Steeple Hill Writers Club 3

this is great and exciting! :)

I love the new updated writing guidelines!  I especially like the part abut not starting a book with the herione on a car/bus/plane/train reflecting on how she got there...since I'm guilty of that.  Actually, my heroine was on a boat, which wasn't technically listed.  Perhaps that little twist of originality got me past to the point where I finally fixed my opening scenes, LOL! (new rule: no standard vehicle of any sort)

Hey gals!  I just came by to introduce myself.  I'm fairly new on the forums, even though you wouldn't think so with how many questions I've been posting in the last two weeks.  I LOVE Beverly Lewis books and would love to write inspiring books like hers.  My current WIP is not a Christian book, although it has snippets that just flow from who I am as a Christian.  But, I'm thinking of doing a Historical Insp for NaNoWriMo.  It seems so overwhelming, though.  I was brought up in a home that was as strict as the guidelines, but I was very hurt by my past and escaped a lot of that.  I don't know if I can write something that reminds me so much of how I was raised.  (My father was a preacher and cheated on my mom and then left her.  Then my mom married another preacher out of a set up.  Didn't even know him two weeks.  That guy beat me and my siblings.)  I love God and I love his church, but I am really stuggling with whether or not to write Inspirational.  Sorry to throw that out there on my first Stepill Hill posts, but that's what's on my heart. 

Thanks so much, Hope!  I've seen you on some of the other threads and I hope we can chat some more.

I don't really know how to do the chat thing, but I'd like to.  What time is it usually held?

Thank you!  This is such a nice forum to be a part of.  Every thread I've been on has really reached out to help and encourage.  I'm planning a historical for NaNo, but I don't know if it will be inspirational or not.  It definitly has those elements, but the guidelines seem hard to maintain.  But, I don't know if main stream Historical will publish a book with aspects of Christianity (like the hero being a part time preacher).  It's so on the fence right now, that I fear neither line would take it.  I've got a great story rolling around in my head, but some of the main internal conflicts steam from moral/social issues with the way she dresses improperly (wouldn't be improper today, lol) and her non-southern behavior in a very proper southern community, etc.  I could really see it going either way.  Any advice??

TabithAnne, one of the writers for LIH, Victoria Bylin, used to write for HH, and her stories always held a faith element in HH, so you'd probably be good either way. HH's office is in London, and LIH in New York. If you've read both, just write the story of your heart, and then let the outcome dictate where you send it. Hope this helps!

Oh, and the Love Inspired chat is on the third Thursday of the month, barring scheduling conflicts, at http://chat.eharlequin.com . We asked for Thursdays because so many churches have prayer meetings on Tuesdays & Wednesdays. Whenever there's a major writer's conference & Dream is out of town, it's usually rescheduled to the fourth Thursday. If you're on Facebook, you can become a fan of Love Inspired over there, and Dream always puts event invitations, in case we'd forget. 

Thank y'all!  That's very encouraging.  I think I will just write what's on my heart and then see where it takes me before deciding.  It's interesting to me that someone has written faith-based stuff for HH.  That gives me some hope either way. 

Dream,  Yes!  Me too.  I was raised VERY structured (older Ch. of Christ and my mother visited Mennonite a lot, too).  I was actually saved through a wonderful Mennonite family!  My dad was a Ch. of Christ preacher, but was kicked out of ministry.  After that, through a whole lot of very wordy stories I don't want to get into tonight, I ended up meeting my hero (my husband, Josh) at a Baptist small group.  They have taught me so much about giving people grace and love in all circumstances in life; the kind I was raised without.

P.S.  I already have a CP, but I would be grateful if someone writing Inspirational would also like to be one.  Is anyone interested? 

Thanks for the warm welcome, Rachelle!  It's so nice to be a part of this forum.  I am beginning to see what you mean.  I have now read two LI and LOVE them!  I think it is under the restriction "tempt" that I had trouble.  I thought by putting any description of him looking at her it would blow that (as per my raising).  But when I read the two, both had phrases that drew attention to the womans curve/shape.  I just don't know where that line is drawn per the guidelines.  I was raised in a family that made it clear that if a man looked at you below the neck, he was tempted, period.  Can someone clearify this part of the guidelines for me?

Thanks!

Welcome, TabithAnne!

I think that as you read more Love Inspired romances, you can see how the authors deal with physical attraction. Most of the time, it's strongly connected to emotional attraction.

Camy

TabithAnne, I agree with the advice so far--read the books in the line you are targeting and then write your story and see where it falls. The faith element varies in different LI books. There is room for variety.

Margaret 

Welcome back and don't worry, there's no wrong or right. Ask questions and someone will answer.

As for the manuscript. Yes, revise and resubmit. My first LI (Trusting Him) was rejected. I went on to other projects, got rejected and then went back to that old manuscript that I really loved. That manuscript became Trusting Him. :)

blessings,

brenda

Janet,

Exactly, revise, revise, revise. And look at the newest releases, a good representation of what they're buying.

That's a great question.  If you know what was clearly off with your manuscript, then by all means fix it and submit.  But it's also true that some manuscripts were never meant to be fixed.  Like the half-dozen or so hiding under my bed, which will never see the light of day...

I've been out of the loop for a short while and hope all well.  I see some newcomers.  WelcomeTabithAnne & Catherine! 

Hope, I've taken the plunge . . . I've started something targeted for LIS.  It's at the beginning stages (chaper 4) and the new guidelines were a great help.  I keep a copy near my desk and refer to these often.

p.r.

Thanks for the welcome, PR.  Nice to meet you as well.

Welcome, Catherine.

I haven't trashed anything either but some would have to be reentered into the computer. I can't quite throw away even a rejected manuscript.

Margaret 

I have reused characters from old manuscripts. Jay Blackhorse (The Cowboy Next Door) started out years ago with another heroine. :-)

Thanks, Hope.

He was always one of my favorites. :) A slow-talking, hunky cowboy.

My Feb. book is actually based on an idea I started four years before as a YA.  When I decided to piggyback on the idea I looked up the old manuscript, read about two paragraphs, and never looked at it again.  It was so awful!  I mean drudgeriously boring!  And I felt like I had to change my herione's name, because not long after I forgot about that manuscript, I used the heroine's name for my daughter (didn't even remember it had been my herione, isn't that weird?).  Although I've since used my son's name for a hero, but he (the hero) doesn't go by it, so I guess that makes it okay.  Does that make sense? 

I've actaully started using my old manuscript pages for the kids to color on the backside...and then recycle them...again. 

Hi all, I skipped out for a bit - trying to get caught up on a lot of stuff. I've plunged into this re-write and I think it's going well. i was looking around here but I didn't see anyplace where you could search for a critique partner or anything like that? I would love to find someone to work with who's already writing for Steeple Hill. Is there anyplace to post a Wanted Ad?!

I've seen the infamous list of 'don'ts' that SH has put out. Kind of made me giggle actually, but anyway, I have a question about POV. Are they strict on equal time between hero and heroine? Like Ch 1, hers, Ch 2 his, that sort of thing, or do they favor the heroine's pov?

 Thanks in advance, 

Cath