Celebrating!

 Thanks to everyone who has celebrated with me!

Thoughts on Winning the Carol Award for YA Fiction

This was a pretty exciting week for me. On Saturday night I learned that I won the prestigious American Christian Fiction Writer's Carol Award in the Young Adult fiction category for Dauntless! For anyone who doesn't know what that is, it's not quite the Oscars of the Christian fiction world (that would be the Christy), but it's definitely up there. Maybe the Golden Globes.

Those sorts of moments are always a bit overwhelming. Emotions run high, and it takes a while to sort everything out. But now that things have settled, I want to share how I'm feeling about it. 

1) My writing journey has been pretty bumpy lately. Sales haven't been what I hoped for and some of the reviews have been downright harsh. I love writing, but I was feeling like it wasn't loving me back very much. So this award means a lot. It means that my industry and the ACFW organization that mentored me said, "Job well done." That did my bruised writer's heart a world of good, and I'm incredibly grateful. 

2) I'm a little disappointed that I wasn't there for the presentation, but it just wouldn't have been financially or logistically wise for me to have traveled to Nashville this weekend. However, I feel like God orchestrated things so that I was with many of my closest friends here in Virginia (at an unrelated party) when I watched the live feed and learned I won. They whooped and hollered so loud that strangers down the street joined in just for fun :) That was awesome and made the evening very special even though I wasn't at the live event! I'm also blessed that I had a friend there to receive the award for me, and another who is delivering it home to me.

3) There's also a bittersweet side to this. I started two new jobs within the last year, which was very necessary for our family finances with two kids in college, and I haven't had the mental energy to create entire worlds in my head anymore (a.k.a. write novels). This award is very encouraging, but right now I don't really know what my writing future holds. I realize some women work and raise a family and still find the time and energy to write, but evidently I'm not those women. I would appreciate prayers for guidance for my writing future. I hope to get back to it if and when God moves on my heart with a new story idea and opens the opportunity for me to work on it.

The good news is that I still have a novella coming out next month as a part of the Austen in Austin collection. I also have a nearly finished book 2 for my Deep Within series that I can potentially dust off and finally get out into the world. And I have an idea for a nonfiction book, which might prove a little less grueling to write than a novel. 

As I mentioned in my acceptance speech, God has been my writing partner in this journey, and I couldn't have done it without Him. I'll just have to continue to trust in Him as I move forward from here.

Me and My Heroines

Often readers confuse an author with the characters they create. I imagine the truth is that each character we write has a hint of us inside of them. But it is also true that professional novelists go to great lengths to create unique and separate characters with distinctive personalities. So today I’m going to share with you how I am both similar to and different from some of my female heroines.

Typical Dina

Let’s start with the general idea of these tough Valiant Hearts heroines I've been working on the last few years. I’ve always been strong, healthy, and athletic, but not quite a tough sporty girl. During my school years I did play some sports, mostly because I went to small Christian schools and everyone needed to be involved. I was pretty good at basketball, but always preferred dance, gymnastics, and cheerleading. As an adult, I like quiet physical activities like walking, biking, hiking, and canoeing. I still dance from time to time as part of my church’s worship dance team. But…I believe in female empowerment and that women should follow whatever path God lays on their hearts. I don’t like to see arbitrary limits put on what girls can and can’t do, and that was very important to me as I wrote this Valiant Hearts Series. My Meyer’s Briggs personality type is INFJ, which in addition to being creative, is also very individualistic and idealistic, so I guess that explains my strong feelings about this issue. And I'm a bit of a romantic.

My Robin Hood-esque Merry Ellison from Dauntless and I actually have very little in common. On the Meyers Briggs scale, Merry was my opposite on three out of four indicators. She is more extroverted, sensory, and thinking. This made Merry the most challenging character I’ve ever written, yet I loved and admired her. Her ESTJ personality was the same as my middle child, my outdoor enthusiast and adrenaline junky. It’s a great leadership personality. I often thought of tough sporty girls I’ve been friends with over the years while writing Merry. Merry and I have a few things in common like a love of children and a love of acrobatics, but even her motivations and inner thoughts were often different than mine. I do have a tomboy side, but it does not go as far as weaponry and hunting. In addition to all of that, tiny, dark haired, exotic Merry is pretty much my physical opposite in every way too. 

Chivalrous with my female knight is releasing soon, and I certainly have more in common with Gwendolyn Barnes than with Merry. I was picturing Gwendolyn as a INFP/ISFP hybrid.  Gwendolyn hates mingling at a big party, much like me, and she loves music, dance, and sunshine, again like me. Her biggest flaw is that she tends to fade into a fantasy world rather than deal with reality, which is something I have been guilty of from time to time, but not to the same degree as Gwendolyn. She has more of a temper than I do, although I share her abhorrence of injustice and can get pretty riled up when faced with it. And again, she is tougher than me, although I think if I had been raised with her hang ups, I might have turned out even more like her. Finally, Gwendolyn’s tall, blonde, and curvy physical description is pretty close to mine at that age. At 5’10” I’m used to looking men in the eye and feeling like I can do anything they can.

How I picture Rosalind

Next on the horizon is Courageous with my crusader heroine. It won’t release until July 2016, but you will be introduced to its main character in Chivalrous. Rosalind of Ipsworth is Gwendolyn’s lady’s maid, best friend, and partner in crime. Of the three Valiant Hearts heroines so far, I definitely have the most in common with Rosalind. With her ENFJ personality, she is more of a typical emotional, romantic girl, although she is tough enough to rise to whatever occasion is thrown at her. She’s more outgoing than me, and she makes some unfortunate choices that my upbringing protected me from. But her thoughts, speech, and motivations are pretty similar to what I imagine mine being in those circumstances. And Rosalind is a passionate woman, which is also a trait I share. 

Passion is a characteristic that is often avoided in Christian heroines, and yet a characteristic I think God highly values when channeled in the right direction. In fact, I’ve used the ENFJ personality for two other heroines in the past. Both Dandelion in Dance of the Dandelion and Constance in Love in Three-Quarter Time are feisty, passionate heroines as well. Each makes mistakes, like Rosalind, but each learns to channel that passion toward an intimate relationship with God. My daughter has an ENFJ personality, and I have loved watching her grow in her passion toward God.

Maybe you’re wondering if I’ve ever written myself into a book. I would say the closest I’ve come is with Allie, my Christian ballerina in Dance from Deep Within. She shares my INFJ personality, my love of dance and reading, my blonde coloring, and many of my experiences. Her thoughts, tastes, opinions, fashion sensibilities, and beliefs certainly mirror mine, especially when I was her age. But of course her life is different than mine in some ways too, and her experiences are more extreme, including a trauma I didn’t share. Still, I would say if you want to know what I’m all about, Allie would provide the best clues.

So that’s me and my heroines. I hope you’ve enjoyed this quick foray into our personalities.

Which of my heroines do you think you would relate with the most? What is your personality like?

Me and Acrobatics

One of the funnest elements of Dauntless, in my opinion, is the acrobatic twist. Although as I mention in another post, they didn't actually use the word acrobat at that time, tumblers and aerialists provided popular entertainment during the middle ages. You might wonder if I have any acrobatic background myself, and the answer is yes. I took gymnastics from the ages of 6-11. I never quite reached Merry's level of expertise, but I could do a front flip and front and back handsprings, so I understand the rush of flying through the air. In high school, I also used my gymnastics ability as a cheerleader.

I don't do much acrobatics anymore, but all three of my children are incredible acrobats. Just for fun, here is my farewell acrobatic performance. If you're having a hard time finding me, I'm tall with shoulder length blond hair, and at some point my son stands on my shoulders. I'm guessing this was around 2008. My two older kids are the ones doing the fancy tricks. Gymnastics fans, notice the lovely back flip by my son at about 2:16. :) My youngest was still too little for choreography at the time, but at age 12, he is now a competitive gymnast.

If you would like to learn more about me as a dance, choreographer, and director, click here to visit that page on my main website.


Everything About You from danzingfool on GodTube.

Getting My Medieval On

So yeah, I had some fun on Mother's Day this year. First I recorded this excerpt from Dauntless and then proceeded to take some pictures in my new medieval get-up. I'll be wearing the gown this week at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference for their genre night. Enjoy!!

Thoughts on Thievery and Civil Disobedience

Stories in our nation's headlines today often bring up the important subject of civil disobedience. Is there ever a time when we should disobey the law, and if so, how far should we go? This is an important question that we all need to ask ourselves, and this is a major theme in young adult literature.

While writing Dauntless, I faced the daunting challenge of writing about Robin Hood style stealing from the rich and giving to the poor in a Christian novel. It was a hard balance to strike. Some reviewers have mentioned that they wished I had included more exciting Robin Hood style raids, while a few others felt the thievery was just wrong and shouldn't have been included in the book at all.

But allow me to go back to the issue that both of those groups seem to have missed. Civil Disobedience. I didn't want to have my thieves just glibbly stealing for stealing's sake. If they had done that, I would have had to have included a big cheesy "all-the-Robin-Hood-thieves-repent" style scene, and that wasn't what I wanted. They were living during the time of a corrupt government, and the king wanted every single one of them dead. So they thought of themselves as government dissidents, a warring tribe if you will, and they did what they had to do to survive.

You know, I think it is within the realm of possibility that during the lifetime of teens reading this book, it might become illegal to be a Christian in this country. Stop. Think about that. Did I get your attention? During our children's lifetimes, or maybe even our own, it could become illegal to be a born-again, Bible-believing Christian. Sure, maybe we would be raptured out before things got that bad, but maybe not. It's already that bad in many countries today, so I think that's a naive assumption to make. One last time, it could conceivably become illegal someday to be a Christian, and in some countries it already is.

And if and when that happens, what would you do? According to the reviews against thievery and civil disobedience that I read, I would have to assume that some of you would take the pacifist route and be thrown in prison or even killed. I'm not saying that's wrong. There is certainly an honor and a humility in that. But others would fight. They would hide out. They would form dissident groups. And those groups would be illegal. And every resource they allocate would be considered by the government to be stolen. Every bite of food they put in their children's mouths would be "stolen," because they wouldn't have any "legal" right to it.

That's the position Merry and her band found themselves in in Dauntless. And after giving the issue much thought, I decided that it is important for our teens to struggle through this concept of civil disobedience, no matter what they might decide about it. And my characters also struggled through those places where they took their thievery too far and became too casual with it. Of course I could have just not written a Robin Hood book at all, but I don't regret taking on this fun, yet daunting, challege.

Personally, I'm thankful for the popularity of dystopian novels right now with their focus on civil disobedience. Because of them, we are raising up a generation of children who will not easily be lured into government oppression. And in Dauntless I have created a historical dystopia through which I was able to add my voice to this important theme.

Take My Match Making Quiz

Do your reading interests match my writing specialties? Take my match making quiz and find out.

Every writer is unique. We all have our own strengths and focuses. And we have other areas that just aren't our specialties. Much like finding the right spouse, I think it's important for writers to find the right readers who appreciate their books and what they have to offer, rather than trying to please everyone, which is pretty much impossible. I've been paying a lot of attention to my reviews lately, and trying to pin down my precise audience. Or as some marketing experts call it, my tribe!

So who is the Dina Sleiman tribe and who should probably just stay away from my books? Let me try to explain with this match making quiz.

Do you like only one category of fiction or a broad variety? If you are very faithful to a specific category like romance or suspense, you might feel that certain elements are lacking from my books or that the pacing is not quite what you expected. But if you a have broad interests, you will be delighted to find many of your favorite ingredients mixed together in a lovely potpourri throughout my books. My Valiant Hearts novels include a heaping helping of romance, a good bit of action, dashes of suspense and humor, and even coming of age elements--all set against a historical backdrop. But don't necessarily expect my heroes and heroines to meet in chapter one, or the suspense to kick off from the very first scene. Be ready for a new adventure.

Are you looking for fantasy or historical fiction? While I enjoy fantasy books for the most part, they include way too much plot and action for me, and really, I don't quite understand the genre. My Valiant Hearts books are historical. They are set in real times and real countries, although often fictional towns. They have elements that might appeal to fantasy readers, like medieval settings and adventure, but if you're specifically looking for fantasy books, that's not what I write. On the other hand, I have a fanciful imagination and my books are more focused on the story and fictional elements than the historical account itself. While I try to be as historically accurate as possible, I use history as a backdrop, not as a primary subject.

Do you like romance and happy endings? If you hate romance and roll your eyes at it and find it gaggy, don't waste your time on my books. Or if you want to shield your kids from romance for some reason, then pick a different author. While I don't consider myself a classic romance writer, I love romance, and I include it in all of my books. My Love in Three Quarter Time is absolutely a romance novel. And I'll let you in on a little secret, Dauntless was originally written as a romance novel and then expanded to bring in a more epic adventure feel. There is a good bit of romance at the heart of everything I write. If you want a book that's dark and depressing and will leave you filled with angst, don't bother with my books. They are full of hope, light, and redemption. I'll be the first to admit, I'm a happy ending girl.

Do you read for plot alone or do you enjoy the more relational and artistic elements of fiction? If you read mostly for plot and tend to skip over lovely descriptions, long conversations, and inner monologues, you might not like my books very much. In fact, you might feel a little lost, because that's where a lot of the good stuff happens. If thoughts of characters, inner journeys, and beautiful language make you tingle, then I am the author for you. If you care as much about what is going on inside a character and appreciate a dash of psychology, philosophy, and deep spirituality, then prepare to be thrilled.

Are you looking for religion or spirituality? When it comes to spiritual threads, I like to go deep. My books will challenge you to experience Christ on a very personal level. They are not just clean books about good morals. They examine hard questions and real life problems, and explore how a very active and present God can make Himself known to you in those places. If you want a squeaky clean, goody-goody book that is G-rated and more sanitized than the Bible itself, please look elsewhere. If you think that God gave us Jesus and the Bible and then left us to our own devices for the next 2000 years, no longer speaking to us or moving in miraculous ways, don't waste your time on my books. Unless of course you are interested in learning and growing and being challenged with new ideas. Then by all means, I welcome you to try them.

Are you willing to read a book geared toward older teen girls and young adult women? My new Valiant Hearts books should appeal to ages 12 through adult, but my goal has always been to write to older teens and younger women. I think you will find that all of my books resonate with that group. And I intend to keep them as my primary audience and focus my books towards their needs and interests. These books are not for elementary kids, and as I've mentioned, they do include romance and some grittier topics. I certainly don't mean to offend anyone, but I'm not going to apologize for tailoring my books to my target audience. And while I'm sure many boys and men could enjoy the Valiant Hearts series, they are more geared toward females.

Do you like heroines who are both strong and feminine? If you are looking for wilting maidens and damsels in distress saved by shining knights who swoop in on their giant horses, look elsewhere. The personalities of these Valiant Hearts heroines will vary from book to book, but some of them are pretty tough, and all of them are courageous and able and willing to rise to whatever challenges they might face. The guys aren't weak--these girls deserve strong men of good character--but the girls are pretty much their equals in every way. The theme of the series is "Be Strong and Courageous," and I stand by that theme. If female empowerment bugs you, if you would rather read about women staying home and quilting and cooking and being demure, you have been fairly warned. On the other hand, if you are looking for women trying to act like men and deny their God-given feminine traits, you won't find them in my books either. I want to show young women that they can be both strong and feminine at the same time.

So that's me and my writing. What do you think? Are we a match made in heaven??? Why or why not?

Beauty for Ashes

Often in interviews I’m asked about the theme of Dauntless. Interviewers probably don’t realize that this is a slightly odd question for a novelist to answer.  Novelists should think about plots and characters. We’re not supposed to focus on themes or messages when writing books. They should arise subtly and organically. It is better to focus on questions than on answers. I admit…for some of my books I did have a theme, or at least a question, in mind from the beginning. 

But for Dauntless, it really did arise naturally from the plot and characters as I wrote the story. Dauntless came to me as the very first prologue scene playing in my mind like a movie. A female Robin Hood type character using her acrobatic, cat-burglar type abilities to rob a passing wagon. And so the story began to unfold. The backdrop, King John’s England in 1216. A sort of historical dystopia with an evil ruler, a corrupt government, and a civil war. Why did Merry become a thief? I decided her father tried to assassinate the king, and so the king tried to decimate everyone in the castle and the surrounding villages, but the children alone escaped, and Merry became their leader.

This book opens against a tragic backdrop. But each of the four main characters face that tragedy in a different way. Merry hardens her heart and does everything in her own strength. Timothy turns to ambition and the letter of the law. Allen presses into God. And our bad guy, well, he lets hatred completely eat away at him. They are all surrounded by the ashes of life. Yet God can turn our ashes into beauty if only we will let him. He can take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it for good. And rest assured, there is plenty of beauty, light, hope, and even laughter in this book.

And so the theme verse became Isaiah 61:3.

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Will Merry learn to soften her heart and allow God and others back in? Will Timothy learn what is truly important in life? Will God alone be enough for Allen? What havoc will our bad guy wreak? Check out Dauntless to find out.

Have you ever faced tragic circumstances in your life? How did you respond? In what ways did God turn your ashes into beauty?

Medieval Acrobats???

Historical research is tough. Even tougher than finding the right information sometimes, is knowing the right questions to ask. For example, in my first medieval novel I assumed they would have cards and coffee. But when I actually thought to check on those issues, I found out my setting was 50 years too early for either of them to have made their way to England. On the coffee issue, I just changed the drink. On the cards issue, I had a crusader bring them back from the Holy Land.

Dauntless has a fun acrobatic twist. I can't tell you how many times I've read about medieval "acrobats" in historical text books. So, I never thought to ask if the word acrobat actually existed at the time. But right before sending out my final version of Dauntless, my daughter's skepticism about the acrobats prompted me to do a little more last minute research. And...I found out the word "acrobat" actually did not exist in English at that time. They would have been called "tumblers" or possibly "aerialists" if they worked off the ground. When used in military training, acrobatics would have been referred to as "agility skills." Mind you, since they spoke Middle English in 1216, I'm fairly lenient with myself on using words from as late as the 1600s when the language stabilized. But "acrobat" wasn't around until the 1800s. 

In my last minute research I also found this cool video of medieval "tumblers." If they claim to be "acrobats," don't you believe them!

Free Dauntless Sample Now Available

With the release of Dauntless less than a month away, I thought for a while I could use Wednesdays for the latest updates. Maybe call it "What's Up Wednesday" or something cheesy like that. LOL. This week's news is that a free sample of Dauntless is now available online.

Free Sample at Baker Publishing

Free Sample at Amazon

In related news, WhiteFire Publishing has just updated my older medieval novel, Dance of the Dandelion, with a slightly more historically accurate version. I'm sure my pedantic history lovers will be pleased ;) While preparing the new version I was struck by how much my writing style has changed over the last five  years. Dandelion is much more of a coming of age saga, but I still love it for its own qualities. Especially for the beautiful cadence which WhiteFire so graciously allowed me to maintain, and the intensive examination of love in all its many facets.

I'll be back next week with more news.

New Improved Dauntless Cover

Last week I started seeing a new version of the Dauntless cover online. The leaves in the foreground are new. A little birdie told me that someone suggested them to take the focus off of a certain part of Merry's anatomy, which the strap of her bow made all too obvious. LOL. Which is good with me, because Merry is supposed to have a petite, compact gymnast type body. Now Gwendolyn in book 2 is a different story...

So here's the new cover. This version was sent to the printer, so it should be the final one.

What do you think? It's undergone a number of changes from the first version, which I loved, except the model didn't look much like my heroine. Now that the picture has been tweaked numerous times, and I've tweaked my descriptions of Merry as well, I'm completely happy with it. I really think it will hit the target market.

The Seed of an Idea

Years ago an editor suggested that I try writing a YA medieval romance series. I was certainly open to the idea, but I didn't have a strong idea. It wasn't until I was in the midst of watching the BBC Robin Hood series with my son that a concept finally sparked to life in my mind. This series features a lot of strong, feisty women. Maid Marian is a thief and defender of the poor in her own right, and the Saracen character, Djaq, in this version is also a woman. Not to mention plenty of tough female bad guys. One day as I was walking and praying specifically about a YA medieval series, this new Robin Hood came to mind, the ideas started flowing, and before long Dauntless was playing like a movie in my mind. Here's a peek at their Maid Marian who helped to inspire my Merry Ellison.

A Female Ninja Warrior?

So this is a new blog, and I am trying to establish a certain feel that will inspire teen girls and young women. A few posts back I mentioned Kacy Catanzaro, a very exceptional and inspirational young lady who was the first ever female to qualify for American Ninja Warrior. After her, two more women qualified in different cities, but only Kacy made it through the city finals.  She has become a viral sensation, and I'm happy to say, I was on the cutting edge of noticing her. My boys and I have been following the Ninja Warrior shows for years, and it is so exciting to see females finally rising to the occasion. Kacy's success has won her a strong fan base among men and women alike.

While I believe that God created males and females differently to represent varying sides of His image, I also firmly believe that he has called both his sons and his daughters to be strong and courageous. That he has given each young woman unique gifts and callings, and that women should feel as free as men to explore and use those gifts, whether they be in more traditional venues as stay at home mothers, teachers, and nurses, or less traditional ones like engineers, soldiers, or politicians.

Kacy's amazing combination of feminity and strength really captures the spirit of the Valiant Heart Series, and as I mentioned before, she would be a perfect candidate to play my tiny, tough, acrobatic Merry Ellison of the first book, Dauntless. Here is the video of her finals run.

Tonight begins the national finals. I do believe one more woman will be there on a wild card draw, but I think you all know who I will be cheering for. Go Kacy!

A Real Life Valiant Heroine

Look at that determination, that focus, not to mention that perfectly toned physique. I was beyond delighted to catch this adorable female competing in American Ninja Warrior the other week. She is a tiny 100 lb gymnast, and as tough as any guy in the competition. Despite her incredible strength and agility, she was perfectly feminine and just about as pretty as you can get. In fact, look at her picture and then the model on the cover of Dauntless in the post below. I felt like I was watching Merry Ellison face the gauntlet.

Even more exciting was the turn out of her run in American Ninja Warrior. She set a record as the first woman ever to successfully finish the qualifying round. Go Kacy! You've found a fan in me for sure.

The Cover is Here!!!

Since this is available now on amazon, I thought I'd share it with you. I absolutely love it. It really captures the book. In an earlier version I felt like the model didn't look enough like the heroine I described, but the art department worked their magic, and the result is awesome :)

 

Pinterest Fun

You can check out my pinterest pages for this series at the following links:

Dauntless http://www.pinterest.com/dinasleiman/dauntless/

Chivalrous http://www.pinterest.com/dinasleiman/chivalrous/