we got to attend a Tall Ships Festival and tour some ships remarkably similar to the ones in my story.

I have chosen to model the pirates' ship, the Imperial II, after the merchant ship we visited, the H.M.S. Bounty. The Bounty is a remake of the ship by the same name, involved in the famous "mutiny on the Bounty" (which, to be honest, I know absolutely nothing about) and has been used in several films, including the 1990 adaption of Treasure Island and Pirates of the Caribbean II. It's a large, beautiful ship with a large deck and hold, which helped me get an idea of how to describe the interior of the pirates ship.

The Lynx

The other ship we visited, the Lynx, is a remake of a privateer schooner used in the War of 1812. While the model is about fifty or sixty years too late for my story, the Lion in The Marquis' Daughter is remarkably similar (with alterations to make it fit the era, of course). Upon approaching the Lynx, I had the same reaction as Mark does in my book-- this ship is so tiny! "I only wonder whether such a small vessel could take on a pirate ship" (to quote Mark). But these little vessels were fast, and could take on a vessel or escape one very quickly. There's no much room on deck or below, and it can be manned by at least ten people and be readied for sail in about fifteen minutes.

Some other study I've been doing takes the form of reading. About a year ago, I read Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island and was less than enthusiastic about it. I didn't dislike it, but it didn't really "do anything for me". This time reading it, however, I was absolutely ENTHRALLED and stuck on the edge of my seat. Not only did I find myself deeply entrenched in the adventure and finding the characters as real as anyone, but also I picked up a good deal of helps for my book. Descriptions of the ship, nautical terms, and pirate grammar and lingo all gave me a boost in MD, and I feel like I have a better handle on the "sea flavor" now.

Me being author-ish and getting info about ships

I talked to one of the sailors on board the Lynx and she recommended a book that should help me with nautical terms for my book and a better understanding of ships and schooners so I plan to find that...somewhere.... and read it too. :-)

Please pray for me as I continue work on MD. Of course, I love the adventurous storyline and characters, but most of all, I want to make the characters' spiritual journeys become alive and very applicable to my readers. I don't want it to be merely a fun read; I want it to impact and, with God's help, change people's lives. Please pray that I would be Biblical, that I would present the truth as God would have me to do, and that the plotline would not override the spiritual aspect but rather emphasize it and make it very real to my readers. Thanks so much!

"Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established." (Proverbs 16:3)

3 comments:

Amanda said...: It'll be great! :D I'm glad you pulled out of the doldrums. :); September 15, 2010 at 9:57 AM
Gaby said...: I am so glad to hear that MD is going along again! I am sort of stuck in the "doldrums" for my books right now... Probably due to the fact that my mind as been preoccupied with essays. Anyway, I love reading MD! :D

much love,
Gabrielle; September 16, 2010 at 10:28 AM
Rebecca Ann said...: I am glad you are doing well with your writing. Its encouraging to hear all your research and writing that is going into your book. May the Lord continue to bless your book and I am praying for you Melanie. :)

In Christ,
Rebecca; September 28, 2010 at 4:49 PM

PRAYER REQUESTS

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:18)

PLEASE PRAY...

* That I would draw nearer to God every day and never allow my relationship to become stagnant ritual; particularly that I would grow in the area of submission, patience, 1 Corinthians 13 love, and wholehearted devotion

* That I might have wisdom as I edit "The Marquis' Daughter"; that the Lord would bless and work through it; and that I might find just the right publisher for it.

* That I would submit to the Lord's work in my life, whatever it may be; that I would take each opportunity He brings me (even the seemingly hard ones) to draw closer to Him and point others to Him

*That our Etsy shop might be successful and that it would be a means by which we can glorify God and share the Gospel

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

"The heart set to do the Father's will need never fear defeat. His promises of guidance may be fully counted upon. Does it make sense to believe that the Shepherd would care less about getting His sheep where He wants them to go than they care about getting there?"

"God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to."

"If God, like a father, denies us what we want now it is in order to give us some far better thing later on. The will of God, we can rest assured, is invariably a better thing."

"Obedience to God's will is the secret of spiritual knowledge and insight. It is not willingness to know, but willingness to DO (obey) God's will that brings certainty."

"Victory over all the circumstances of life comes not by might, nor by power, but by a practical confidence in God and by allowing His Spirit to dwell in our hearts and control our actions and emotions. Learn in the days of ease and comfort, to think in terms of the prayer that follows, so that when the days of hardship come you will be fully prepared and equipped to meet them."

"And shall I pray, Oh, change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according unto mine?
Ah no, Lord, no, that never could be, rather
I pray Thee, Blend my human will with Thine."

"A crucified life cannot be self-assertive. It cannot protect itself. It cannot be startled into resentful words. The cup that is full of sweet water cannot spill bitter-tasting drops, however sharply it is knocked."

"And as we rest our hearts upon what we know (the certainty of the ultimate triumph of good), leaving what we do not know to the Love that has led us all our life long, the peace of God enters into us and abides. And then we see our light."

[A Practicing Christian]...it means that every single act and feeling, every experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant, must be referred to God. It means looking at everything as something that comes from Him, and always looking to Him and asking His will first, and saying, "How would he wish me to deal with this?"

Christ says: "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you."

"I was not born to be free. I was born to adore and to obey."

"What is saving but taking us out of the dark into the light? There is no salvation but to know God and grow like Him."

"I will not try to convince you of anything about God. I cannot. You must know Him. I only tell you I believe in Him with all my heart. You must ask Him to explain Himself to you, and not take it for granted that He has done you a wrong because He has done what you do not like. Whether you seek Him or not, He will do you justice. But He cannot explain Himself unless you seek Him."

"Sometimes a thunderbolt will shoot from a clear sky; and sometimes into the life of a peaceful individual, without warning of gathered storm, something terrible will fall. And from that moment everything is changed. That life is no more what it was. Better it ought to be, worse it may be. The result depends on the life itself and it's response to the invading storm of trouble. Forever after, it's spiritual weather is altered. But for the one who believes in God, such rending and frightful catastrophies never come but where they are turned around for good in his own life and in other lives he touches."