Wednesday, March 27, 2013

If My Life Were A Book...



by Jennifer AlLee

I have always loved books. Certainly, this comes as no surprise, as being a writer who didn't love books would like being a jockey who couldn't stand horses. It doesn't make much sense.

When I was a kid, I would reread books over and over. Among my favorite rereads were the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read those books until the bindings were falling apart. I loved them so much, I used to imagine what it would be like to be Laura, to live on the prairie, and do all the things she did.

I think part of my fascination with those books is because I always lived in the city. I grew up in Hollywood, after all. Being a country gal was a very romantic idea, and it stuck with me for a long time. That is, until I had a chance to live it out.

During college, I was able to spend a summer in Montana on a real ranch. I got to experience all kinds of new things. Some of them were great: riding a horse bareback, making cinnamon rolls from scratch, and picking wild strawberries. And some of them were not so great: mucking out stalls, taking a bath in the ice-cold crick, and being bitten by mosquitoes over 100 times while picking wild strawberries. It was a great experience, but it proved to me that I wasn't cut out for the country life.

Thinking about living out my literary dream made me wonder... Have YOU ever wished you could live out a book? If you could transplant yourself into another time period, another setting, another pair of shoes, what would it be? Let's have some fun with this!


JENNIFER ALLEE believes the most important thing a woman can do is find her identity in God – a theme that carries throughout her novels. A professional writer for over twenty years, she's done extensive freelance work for Concordia Publishing House, including skits, Bible activity pages, and over 100 contributions to their popular My Devotions series. Her novels include The Love of His Brother (Five Star, 11/07), The Pastor’s Wife (Abingdon Press, 2/10), The Mother Road (Abingdon Press, 4/12) and A Wild Goose Chase Christmas (Abingdon Press, 11/12). She's thrilled to be working on her first historical series with the amazing Lisa Karon Richardson. Diamond in the Rough is the first book in the Charm and Deceit series, to be released May 2013 by Whitaker House. And... as if that's not enough, her novella Comfort and Joy will appear in the Christmas anthology, Mistletoe Memories (Barbour, 9/13) She's a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, Christian Authors Network, and the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance.
Visit Jennifer's website at www.jenniferallee.com/

11 comments:

  1. Far too difficult for a historical author to decide...
    Do we get to step into that life for a day, knowing what we know now? (ready to soak in all the details?) I might go way out of my zone and say I'd want to catch a glimpse of Jesus with his disciples.

    For pure research? A day in a busy seaport in the UK in the early 19th century. I can't pick one place or time. Sorry.

    Sorry about all the mosquito bits, Jen! yuck!

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  2. Oh Jen, I would love to live out a book experience. As a kid, I would pretend I was in a book, narrating to myself what I did ... even when I was walking to school. I'm such a nerd! :)

    Which era would I visit, if I could pick just one? I agree with Deb. I can't pick just one. But when she said seeing Jesus... I've been pondering that a lot this week, what it would have been like to walk beside Him, eat with Him, listen to Him speak. But what joy to know that He's just as alive today as He was back then!

    But of course I'd want to visit the Regency, as a wealthy, upper-class gal at the height of the Social Season in London.

    Great post, Jen.

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  3. Maybe we should travel together Susie! Karl will be more likely to let you go if you had a companion!

    I will definitely go with sometime in the 1800s. If we go to London, we must be careful what we wear.

    I swear I did the narrating thing as a child too. really. It's coming back to me and I'm a bit embarrassed. But hey - it works for us now!

    Jen, I've said this countless times but I played Black Beauty in an abandoned barn. I am so glad no one videotaped my conversations with the imaginary horses. (hugs to Ginger!)

    I'm a bit worried now what age I was. Not that an imaginary life is something to be ashamed of, right?


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  4. Oh, I'd LOVE to visit all kinds of historical eras. Medieval would be my favorite. The 1920s. WWII. Civil War.

    Sigh.

    but then I wouldn't have air conditioning and refrigeration and decent medical help . . . ummmm, I think I'll stick with books. :D

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  5. I would love to visit all sorts of historical times. I've come to realize I wouldn't want to live there.

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  6. Deb, Black Beauty was another favorite. So was the whole Black Stallion series. I used to pretend I was a horse trotting around the grade school playground... now THAT is embarassing!

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  7. Oh, you historical authors! Yes, I'm sure the reality of visiting those times would be a rude awakening. Which is why we would only VISIT.

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  8. Oh yeah, I wish I could experience every book I've ever read. Mainly because I don't read horror, or really violent, or all those yucky kinds.

    I read romance and if that means I'm fickle for wanting to meet a different guy every day, well so be it. Don't forget, I was the 17 yr old who walked into the Winnipeg CAF recruiting station wanting to join the Navy so I could have a guy in every port. :p

    Anita.

    PS - Of course, now as a mumble... mumble...mumble year old, I'm quite happy with my selection, but since you asked...

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  9. Oh Anita, I bet you were a little spitfire when you were in your teens. Of course, you're still pretty firey now... :)

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  10. Oh, yes, Jen. There were many times I wished I could live out a book. I wanted to be Alice or Dorothy every time I read Alice in Wonderland or Wizard of Oz.

    When I was a kid, I was convinced I was living out Cinderella's life - and I let my mom know every time she asked me to wash dishes or dust.

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  11. um, i've always been a science fiction kid (issac asimov, anne macCaffrey, etc...). i always wished i could be a dragonrider of Pern. it seemed so exotic.

    as for "real" life - hmmm, i really like Sherlock Holmes, but he probably would really annoy me with his arrogance and drug problem. oh, now I remember... there was a spurt where i wished i was Nancy Drew.

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