The people of long ago are not remembered…

By Lisa Lickle

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

The people of long ago are not remembered… (vs. 11)

 

Walking through cemeteries is a favorite pastime of mine. As a historian, the gravestones call out to me, telling the story of who once breathed and walked and then died in this place. Sometimes the stories are poignant--drownings or illness taking whole families. I’m amused by the woman surrounded by her several husbands. Sometimes there’s an infant or elderly people who made their way across the sea to start a new life in a new place at an advanced age.

 

The care of these graves tell a story, too: who is left to remember? Are there flowers, bushes, flags, toys? Is the marker in good shape or faded and crumbling, maybe sunken or fallen? The people of long ago… I carry my thoughts on to who will remember me. What legacy will I leave? Even if there is truly nothing new under the sun, surely there is something precious to leave behind. Micah 6:8 teaches that God’s requirements are that we should act with justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. I want to be remembered for being that kind of person.

Things I can do:

Pick up that piece of garbage

Give a quarter at the checkout lane when the person in front of me is short

Let the other car in

Give the memories of my grandparents to my children

Take the single parent neighbor kids to church and shopping for Mother’s Day

Thank you, Father, for all those who walked before me, setting the example. Amen.

 

photo courtesy of WIGen.com, Larry and Linda Kopet

Fig Trees and Dreams

By Lisa Lickel

Mark 11:12-14, 20-26

It’s so unfair, a poor little fig tree and leafed out. Jesus tries to pick a fig to eat, but there aren’t any. It’s not even the time for figs. Jesus isn’t disappointed. He’s not sad for the misguided tree. He’s not upset he can’t have a fig when he’s so hungry. Instead, Jesus is enraged, so out of his mind angry that he curses the tree. Can you imagine the searing breeze of that curse, withering the bright green leaves into brown crisps, cracking and peeling the bark, boiling the sap and finally shriveling roots?

For forty years I’d heard that story and I never understood what Jesus had against that tree. Until I realized that my writing career had done the same thing. I hadn’t put in the necessary prep time to understand what I was doing to encourage sales when my first novels were published. I was all leafed out, eager to show everyone I was someone! I had what it takes to produce…nothing. Without a foundation, fertilized soil, tender nurturing, I was worse than the seed of another parable that fell on thin soil and barely sprouted. I had a root that made promises to readers that I couldn’t keep.

I believe it’s okay to see your dream become reality. Go ahead and publish your book, hold it in your hands, see who’ll buy it. But do your homework first. Prepare the ground, line up the gardeners who will support you. Store water and gather fertilizer, but most of all, be ready at the right season of your life to nurture others with the work you have been blessed to share. No matter who helps you put your work out for show, make sure it’s more than pleasing to the eye on the outside, but also handsome and hearty for refreshment on the inside.

Thank you, Jesus, for the work you have commissioned from me. May it be pleasing, never false, in the Kingdom. Amen.

 Lisa Lickel
"What if" stories with a twist of grace
http://www.lisalickel.com
The Map Quilt, coming April 27

Wait Land

By Lisa Lickel

February is the thinnest month, ebbs
Love and moon-tide, waves of floods of
Observances for presidents no longer in
Office, of silent human trains,
Whispering souls still long
For dignity across the line.
Candied hearts and cherry pie.
Reach upward, sleepy bulb,
Breach loam for ice blue light.
Six weeks more of steamy glasses and lacy breath.
Winter wanes at month's end, waxing March feeds streams
Breaking ice cover, swirling snails like pebbles along bottoms.
The squill shoot blue spikes through the snow.
Popple buds swell, pregnant, red on whispy branches,
While the oak will not give up its dead.

 

 

A special surprise comes from Lisa this month--she is offering a

copy of The Gold Standard, a print version of my cozy mystery,

to the first person who can correctly identify all the allusions in the poem.     If you think you have the answer, leave a comment below, along and information on how we can reach you. Have fun!

Please note, this is NOT the give-away book, but Lisa's latest, due out in April.

December 27

By Lisa Lickel

Did you know that, according to many traditions, this is the third day of Christmas? The real meaning behind the carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas” follows: From 1558 until 1829 Roman Catholics in England were not allowed to practice their faith openly. During that era, this carol was written as a catechism. Each element in the carol has a religious point which the children could remember. The third day of Christmas is a gift of Three French Hens. The Three French Hens represented Faith, Hope and Love, from First Corinthians 13.

Sing with me!

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a Partridge in a Pear Tree (JESUS).

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, Two Turtle Doves (OLD and NEW TESTAMENTS), and a Partridge in a pear tree.

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, Three French Hens, Two Turtle Doves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

…And so forth, through day Twelve.

Pretty nifty, eh? A secret code and repetition, the true mother of learning.

If you’d like to know more about the meaning of the rest of the song, check my blog (to be published 12/25/11): http://livingourfaithoutloud.blogspot.com/2011/12/twelve-days-of-christmas.html

From Lisa Lickel, author of A Summer in Oakville, with Shellie Neumeier

The Jesse Tree

By Lisa Lickel

I introduced the Jesse Tree to my new church this year. The congregation will be involved in Advent by making and presenting the week’s ornaments and verses each Sunday.

What is a Jesse Tree? For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, the Jesse Tree is the story of Jesus’s family from Genesis through his birth. It’s a great way to make looking at less familiar Bible passages less scary for those who are a little nervous about reading it. December 6 this year, 2011, represents the tenth day in Advent. At our church, we’re up to Joshua and the Hebrews ready to enter to the Promised Land. The passage is from Joshua 2: 1-21, which tells the story of Rahab who, although not a Hebrew, was faithful to a God she had only heard about, and was rewarded by being an ancestor of Christ. The ornament for the day is a rope.

Background: The Israelites were ready to enter the land that God had promised them. They sent two men into the land to find out more about the land. Rahab hid the two men in her house and then helped them to escape when the king wanted to kill them. She knew that God had promised the city of Jericho to Joshua and the Israelites, and she believed that God is a powerful God. In return, the Israelites protected Rahab and her family. Rahab hung a red rope from the window in her house so that the Israelites would remember to protect her.

The readings of the Jesse Tree are written for the whole family. When my children were growing up, they looked forward to the morning ritual before school of getting the day’s ornament for the tree and reading the passage. I made them each a Jesse Tree of their own when they married. You can find out more about the Jesse Tree, find patterns and readings, on this web site: https://www.rca.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=1602

From Lisa Lickel, author of A Summer in Oakville, with Shellie Neumeier

Top Five Things to Love About Conferences

Lisa Lickel's 

Top Five Things to Love About Conferences

1. Networking

2. Teachable Moments Abound in Every Arena

3. Book Fairs

4. Food

5. Autographs

The weekend of September 23-25 wasn’t only for the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference, but also Wisconsin Writers Association, which met in Stevens Point. While I claim being one of those Introverts, I recognize that meet and greet is a necessary part of the writing and publishing business and it’s slowly coming a little more easily. I was given the opportunity to teach a workshop on a topic that was new to me – editing vs. critiquing, so while I prepared to teach with great handouts, the reality of fifty minutes goes by too way fast, and I was woefully under-prepared for the amount of participants. Lesson for me: focus more tightly next time! I enjoyed the book fair more this time around and had fun talking to people who stopped by my table. Lesson for me: when I stop worrying about what I’m going to say or if I sound nosy and focus on other people, I have more fun. I loved meeting the poet laureate of Wisconsin and buying an early signed Christmas present for my hubby. The hotel served great food, and that always seems to loosen up the crowd.

How about you? What do you like about conferences? Let’s share our favorite moments.

I'm Turning Fifty!

By Lisa Lickel

What I've accomplished pre-fifty:

·         Got married and raised two pretty nifty kids

·         Enjoyed my college degree in history by living local history

·         Visited the 49 continental states

·         Published three novels and a great load of other stuff

·         Lived in a really cool house with a garden and grapes and lily of the valley all over

·         Learned to like venison over beef and ice-fished bluegills over catfish. Still working on the asparagus.

What's on the Bucket List before the next fifty closes:

·         Hold a grandbaby

·         Help the kids move One Last Time

·         Move ourselves to the farm (as in, not the funny, but our own)

·         Sign a half-dozen more contracts for novels

·         Figure out how to use a smart phone

·         Use my new passport for a country not attached to America

How 'bout you? Got any burning bucket list desires?

Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am?

By Lisa Lickel

That biography—scares a lot of us new writers. Yet it's a vital part of your craft. Think about it: you fiction writers create characters all the time, but when it comes to using words to describe you panic. "I'm boring," I heard at a class I recently taught. "What if I don't have any publishing credits?" "Why does anyone care if I have any interesting hobbies?"

Let's visit the situation.

I'm a mystery lover and just dying to feed my passion this weekend. At the book store and I have $12.73 with me. Read the back of the potential book cover with me:

In one hand I have Bats In the Belfry, a cozy by Saint Gail; it's new to me, but book 2 in the Manse Murder Mysteries. Saint Gail was the daughter of a pastor, is married to one, and the mother of another. She has a master's degree in Momhood and likes to race stock cars on the weekend. Visit her website for More Momhood Racecar stories and sign up for her newsletter which is full of tips on how to murder someone without leaving a clue.

In the other hand I have Everybody Hated Roger, a cozy by Cec the Curmudgeon. I've never heard of him either, but I like the cover and it's the right length book and price. Cec the Curmudgeon is a stay-at-home househusband who only drives his Rabbit hatchback to church on Sundays. He pecks out his stories on his Royal Underwood by day and dreams up stories in Technicolor by night. He plans on getting e-mail someday so he can interact with his fans.

Um—not really a choice there for me. Saint Gail is going to have the more interesting story because she lives an interesting life. But the only thing she didn't have control over was being born a pastor's daughter. We all start somewhere, usually at ground zero. Putting yourself out there for the public is scary—there's just no getting around that, but authordom is show business, folks!  "I'm nobody - a PTA, mini-van driving soccer mom." Yeah, so? Bet you got a zillion stories of back seat and sideline humor. Pick a couple and focus on your momhood qualities. "There's no way my life is interesting. I drive semi-loads of shopping carts from one side of the country to another." (Quick hit: how many shopping carts to a semi-load? 500. Ask me how I know.) Well, golly-gee – there's another zillion stories about angels on your shoulder, traffic tales, dictating your books on tape. Pick something: "Semi driver Royal Underwood got his writing career off to a start while driving cross country, listening to stories of fellow travelers in untold diners, watching other long-haul goodbuddies deal with the loneliness on the road and meeting his future wife at a monster truck rally in Omaha." Now, that's interesting.

Anybody can be interesting. One of my favorite authors writes about his life in rural Wisconsin. How boring can a short bald guy who married late, lives on a run-down farm and is not-mechanically inclined, be? Here's the beginning of his bio: Raised on a small dairy farm, Perry equates his writing career to cleaning calf pens – just keep shoveling, and eventually you’ve got a pile so big, someone will notice. Perry further prepared for the writing life by reading every Louis L’Amour cowboy book he could get his hands on – most of them twice.

Yep – it's Michael Perry, author of several books; the first one was his take on moving back home and being an EMT.

Maybe you can't do better, but you can be just as good.

Me? Why, Lisa Lickel is a Wisconsin writer who lives with her husband in a hundred and sixty-year-old house built by a Great Lakes ship captain. Surrounded by books and dragons, she writes inspiring fiction. Her novels include mystery and romance, all with a twist of grace. She has penned dozens of feature newspaper stories, short stories, magazine articles and radio theater. She is the editor in chief of Creative Wisconsin Magazine and loves to encourage new authors. Find her at LisaLickel.com.

I didn't start out this way – took me a while to get there, and I'm still growing.

How about you?

Carpe Diem

By Lisa Lickel

I live with a double whammy of health issues. It wouldn't even be a problem if we lived fifty years ago; and yes, I'll be celebrating the big 5-0 later this summer. There wouldn't be a problem because I wouldn't have known at least one of my genetic health problems and therefore wouldn't care. One of the conditions is controllable – with side effects that don't make me happy to be alive; in fact, I'm struggling to work off the result of the third medication trial. Ugh. I believe the conditions go hand in hand; therefore I choose to ignore the ignoble treatment of the controllable condition; the other issue has no treatment and no cure at this time.

That leads me to ponder what will get me first. The long-standing death at 54 of someone or two in every generation we can count? The controllable issue? The tired semi drive or drunk driver that crosses into my lane? The weather?

Honestly, who cares? I made my peace with God long ago. I raised two great kids who love the Lord and serve him with all their hearts. I published three novels by traditional means. I have made a difference around me in at least one person who was moved to a deeper relationship with God as a result of my work. I may not have the greatest witness, but I am assured that nothing will separate me and my Greatest Joy.

I choose these moments to mentor other writers; I choose these moments to give other writers a voice, a chance to succeed that may not come from any other source; I choose to leave a legacy that my children can be proud of. I choose to know God, to love the Lord, to relish the moments as if each were my last. To enjoy what which I have been given but also to look forward to what I cannot understand with my earthly mind and heart. To sing in righteous voice. To praise without a sin-filled backlight. To know fully, even as I am fully known. Hallelujah!

Help! I'm Stuck!

By Lisa J. Lickel

We've all been there – lost either because we didn't follow directions through poor sense of direction or miscommunicated instructions. Either works for when you get lost in the maze of your writing. You need to write material that makes the reader care to keep with you, to find out what will happen next, to absorb every word until the last one.

But…at this moment you're either staring at albino cows lost in a snowstorm, or the Gordian knot your heroine or topic managed to get in to when they wandered away from you. How do you get from Crisis to Aha!?


a. Call the cows

b. Go for a walk

c. Kill someone


Less messy is Brainstorming.


Good brainstorming starts with "What If."


Pacing, vacuuming, mowing lawn, or sweeping the garage are acceptable multi-tasking jobs that can help you while you begin this process; however, at some point you'll want to record your thoughts.


Conflicts – or problems – usually fall into two categories: plot or character for fiction; content or teach-ability for nonfiction; and consist of being unsolvable or solvable. A writer builds tension by using these conflicts; to create tension, a writer adds elements to the storyline or takes them away.

Some of these methods include adding new surprise characters which do not always have to be human – pets with a quirk (think Charlotte's Web); a natural element like weather or earthquake; a favor element – friend or stranger asks something (think fairy tales); something needs to be learned.

For taking away elements, consider what can be lost – freedom, choice, things both or either loved or hated. What if the character recovered or received the goal without working for it? Loss through death; loss through carelessness (guilt); theft, natural or unnatural means. Think loss of mentor: now the student has to figure out how to carry on.

These and other ideas are some of the things we'll expand upon at the Late Night Chat on April 8 at the Quad-Cities Christian Writer's Conference. We'll brainstorm together on your individual works in progress, whether fiction or non, adult, historical or children's. We might do some role-playing or take a field trip through the lobby; we'll definitely make charts. There will be chocolate. I hope you’ll join me.

Indroducing Lisa J Lickel

From One Peculiar Sort to Another

I assume that if you’re reading this, you’re one of those.

Of course, assumptions get us in trouble all the time.

Assume. What does it really mean? Let’s visit Gail’s favorite book: the Dictionary.

Assume: vt, ME, fr.

1. to take in or receive

                           2. to take upon oneself

                           3. to take control of

                           4. to pretend to have or be

                           5. to take as granted

                           6. to take over the debts of another

Creative fiction and non-fiction story-tellers make a promise to a reader. We tell you right away on the back cover what kind of a story we plan to deliver with a certain type of person who lives at a particular moment of time in a special place and is undergoing a unique and compelling predicament. We promise you an adventure in a way that makes you want to take it in, pretend to step into another world and work hard to cheer our protagonists to victory. A story teller lets the reader take for granted our control of craft by stepping out of the way.

This promise fulfilled keeps readers coming back. This promise lets the reader assume our next book will be as emotional as the first. So, are you one of those? One of those writers who keeps growing and extending yourself and stretching to find the best, most peculiar stories to share? Are you one of those readers who find the reading experience so keen you have to tell everyone about it? If you are here on this great adventure, I assume so.

Lisa Lickel  
 “What if” stories with a twist of grace
Lisa Lickel and her husband live in eastern Wisconsin in a 
150-year-old Great Lakes ship captain's house. Lisa writes 
inspirational novels, short stories, devotionals, radio theater for 
fun, edits, critiques and mentors, reads a storm, reviews and 
recently became editor in chief of Creative Wisconsin. Visit her at 
http://lisalickel.com, and at facebook and goodreads.com.