Zondervan Blog

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4 Posts of Note on Romance Fiction Posted: 13 Feb 2012 12:04 PM PST   With Valentines Day just around the corner, I wanted to present these noteworthy posts about romance fiction. Whether you're a reader, writer, or bookseller of love stories, you'll find something of interest below. Enjoy! 1. Love, A More Excellent Way Blog post by Robin Lee Hatcher (@robinleehatcher) "Love is what you do when the other person is unlovable," writes Hatcher in this reflection on the costs and joys of love. Read more of Hatcher's post, which was also her contribution to a book called How to Fall in Love like a Romance Writer. Learn more about Hatcher's latest novel Belonging. Read Excerpt of Belonging   2. A Touch of Romance: New Trends & Advice for In-store Promotions Roundtable interview by Christine D. Johnson for ChristianRetailing.com. In this interview of value for aspiring authors and Christian booksellers, Johnson interviews several of Christian publishing's experts on romantic fiction, including Sue Brower, Zondervan's own Executive Editor of fiction. Here is one of Brower's many wise dashes of advice: "Many of our [romance novels] now have discussion questions in the back, and I would encourage the stores to create book clubs or an environment where a book club could meet. Sometimes people don't want to admit they read romance because it's not thoughtful reading when, in fact, it is and what helps that is having these book club questions." Read More   3. Interview with Lori Copeland, Romance Author Interview by Kim Ford for ChristianFictionOnlineMagazine.com In this interview Lori Copeland shares wisdom for writers trying to break into the market, and encouragement for writers going through difficult patches. "Do the best you can with what you have," writes Copeland, "and learn to be a lemonade connoisseur. Plenty of lemons will come your way, but stay close to the Father, and through it all you'll have the sweetest of faith, hope, and love to help you reap the rewards God has in store." I love that phrase lemonade connoisseur. Read more of the interview. Learn more about Lost Melody, the latest book by Lori Copeland & Virginia Smith Read excerpt of Lost Melody   4. Finally! Some Romance Characters that Look Like Me... Blog post by Grace Hwang Lynch (@HapaMamaGrace) Lynch spotlights three women of color who are bringing diversity to the Romance genre, including Zondervan author Camy Tang (@camytang). Lynch quotes Tang: "My future editor at Zondervan, Sue Brower, saw the lack of Asian ethnic fiction and the need for it, and she persisted in presenting my story to the editorial and marketing teams until they contracted my series in early 2006. Since then, I've heard from readers both Asian and non-Asian who have really connected with and related to my characters, and I'm very grateful." Read more of Lynch's post. Learn more about Camy Tang's new romantic thriller Protection for Hire Read Excerpt of Protection for Hire Postscript This stained glass window portrays what may be the oldest love story of them all.   Question for Discussion: Is the story of Adam and Eve a love story?   -Adam Forrest, Zondervan (Image attribution: stained glass window, St. Florentin, France. By Mattana (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

Tough Love: Jesus and 1 Corinthians 13 [Excerpt by Craig Blomberg] Posted: 13 Feb 2012 07:51 AM PST   Excerpt from NIV Application Commentary: 1 Corinthians [eBook] by Craig Blomberg. Jesus, Love Incarnate It has often been observed that one could substitute the word "Jesus" for "love" throughout [1 Corinthians 13:4–7. That would look like this: Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind. He does not envy, he does not boast, he is not proud. He does not dishonor others, he is not self-seeking, he is not easily angered, he keeps no record of wrongs. Jesus does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.] Indeed, as the only sinless person in human history, [Jesus] provides the perfect model for helping us to understand what patience, kindness, lack of envy, and so on, are. In so doing, we also guard against misinterpreting these attributes. If Jesus was all-loving, but could clear the temple in righteous indignation (Mark 11:15–18) or unleash a torrential invective against the hypocrisy of the conservative religious leaders of his day (Matt. 23), then our concept of love must leave room for similar actions.   When I turn off suffering for the sake of my pleasure, I turn it off too soon. -Lewis Smedes Lewis Smedes outlines this approach in his excellent study of [1 Corinthians 13]. Among other insights, he notes that God has limits to his patience, and so must we, but "when I turn off suffering for the sake of my pleasure, I turn it off too soon" [Lewis B. Smedes, Love Within Limits]. Neither does patience include the toleration of evil. Kindness is both intelligent and tough; "without wisdom and honesty," it "easily becomes mere pity, bound to hurt more people than it helps." [Ibid.]   Agape transcends jealousy without destroying it; it is right, for example, to be upset when someone runs off with your spouse! "Love does not move us to seek justice for ourselves," but it should "drive us to move heaven and earth to seek justice for others." [Ibid.]   Agape does not disguise or unleash anger; it does not remove irritants from our lives or reduce irritability by forbidding anger. Rather it meets our deepest needs, enabling us to respond differently to enraging circumstances, reduces the potential for frustration, gives us the power to communicate anger appropriately, and increases our gratitude for the way God has worked in our lives.   1 Cor. 13:13 on a German church: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."   Our Need for Christ-like Love Kindness is both intelligent and tough... In an age in which demanding one's rights is considered a virtue, we must read again and again that love "is not self-seeking" (v. 5). At the same time, when we understand love's limits, we will avoid co-dependency. The most loving thing to do for the repeatedly abusive, perennially alcoholic husband is not to cover-up for him or to believe his empty promises of reform, but to insist that he seek professional help and to refuse to carry on with "business as usual" if he does not. [See especially Margaret J. Rinck, Can Christians Love Too Much?]   Did You Know Love Directs Our History? So long as we live between Christ's first and second comings, between the inauguration and the consummation of God's kingdom or reign, we should maintain a realistic optimism about our potential, through the Spirit, to love our neighbors and create good in our world. We can believe that history is going somewhere, whether or not the pundits who constantly revise their interpretations of prophecy to fit current events are right that this is the final generation. We can believe that the bleak events of our contemporary world — warfare, famine, ecological disaster or anti-Christian hostility — have their God-ordained limits. We can cautiously hope, pray, and work for the implementing of God's standards in society, realizing that sometimes we will fail and other times we will succeed...   We look forward to the ultimate triumph, after Christ's return, of the power of God in the love of Christ. -Craig Blomberg   Learn More Learn more about NIV Application Commentary: 1 Corinthians eBook Question for Discussion: What is a common way we are tempted to "delight in evil"? And what is one way we can "delight in truth" instead? - Adam Forrest, Zondervan (Images & some styling above are web-exclusive features not included in the text of NIVAC 1 Corinthians eBook... Image attribution: by Andreas Praefcke (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

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