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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Welcome Golden Keyes Parsons - Just Making Up Stories

Please interact with our guest authors by answering the question they provide.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


GOLDEN KEYES PARSONS - In her deep plowing of the heart, moving from tears one moment to laughter the next, Golden will touch your heart with her dynamic Bible teaching, combined with her vivid personal examples, moving from tears one moment, to laughter the next, all the while communicating the message that God is faithful--keep trusting Him. She has a passion to communicate the Word of God in such a manner that will lead to godly living.

Golden, and her husband, Blaine, have just retired as pastors at Faith Mountain Fellowship Church in Red River, NM. They have three grown daughters and eight grandchildren. Her testimony and myriad of life experiences lend a touch of authenticity to her teaching. She loves to speak for women's conferences, seminars, luncheons, retreats and Mother/Daughter events.

If deep Bible teaching that brings the Scriptures alive is what you want, Golden is the speaker you need.

WHERE HEARTS ARE FREE (A Darkness to Light Novel)
by Golden Keyes Parsons
Published by Thomas Nelson

ABOUT THE BOOK

Bridget is in love with one man...and promised to another.

Amid the liberty and promise of the New World, Bridget Barrington and Phillipe Clavell fall in love. But nothing about their love seems possible.

To pay for the Clavell family's passage from France, Philippe, a former member of French royalty, worked as an indentured slave to the Barringtons. Bridget is the heiress of the prominent plantation.

When Bridget's parents discover the budding Romance between their daughter and their servant, they quickly orchestrate her engagement to an older, more advantageous match. But Edward Moorehead has a secret. And he's anything but a good match for Bridget.

Separated from her true love and in danger from her betrothed, Bridget must rely on God to deliver her from darkness into light.

Readers, buy your copy of WHERE HEARTS ARE FREE today!

AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR FEATURE AUTHOR

JUST MAKING UP STORIES

I have a confession to make. When I first started trying to get published, I was writing non-fiction—Bible studies, general inspirational books, a book on marriage. And, frankly, I had a rather snobby attitude toward fiction writers. I would pass them in the halls at writers’ conferences and although I never said it out loud, I would think to myself, “They are just making up stories. I’m writing biblical truth.” Ahem, ahem—as I smiled sweetly.

One fall at the Glorieta Christian Writers’ Conference while working on staff, I happened to have a few moments, so I slipped into the back of a fiction class. What I heard in that one-hour session rocked my world, and I’ve never looked at fiction the same way since. Dave Lambert was leading the workshop, and he said that a non-believer is probably not going to pick up a Christian non-fiction book. However, they might pick up a novel and read it. He said as Christian fiction writers we can embed the gospel in a novel in perhaps a more palatable way than in a non-fiction book, which sometimes is way too preachy for a non-believer. I walked out of that classroom reeling.

The Holy Spirit had fingered a chord in my heart. I remembered that Jesus was the Master Storyteller and taught biblical truth through stories. Why had I thought that telling stories was an inferior method of spreading the gospel?

About the same time I came across a published genealogy of my Huguenot ancestors. I wanted to tell their story, and I decided I would do so as historical fiction. As I began writing and submitting my chapters to my critique group, they enthusiastically encouraged me. They assured me that fiction was definitely where I needed to be. The rest, as they say, is history. I procured an agent and a four-book contract with a major publisher.

Recently I received word of an atheist picking up my book in France and commenting, “Maybe there is something to this God thing.” I watched an atheist professional safari guide from South Africa sit down in the den of our daughter’s home and read through In The Shadow of the Sun King in one day. He has since ordered the rest of the series for his mother. I receive emails on a regular basis of similar testimonies.

My profession is to tell stories. I am so blessed to write and tell my stories. I pray that they in turn bless the readers and that they bring glory to God.

* * * * *

Thank you, Golden, for sharing with us today.

Reader Question: What stories have touched your life in a profound enough way to inspire you to change your decision or current path in life? What book(s) have challenged your way of thinking?

10 comments:

Tina Forkner said...

Little Bee, by Chris Cleave, is an amazing book that inspired me to pay attention to the bigger world around us. There are so many injustices out there that we never even hear about.

As for Christian writing, I am always challenged by Lisa Samson's novels. They challenge me as a Christian to think bigger, much like I felt after reading Little Bee.

I can't resist mentioning Kim Sawyer. I just love her books and they always make me want to hug everyone in my family. :-)

Tina Forkner said...

Oh, and I have heard so many good things about Golden, so I will have to read her books! :-)

Unknown said...

Thanks, Tina, for dropping by, and for the kind words. As I think back over the many books I have read through the years, I think they have all caused a shift in thinking in one way or another ... a new fact learned, a new way of seeing the world, a deepening of emotions. If I had to name one, it would be the first biblical fiction novel I ever read, which was "Two From Galilee" by Marjorie Holmes. It opened my eyes to the humanity of the biblical characters. I am a Bible teacher ... it changed the way I taught Bible studies even.

Ann Lee Miller said...

Catherine Marshall's Christy and Lisa Samson's Quaker Summer both deeply affected me.

Jeff said...

Okay, this will sound trite, but the first book has to be the Bible. BUT, that NOT being a work of fiction . . .
Dances with Wolves tells of the journey of valuing cultural differences. Western evangelicals are, in my opinion, often guilty of assuming that western culture(s) are far superior to others and that the mandate to share the gospel, somehow, includes a mandate to westernize people. Not so.
In that regard, The Poisonwood Bible is also a strong statement of the futility of insisting that the gospel and western culture are the same.
The Kite Runner is one of the most powerful books I have ever read, a very stark telling of the ability of humans to be remarkably brutal. It reminded me that the residents of countries in which we are currently at war are as profoundly human as we and that their own lives play out in and around the hostilities that plague their countries.
I am just finishing The Cairo Diary by Linda Lambert. Her first fictional work, it shows the difficulties of shifting from technical to fictional writing that Golden speaks of. Nonetheless, the story is interesting and, while FULL of heresy (from a Biblical point of view), it showcases the often impossible-to-span-or-even-negotiate differences between faiths in the face of exposure to events that are unacceptable to the members of those faiths.

Unknown said...

Thanks, Jeff, for your input. This has got to be Jeff Boyer, right? I appreciate your dropping by and adding a comment. Your observations are always so astute and thoughtful. Poisonwood Bible was a strange book to me. Very sobering.

I am more and more convinced as I read fiction and write it as well that so much truth can be spread through telling stories. Like Jesus did :)

Jeff said...

Yes, Golden, it's me. And you are exactly right. Story-telling is a time-honored human tradition; consider how much of the Bible is story-telling, albeit not fiction. Story-telling creates mental images that stick with the listeners long after information and data get lost and are forgotten. Raconteurs have much more influence in culture and society than many are willing to admit.

Jeff said...

By the way, Golden, Ginger started book 1 of the trilogy and won't give it up. Some day I'll get to read it.
Oh, and I still owe you a list of Civil War books in our library. Sorry for forgetting.

Squirt and Squeakers Mama said...

King of the Shore by Eryn Adams, I think it's the only one she published. It really changed how I thought of the Holy Spirit's work in our lives. Coming from a background of Baptist, and might-as-well-be Baptist, this book really opened my eyes as to what God says is possible.

Unknown said...

I'm not familiar with that book, but it sounds wonderful Will have to look it up.