Award-winning, best-selling author Julie Lessman

My name is Julie Lessman … and I am a romance addict.

However, I might add, Margaret Mitchell bears the blame. The moment Scarlett seared Rhett with a look on the winding staircase of Twelve Oaks, I was a goner, my brain irrevocably branded with the burning desire for romance. God help me, I was only twelve at the time when some innocent, unsuspecting person put a copy of Gone With the Wind in my hand. I swear to this day that the binding not only burned my fingers, but it seared my life forever.

You see, when I read that novel at the age of twelve, I was swept away into the world of romance for the very first time. It captured me like no other book had done, and I immediately set out to write (along with thousands of other love-struck young girls, I’m sure), what I hoped would be “the great American novel.” Obviously my dreams of grandeur didn’t go anywhere, but I did write 150 single-spaced pages of a story that became the basis (some forty years later!) for my debut novel, A Passion Most Pure. Today, I like to think that not only are Margaret Mitchell’s fingerprints are all over me in my religious devotion to passion, but God’s as well—merging my passion for romance with my passion for Him.

And speaking of religiously devoted, I may well be one of the few GWTW fans whose obsession became a habit—a religious habit, that is, of the “nun” variety. Although I had read the book at the age of twelve (and reread it a gazillion times since then), I never saw the movie until I turned sixteen. Way back then (we won’t go into how far back that was), Gone With the Wind was only re-released every seven years. So when I found out that a theatre in my city was sponsoring a free premiere to all the local religious and clergy, I actually dressed up as a nun to go. One of my friends had a sister in the convent who loaned us novice habits, and off we went! I sat there mesmerized, shoving free popcorn into my mouth as I watched the emotional tug-o-war between Rhett and Scarlett. It was one of the most thrilling times of my teens … until we ran into the nuns from our high school! I must have looked pretty convincing in the novice garb, though, because one of our nuns started talking to me about a vocation. Are you kidding? A nun who writes romance? Uh, no!

Why would a book like Gone With the Wind impact me so? Romance, pure and simple. Yes, Scarlett was selfish, but what drew me was the pull she had over Rhett—a man who wanted her but couldn’t have her. To me, seeing a strong, male type like Rhett Butler “who wasn’t the marrying kind” give in and marry her because he loved her and wanted to cherish her, spoke volumes to me. Even as a little girl, I sensed that was what romance was all about—finding a man who couldn’t do without you and to whom you were the most important woman in the world. It wasn’t until I became a born-again Christian at the age of 23 that I learned it was a foreshadow of how God sees romance in Ephesians 5:25: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her."

Now I am not saying that Rhett Butler typified the kind of love Christ had in mind, but he wanted Scarlett so badly, he was willing to give of himself to get her. No other woman alive could do that to him, only her. Now to me, that’s romance in the most heart-pounding sense of the word—to be cherished, loved and desired by a man who would sacrifice himself to claim you as his own.

Sound familiar? Think about it—the romantic love between a man and a woman is a mere shadow of the love, passion and desire that God has for each of us. And if you don’t believe me, take a stroll through the “Song of Solomon” sometime—a love letter to Israel and mankind from a God who wanted each of us so badly, He was willing to sacrifice His Son. When it comes to romance, there’s no question that God wrote the book—and for me, it’s a true bestseller that always guarantees a happy ending.

Feel free to leave a comment to be entered into a Daughters of Boston giveaway where you can win a signed copy of your choice of one of the three books in the series, A Passion Most Pure, A Passion Redeemed or A Passion Denied. Good luck!

Hugs,

Julie

Julie Lessman is an award-winning author whose tagline of “Passion With a Purpose” underscores her white-hot passion for both God and romance. Winner of the 2009 ACFW Debut Author of the Year, Julie is also the recipient of 13 Romance Writers of America awards and resides in Missouri with her husband and their golden retriever. She is the author of The Daughters of Boston series, which includes A Passion Most Pure, A Passion Redeemed, and A Passion Denied. You can contact Julie through her website at http://www.julielessman.com/.

Book 3, A Passion Denied, is the story of Faith and Charity’s little sister, Lizzie, a shy bookworm who dreams of a fairy-tale romance. It unfolds a man’s dark past and a young girl’s shattered dreams … and the God who redeems it all.

Elizabeth O’Connor is the little sister John always longed for. With a fire for God in his belly, he has been her spiritual mentor since she was thirteen, sharing her love of literature and her thirst for God. But when his gangly protégé blossoms into a beautiful young woman bent on loving him, he refuses to act on the attraction he feels. His past won’t let him go there. Unfortunately, “Lizzie” won’t let him go anywhere else … until his dark and shocking secrets push her away.

Welcome Shawn Grady

Good Morning Everyone,
I am excited to introduce you to our guest today. Say hello to novelist Shawn Grady. I want Shawn to share some things with us about his writing life and what interests him, so PLEASE ask questions. It’s not everyday that we get to quiz a fire fighter, and paramedic who is a Christian and an author.

His debut novel, Through the Fire, came out earlier this year and is burning up the shelves. Shawn has kindly offered to give away a copy of his book to one of our guests today.


You can find out even more about Shawn at http://www.shawngradybooks.com/


I met Shawn in James Scott Bell’s mentoring class at Mt. Hermon in the spring of 2007.

Mount Hermon 2007. Here I am with my mentoring group led by the amazing James Scott Bell who is in the middle of this pack. From left to right is: Jenn, Shawn, me, Michael, JSB, Katie (Rachel and Jill#2 in the front), Barbara, Katie and Jim. A fantastic learning experience with a wonderful group of writers.

GENRE FUN
Shawn and I used to have great fun on-line asking questions related to our differing genres. It’s a great way to close the divide and learn more about another author’s genre. I'd say something like, "What does every gentleman in the Regency wear around his neck?" Then he'd have to go look it up and get back to me. Then Shawn would ask me something like, "What does every fireman carry into a fire?" I'd have to go look it up. Shawn’s a great sport and an awesome writer.

ALTER EGO

We’ve been posting about different personas who we think of as our
alter egos and I’m sure we could all come up with more than one.
Let me put you on the spot, Shawn, and ask you who one person might
be that you consider and alter ego? Details please.

I think I'd like to be Zorro. I remember watching the show as a kid and wearing a mask that my mom made. It was a rectangular piece ofdark corderoy with two eye holes cut in it and a string of yarn. I'd pretend I would escape from the jail the bad guys put me in andgo all over the house writing "Z's" on everything with a sword.

GOOD NEWS ARRIVES
Can you share a little bit about your experience with Bethany House, Shawn, and when you got the call?

The Bethany House team has been fantastic to work with. In January of 2008 we got word of the three book deal and were ecstatic. We invited both sets of parents over for dinner and told them the news. It was a great celebration.

In the fall of 2008 I had the opportunity to go back to Minneapolis and visit Bethany House. They're still in the same building they've been in for the past fifty years, so it was really neat to go there and to feel welcomed into an established family with a long history in publishing. They used to have an in-house oil painter who did all their cover designs, and some of those original oil paintings are still hanging on walls there. The team there was really great to me and I am so happy to be working with them.


WRITING THE STORIES
How do you get your writing done?

Typically I'll go to the library or a coffeehouse, or both, so that I'm out of the house and focused to accomplish the word goal we've set for the week. Somedays it is more difficult than others,
depending on how many calls I may have run at the firehouse if I worked the night before. My wife is a huge support and we really work together to establish an effective schedule so we can ensure we're putting our time together and as a family first.

MOOKIE HEAD?
You have a yellow lab at your home. Can you fill us in on some information about that doggie?
Marlette! We love her. We call her Lettie, or Mookie Head. Or dozens of other names. They come spontaneously. The other day I called her Mook-a-naut. She's fun, and for the most part really well trained. But she has a voracious appetite that will occasionally drive her to sneak food when we're out of the house. She is showing the wisdom of 2 1/2 years though in that she's at least learned not to eat the bag along with the food inside of it. She actually has over a hundred fans now on her facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Reno-Nevada-USA/Marlette-Water-Monkey-
Mookie-Head/152636381026

What's your next book about, Shawn?The next book is also an emergency suspense with a romantic subplot. It's called Tomorrow We Die and focuses on a Reno paramedic who feels like he's chasing the Angel of Death. More info can be found at shawngradybooks.com/novels

Okay everyone. This is your chance to ask questions. Don't be shy. And remember that you are elgible to win a copy of, "Through the Fire."

That's Dolley, with an "e"

I covet the gift of hospitality. The ability to tangibly meet natural needs for food, clothing, and shelter in such a way that the person or persons being served feel honored and valued. And to do it without looking like you're trying, that's really a gift!

Hospitality has never been a strength for me. I'm too introverted, too self-conscious, and maybe just plain too selfish to be good at it. If I have overnight guests, I don't sleep. If people come over for supper, I freak out before they arrive and collapse in exhaustion when they leave.

So when I read about First Lady Dolley Madison, I'm especially awed by the way she took a "woman's gift," one that's often overlooked or ignored, and used it to make a mark on history.

Born to settlers John and Mary Payne in North Carolina on May 20, 1768, Dolley Payne grew up under the strict discipline of the Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers. As was the norm for women in that era, she received no formal education. In 1790 she married John Todd, Jr., a Philadelphia lawyer and fellow Quaker.

By this time in the nation's history, Philadelphia was operating as the nation's capitol, and Dolley became involved in various social functions. It's as though she found her niche, her place, in the process of entertaining. After the untimely death of her husband and one young son to yellow fever in 1893, she continued to participate in the social functions of Philadelphia.

At one of these events, family friend and New York senator Aaron Burr introduced Dolley to the man credited as "the architect of the Constitution," Representative James Madison of Virginia. Madison was 43, Dolley was 26. The couple were soon engaged, and exchanged vows in 1794. Because Madison was an Episcopalian, Dolley was ostracized from the church of her childhood for marrying outside her denomination. She became an Episcopalian like her husband, and laid aside the somber clothing and customs of her upbringing.

When Thomas Jefferson was elected president, he asked Madison to become his Secretary of State. While in Washington, Dolley found a need and filled it. The bachelor president needed a woman to organize and orchestrate the social functions required of a national leader. He asked Dolley to serve as hostess, and she fell quite naturally into the role.

It's said that her charm, grace, and extraordinary ability to remember names and faces were responsible for quelling the tensions often present in political meetings. Her extroverted personality brought life and cheer to the bachelor administration. Her gift didn't go unnoticed, and by the end of her first eight years in Washington, Dolley had claimed the place of social queen of the nation's capitol. When her husband was elected to the presidency in 1808, her actions as First Lady set a precedent other First Ladies have sought to follow ever since. Her widespread popularity as a hostess was held at least partly responsible for Madison's re-election to a second term in office.

Her dinner parties were lavish affairs and an invitation to one of her parties, or her Wednesday night receptions, were highly desired among diplomats, politicians, and citizens. The White House, under Dolley's hand, was an open house, made gracious and welcoming by Dolley's gracious personality and generosity.

In 1814, when British soldiers marched on Washington and the First Family was forced to evacuate the White House, Dolley rescued a priceless portrait of George Washington, some state papers, and the red curtains she'd helped make before she fled. The Brits burned the White House that night, and everything in it except the treasures Dolley escaped with.

She continued to entertain into the last days of her life, even after Madison's death (they were married 42 years). When her son from her first marriage mismanaged the family property, she was forced to sell everything. She simply moved back to Washington and continued to be a vibrant part of the social whirl up until her death in 1849.

Nothing, it seems, could quench Dolley's zest for living and love of people. She had numerous opportunities to become disappointed, discouraged, and bitter. But she maintained her joie de vivre. How? I believe it's because she continually gave herself to her gift - hospitality - and by letting that God-given gift pour through her, she kept herself full of life and joy even in the midst of difficult times.

I've gotten better about the practice of hospitality over the years, but it will probably never come "naturally" to me. I'm a bit more "Dolly Madison" (open a box of Zingers and hide behind it during the party) than I am Dolley Madison, hostess extraordinaire. But I have other gifts, and when I yield to them and let them flow, not for my benefit but for others, I step over into a place of peace and joy that's above and beyond what I could ask or think.

My gifts - my passions - are a fountain of the life of God in my soul. Have you found yours?

(for more information on Dolley Madison, see here, or here, or here...)

Molly and Me

Who is that, you say? Well, lean near and I will tell you a story. A long time ago (perhaps 1929) a very intelligent woman wrote a fascinating tale about a dashing young man who many thought silly and pompous. But there are some that know better than that, and some would say they knew all along that he was too smart by far, and just covering up his real self so as to assist many. That man, in a long about way, could be considered a relative of sorts if the reader prefer. So be it, a relative from even further back, perhaps around 1792. That man, as I was saying, was no other but the famously known Sir Percy Blakeney.

What’s that you say? You never heard of ‘im? Why he’s the Scarlet Pimpernel. You know, the one that saved all those French aristocrats, from Mam’zelle Guillotine. A very brave lad, but I digress. It’s me that you want to know about, and rightly so, for I am the female strategist on par with Sir Percy, I do say, but get very little credit for it being the softer, gentler sex, but by no means the weaker in the workings of the mind.

I know what they say about me, though I pretend I don’t care. What is it they say, you ask? Well, let’s not be dense. It’s right there in the first paragraph of, The Ninescore Mystery.

“Well, you know, some say she is the daughter of a duke, others that she was born in the gutter, and that the handle has been soldered on to her name in order to give her style and influence.”

I’ll not be defending myself because I need no defense. I’m known as Lady Molly. I am a detective in charge of the Female Department of Scotland Yard. Is it my fault that Percy got all the attention?




Okay. It’s me, Jill Nutter here.




Molly of Scotland Yard is my alter ego. Why? Because she was a woman doing a very rare thing in her day and ahead of her time thanks to both Percy’s and Molly’s creator, the awesome, Baroness Emmuska Orczy.





Sherlock Holmes would have been proud to call Molly sister.





I’ve always been a detective at heart. I love exploring peoples problems and why they do the things they do. Maybe that's how I ended up studying psychology and social work, but it's literary detecting I love best. We writer types are literary word solvers as we piece together our stories one word at a time. It’s a constant mystery we unravel as we piece together our stories and search for the right word, phrase, character, conflict, etc. Every writer must be a detective. Researching and reasoning out why our characters do what they do.

I also try to detect how God is working in my life. I look for clues and try to connect with God and what He wants me to do. That often leeds to the need for prayer. Now Molly of Scotland Yard, while trying to solve the Ninescore Mystery may have stopped into Canterbury Cathedral to pray as she and her collegue Mary went tramping around the countryside.




Molly will return with interesting intuitions as she solves one crime after another. I hope you will continue to detect right along with me as you solve mysteries in your own life and in the books you love.

Question: Who is your favorite detective from any time period? OR What is your favorite mystery?