This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducting The Longing Season (Bethany House July, 2006) by Christine Schaub.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Christine Schaub is the author of the MUSIC OF THE HEART series, including Finding Anna, the “rest of the story” behind the writing of the hymn “It Is Well With My Soul” (October 2005) and The Longing Season, the story behind “Amazing Grace” (July 2006) with Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Books.

In 2003, Christine won the “On the Page” screenwriting contest at Screenwriting Expo 2 in Los Angeles. Her one-page story, written on-site in 24 hours for Jacqueline Bisset, was selected by the actress as the best Oscar Wilde-type comedy for her persona.

While working in freelance corporate communications, Christine completed three feature-length screenplays, including a drama/comedy, romantic comedy, and sci-fi action/drama; developed four biopic teleplays for the stories behind the hymns; and published an online column for the MethodX website (Upper Room Ministries).

Christine honed her writing skills after more than 15 years in corporate communications for healthcare, pharmaceutical, and entertainment companies. She has also been a featured conference speaker on working with at-risk youth and changed lives in the classrooms with her creative presentation style.

Christine's love for the arts and creativity have taken her from church platforms to civic and professional stages, performing classics and dramas from her own pen.

Christine graduated from Anderson University with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications. She has served on numerous boards and committees, usually as Communications Chair, and has received both regional and national awards in writing and design.

ABOUT THE BOOK
All of the books in the MUSIC OF THE HEART series are based on a hymns and their histories. The Longing Season is about one of the greatest redemption stories of all time: John Newton and his song, Amazing Grace.

Nature conspires against him, tossing the ship like a toy. Directionless--just like his life.
It seems his odyssey will end here, in the cold Atlantic.
Grief and terror grip his heart, but he will not surrender...not yet.
She reads the sentence again and again.
The first day I saw you I began to love you.
He'd written the words, sealed and posted them, then vanished.

She has a choice--turn toward the future, or wait, wating and hoping.

And so begins her season of longing.

Christine's website link is: http://www.christineschaub.typepad.com/

When?

Whenever the subject of marketing comes up in writer circles, the question of timing invariably surfaces as well.

When do I start thinking about marketing?

“Now” would be my answer. No, I don’t mean spend $800 on a website design and call the local bookstores to schedule your signing tour. Unless, of course, you’re ready for that. What I mean is this: Before you create your character, develop your plot, stroke the first key, ask yourself “What about my novel makes me different from the thousands of novels that will hit the bookstores this year?” Is it a protagonist with a unique occupation, like writing crossword puzzles? An interesting setting like post-Soviet Russia? A different time like Chicago in the 1890s?

I can’t help you with this part of your marketing plan. This is entirely up to you. I assume you have a hint of creativity living somewhere in your cranium. Stretch it now. Put yourself in the chair of an acquisitions editor. Manuscripts fly across your desk like spitballs past a substitute teacher. What do you want to see? What would stand out?

Okay, that’s as far as I, or anyone, can take you on that topic.

To answer the “When” question beyond that point, you first must decide where you are in your writing career. Randy Ingermanson uses a simple approach to this. You’re either a Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, or Senior. And no, that doesn’t mean you’ll be a published author in four years from the first moment you decide to pick up a pen.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to go to Randy’s website and figure out where you are. Be honest. There’s no shame in being a Freshman for three years. We all learn and grow at our own pace. That’s a statement you’ll here me use a lot, by the way: learn & grow. That will be the one consistent piece of your journey.

Now, do your homework. We’ll pick this up on Friday.