Escape Through Entertainment

Everyone needs a little time to escape now and then, but how each of us defines "escape" can vary greatly.

I love going to movies. They give me two complete uninterrupted hours. No phones. No doorbells. No one "yelling" Mom! For two hours, with popcorn and pop in hand, I get to experience a new world. And don't give me a thought-provoking piece: give me adventure and laughter. I'm there to turn my brain off for a couple of blissful hours.

This summer's been great for that. I've seen Cars 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Cowboys & Aliens, and my favorite, Thor. (Ladies, if you haven't seen Thor yet, go. You will not regret it.) Clearly, none of those movies are going to win Oscars, and that's perfectly fine with me. I don't go to the movies to think.

But, when I pick up a book for entertainment, my goals are very different. I don't want to read a mind-numbing piece for hours. Give me something with intellectual challenge, something that will not only transport me to a new world, but make me ponder that world. Does what I've read dispute or support my beliefs? Does it open my eyes to see beyond my narrow vision?

I recently finished a debut novel by Cliff Graham called Day of War. It's a Biblical fiction work that takes us back to 998 B.C. when David is living among the Philistines at the time they are preparing for war against King Saul and Israel. The story focuses on Benaiah, one of Israel's Mighty Men.

While staying true to the Bible, this work is gritty, detailed, bloody, yet poignant. Graham does an excellent job of getting inside his characters' hearts--characters who are very human. Best of all, this story showed me a new perspective on David's time with the Philistines. I don't know if it's the "true" perspective, but that isn't the point. It made me think.

For me, that's the best kind of literary escape.

What about you? Do you go to movies to turn your mind off or to be challenged? What about when you read?

Debut Author Spotlight ... Mesu Andrews

My Journey to Publication

by Mesu Andrews

My first attempt at a novel was a mishmash novel/Bible study monstrosity on the Song of Solomon in 1999. It was AWFUL. I naively marched to my first writers' conference in Baltimore, confident I would revolutionize Christian publishing. Ugh. One agent called me a heretic. An editor laughed and said, “Stick with speaking.” A second editor said, “I’ve never seen anything quite like it,” and politely handed it back.


Mortified, I shoved my proposal and my heart into a drawer and began writing devotionals to share with family and friends. My mailing list grew through speaking engagements, and in 2005 I attended another writers' conference. This time I wrote a non-fiction proposal using the devotionals, and I secured a literary agent. She tried for three years to find a publisher but had no luck. Finally, she gave up, and we parted ways; but I continued to mail the devotionals faithfully to my readers and began a weekly blog. In 2007, a friend convinced me to rewrite the Song of Solomon novel with the writing skills I'd honed for seven years. While attending another writers' conference, an editor saw a rough gem in my reworked story. After seven months of committee meetings, Revell offered my first contract offer in November 2008. One problem…their publication schedule dictated the story of Solomon wait to release until 2012! Ugh, again! They asked if I’d write a second book in my proposal’s “Future Projects” section. Because of my long struggle with chronic illness, Job’s story was intriguing, and Love Amid the Ashes was born.

Perhaps most Christian writers give God credit for opening doors, but I feel His grace with every keystroke. I love God’s Word. And whether it’s through biblical fiction or devotionals or speaking, I humbled and delighted to share it.

LOVE AMID THE ASHES

Revell, March 2011
416 pages

Readers often think of Job sitting on the ash heap, his life in shambles. But how did he get there? What was Job's life like before tragedy struck? What did he think as his world came crashing down around him? And what was life like after God restored his wealth, health, and family?

Through painstaking research and a writer's creative mind, Mesu Andrews weaves an emotional and stirring account of this well-known story told through the eyes of the women who loved him. Drawing together the account of Job with those of Esau's tribe and Jacob's daughter Dinah, Love Amid the Ashes breathes life, romance, and passion into the classic biblical story of suffering and steadfast faith.

Mesu Andrews is an active speaker who has devoted herself to passionate and intense study of Scripture. Harnessing her deep understanding and love for God’s Word, Andrews brings the biblical world alive for her readers in this debut novel. She lives in Washington.

http://mesuandrews.com/

A Voice in the Wind

(Mark of the Lion #1)
by Francine Rivers

Published by Tyndale House Publishers
515 pages


The year is 70 A.D. and Jerusalem is crumbling under the weight of its own disobedience. The beautiful temple is nearly obliterated - only a single wall remains standing. Jerusalem’s ultimate destruction is finalized by legions of Roman soldiers seeking the eradication of the Jewish population. Only a remnant survives - and many of those remaining will be sold as slaves or will soon perish in gladiator arenas.

Young Hadassah is one of those remaining and she questions why. Her mother and sister died of starvation when the doors to the walled city were closed, in an attempt to waylay the Romans ... a move which aided in the city’s destruction. Her brother was killed by a Roman soldier and her father was murdered because of his faith ... a faith in Jesus ... a faith Hadassah has always struggled with.

Francine Rivers weaves a graphic and emotional story of Hadassah as she is led on a harsh journey from Jerusalem to Rome. There she is sold to the wealthy and powerful Valerian family to be the daughter’s personal slave. Julia, the daughter is high spirited and longs to live like her older brother Marcus. He is handsome and brilliant and indulges in everything the amoral and corrupt city has to offer. The mother, Phoebe, finds solace in stone gods and the father, Decimus, is bereft over what has become of his family.

Throughout the novel, Hadassah contends with fear - afraid of proclaiming her faith in Rome, a city where Christians are not accepted and are frequently fed to the lions in the arena as they will not acknowledge the emperor to be a god. She frequently beseeches God to give her the courage to speak to the Valerians about Jesus, still, the words never come.

What Hadassah doesn’t realize is that, through her behavior, her witness is more powerful than words. While Hadassah sees herself as struggling, those around her are affected by her unfailing and gracious servitude. They marvel at her ability to be at peace when they, who have everything, know no peace. Ironically, the only person who is truly free, in the household, is the slave.

In this story we see despair brought on by acts of wanton selfishness and peace gained through acts of true courage, love and sacrifice. We see a family who has the world but no happiness and a young woman who owns nothing but has discovered true joy in her faith. The Valerians see the irony of the situation. The question is, are they willing to sacrifice what they own to gain what Hadassah has?

This novel is one that is better suited for mature teenagers through adult. Graphic depictions of warring and gladiator matches paint a believable picture of life in Rome and Ephesus. Romans are seen as arrogant, placing themselves above all others and living only for the moment ... searching for peace through money, amorality and their numerous stone gods and goddesses.

The book’s 500 pages fly by quickly and leave you yearning for more. The story of the Valerian family continues in a second book, An Echo in the Darkness. A 3rd book in the series, As Sure As the Dawn, follows the life of a Germanic gladiator who plays a prominent role in the first book. I highly recommend all three novels. They are very well written and thoroughly researched. They provide a hard glimpse into a life that today’s Christian could not even fathom.