Iron Mountain ski jump

Iron Mountain ski jump

Monday, July 21, 2014

Leading a Romance Life

CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith from a Place of Winter for the Years of Winter… ©

Black Opal Books has a sharing group for its authors. Since BOB will publish my novel VETS in 6 to 8 months, I’m in the group. BOB has up to now published only romance novels, but they are expanding into other genres, hence authors like me [or I, according to which sounds better to you.] Many of the most active contributors and tweeters in the group write paranormal romances.

I am acquainted with some romance writers, including Merline Lovelace --her real name, but one a romance writer should choose if it were not her real name. [She was a colonel in the Air Force before retiring to write romance.] I don’t, however, read romance novels because I don’t need to; I live a romantic life.

Twitter doesn’t understand that, though, and since I “follow” the other authors in the BOB group, Twitter is constantly suggesting non-BOB paranormal romance authors, and romance writers in general, for me to follow.

“Following” sounds a bit too much like stalking, although young people use “stalking” as any attempt to gather information about someone, such as I’m “stalking” Thomas Jefferson if I Google Monticello.

In many ways, it makes sense for Twitter to suggest that I follow paranormal romance writers, but not for the reasons Twitter assumes. I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus, a communer with God, a mystic experiencer, absorbed in the Holy Spirit, a child of the world for which God provides and continues to create, a follower of one who has risen from the dead but is still among us in Spirit. That is surely a paranormal romance.

So I guess the first writers of paranormal romances were Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In “following” them I am “stalking” Jesus. I’m sure he’s cool with it.

John Robert McFarland

The “place of winter” mentioned in the title line is Iron Mountain, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where people are Yoopers, a word in the new Merriam-Webster dictionary, and life is defined by winter even in the summer! [This phrase is explained in the post for March 20, 2014.]

You don’t have to bookmark or favorite the CIW URL to return here. Just Google Christ In Winter and it will show up at the top of the page.

I have also started an author blog, about writing, in preparation for the publication, by Black Opal Books, of my novel, VETS, in late 2014 or early 2015. http://johnrobertmcfarland-author.blogspot.com/


I tweet as yooper1721.

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