A Life in Pages

Typewriters are in again . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:00:00 +0000

So all of a sudden I notice I'm surrounded by typewriters.

I first noticed it when one of my favorite flash sites, www.onekingslane.com, featured beautiful restored manual typewriters by kasbahmod.com. I yearned to get one, but they were gone in a flash and apparently that's the only way kasbah mod sells them.

Then I heard Glen Beck say that he'd recently bought a typewriter because he was paranoid about big brother Google watching everything we write on the Internet. Hmm. Maybe he has a point.

Then I noticed all the vintage typewriters on eBay.com. Suddenly typewriters were cool again, and they were everywhere.

So I thought about getting one, but I really don't have anywhere to put it. Then I found programs that can make your computer sound like a typewriter, BUT, best of all, I found instructions on how to make your Mac sound like a typewriter with the stuff that's already built in (sorry, PC folks). If you want to feel like you're in college again (if you went to college before laptops), just do this:

Make your Mac Sound Like a Typewriter
1. Open the System Preferences window

2. Click on Universal Access.

3. Click the Keyboard button on the top.

4. Turn on "Slow Keys"

5. Check the box next to Use Click Key Sounds

6. Move the Acceptance Delay slider all the way to the right for "Short".

That's all you have to do. All you'll be missing is the "ding" when you hit the end of a line--and you know, I really miss that ding.

I've been writing with typewriter sounds for two days now, and when I'm really cooking, it sounds like a machine gun going off in my office. My hubby just laughs at me, but it makes me feel so doggone PRODUCTIVE!

So--there's your fun tip for the day. Enjoy!

Clacking away,

Angie

Japan says "thank you" for tsunami relief

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:52:00 +0000

This made me cry. I hope you are moved as well.

~~Angie

My friend Robin Lee Hatcher has a new book out!

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:00:00 +0000

HEART OF GOLD

by Robin Lee Hatcher

The truest treasure is found deep in the heart.

Back in her beloved Virginia, Shannon Adair loved nursing injured soldiers back to health. But in Grand Coeur, Idaho-the rough-and-tumble place where her father has been called to lead the church-she's not sure where she fits in. Then a critically ill woman arrives, and Shannon knows her place at last: to care for this dear woman and ease her pain.

Matthew Dubois is the fastest and most reliable stagecoach driver on Wells Fargo's payroll. But his widowed sister is dying and he's about to inherit his young nephew. So he takes a job at the Wells Fargo express office in Grand Coeur until he can find the one thing he needs to get back to driving: a wife to care for the boy.

What neither of them knows is that God is at work behind the scenes-and is lovingly bringing them together to discover the true desires of their hearts.

************************************

About the Author:

Best-selling novelist Robin Lee Hatcher is known for her heartwarming and emotionally charged stories of faith, courage, and love. She discovered her vocation after many years of reading everything she could put her hands on, including the backs of cereal boxes and ketchup bottles. The winner of the Idahope Writer of the Year, the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction, two RITA Awards for Best Inspirational Romance, two RT Career Achievement Awards (Americana Romance and Inspirational Fiction), and the RWA Lifetime Achievement Award, Robin is the author of 65 novels and novellas. Her historical romance Catching Katie was named one of the Best Books of 2004 by the Library Journal.

Robin enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies. She is passionate about the theater, and several nights every summer, she can be found at the outdoor amphitheater of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, enjoying plays under the stars. Her main hobby (when time allows) is knitting, and she has a special love for making prayer shawls. Robin and her husband make their home on the outskirts of Boise, sharing it with Poppet, the high-maintenance Papillon, and Princess Pinky, the DC (demon cat).

**********************************

A Note from Robin:

Please join me on Thursday, February 9, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. (Mountain Standard Time) for an online party to celebrate the release of Heart of Gold, a Women of Faith™ novel!

We will be gathering on my Facebook page under the Notes section to get to know each other better (look for the link in the left sidebar of my wall, click it, then click the link to the party which will be the top Note listed). I will be sharing behind the scenes stories and a favorite recipe. If you have a recipe to share, please have it ready! (For a better understanding of how the party works and a list of all the prizes, please read the information on the Event page .)

I’ll also be hosting drawings for autographed copies of the book and other prizes with ties to Idaho and the story. We’ll have a party game with a grand prize of a Kindle Touch loaded with my two Women of Faith™ novels, The Perfect Life and Heart of Gold! I'll also be announcing an exciting new contest during the evening.

Please share this information with your friends. The more who come to the party the merrier!

I’m looking forward to mingling online with all of you! Please be sure to calculate the correct time zone for you. If you need help, use: www.timezoneconverter.com

In the grip of His grace,

Robin

This made me laugh out loud . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I can identify with his frustration! But oh, if only I didn't find it so EASY to get to the cookies! I'd be a lot thinner. :-)

Angie

Happy Groundhog Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:00:00 +0000

In honor of the groundhog--and the warm weather most of the country is enjoying--I've made several more of my Kindle books FREE for the ordering: Roanoke, The Case of the Mystery Mark (for kids), and BEAUTY FROM THE INSIDE OUT. You might even find more--just search for "Angela Hunt" in Amazon's Kindle store and see what comes up. :-) (Honestly, I can't remember which ones are the freebies.)

Happy Groundhog Day!

~~Angie

Free Kindle Book

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:37:00 +0000

I think my little grand baby is beautiful inside and out! :-)

The Kindle Edition of BEAUTY FROM THE INSIDE OUT is free for the next several days. It's written for teenage girls and women, so get your copy while you can get it free! :-)

Enjoy!

~~Angie

Why Do Men Spit?

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:36:00 +0000

I’m writing this from an “eating bar” at gate A22, Dallas/Ft. Worth airport. Because I have a three hour layover, I sat down with my KFC popcorn chicken, an almond pretzel, and a diet Pepsi (airports are like carnivals to me—the diet flies right out the window and I eat everything I never eat at home)—and two men sat down on the other side of the eating bar, one to my left and one to my right.

Not wanting to be rude, I averted my eyes from their food and glanced to my far right, where a man was spitting into a garbage can. Yes, spitting. All I could think of was the poor person who had to empty that trash can. Yuck. I looked away quickly, having a personal aversion to spit and spittoon jokes, and then I couldn't help but wonder—why do men spit all the time?

My father used to spit—he’d make this unique and gigantic sound that must have alerted all the other men within miles that he was about to launch a champion loogie, and then he’d crank down his car window and let it fly. In the back seat behind him, I’d duck from sheer reflex.

I remember thinking it was too bad when Dad finally got a car with power windows. Somehow that smooth gliding glass didn’t have the same anticipatory effect that his muscular cranking of the window did.

And when you speak of spitting, how can you help but think of baseball? I know it’s tradition because baseball players used to chew tobacco and spit out the, er, juice, but since tobacco in any form can cause cancer, most of the players have now switched to pistachio nuts (which have shells which require spitting) or bubble gum, but why anyone would want to spit out that juicy sugariness, I cannot imagine.

Anyway, I was sitting in the airport (still am, actually) meditating upon the male spitting ritual, so with no warning whatsoever fear I asked the two men across from me: “Why do men spit?”

Each of them looked at me with actual fear in their eyes. What, don’t strange women ever speak to them in the airport, or were they terrified because I had broken through the personal space bubble that’s supposed to protect people from nearby strangers?

The man to my left ignored me completely, quietly turning his body and moving his food out of cootie range. The man to my right was more good natured, and quickly responded: “Habit,” he said. A moment later he amended his answer: “Habit and Copenhagen.”

I nodded—that I understood. I mentioned something about my dad’s spitting, and the baseball players and their pistachio shells, but he didn’t say another word. He just looked away and kept munching on his McDonalds burger and fries.

As for me, in this situation, at least, I am happy to remain united with the league of Women Who Do Not Spit. Like them, when I feel something in my throat, I do not feel the urge to examine it, study it, measure it, or see how far I can fling it into public space. If it’s the result of a cough, I quietly swallow. If it’s part of the bay leaf I purposely put into the stew, I lift my napkin and gently deposit it among those pristine folds.

But I do not spit. And since I am now eating alone at this bar at Gate A22 at DFW, maybe I should refrain from bringing up the subject.

~~Angie

The Parable of the Orchid

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:21:00 +0000

The orchid in 2009.

Every year about this time I usually post a picture of my cattleya orchid and talk about a life lesson I learned from it: in short, I planted this thing when it was a baby and watered it faithfully for FIVE years. I had begun to think it would never do anything but sit there and taunt me, but one day it bloomed--a rather bug-eaten bloom, but a bloom nonetheless. The next year it produced two or three blossoms, and the next year it produced so many flowers I couldn't count them. Everyone who came to the house marveled at the thing; it was truly a showpiece. Lesson Learned: patience pays off.

But this year . . . nada. Not a single bloom, not even a sheaf containing a bloom.

New plant #1.

And it wasn't hard to see the problem.

My orchid had simply outgrown its (huge) pot. So I waited for a nice weather day, found another good-sized pot, and thought I would divide the massive plant in two.

Ha. The plant's roots were tightly intertwined, and cutting/hacking through them was no easy feat. And the plant didn't WANT to be divided in two, it wanted to be divided in fourths. So I ended up with four large orchid plants, all of which are adjusting to their new homes.

New plant #2.

And it struck me that this orchid is still teaching me lessons. Sometimes we outgrow a situation in which we've been happy and fruitful. I don't think this applies to marriages (or it shouldn't), but it certainly could apply to avenues of ministry, to occupations, and even to life itself. Because one day we will all have used up our allotted number of days, and we will be ready to be transplanted to a new home.

So no pictures of orchid blooms this year. Just pictures of new starts, each of them hoping to bear fruit in a new place.

In the doctrine of God's sovereignty, I know that everything that happens in my life is part of his plan for me. He will be with me, he will support me through it, everything is part of the grand adventure he has laid out for my life. So if being "transplanted" means attempting new things in a new place, I'm up for it. And I'll trust him to ease me through the transition phase of adjusting to new surroundings.

Have you been transplanted recently? How was your adjustment? How did God prove himself faithful?

New plant #3.

New plant #4.

~~Angie

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 14:15:00 +0000

I hope you had a safe and happy New Year's Eve--we had friends over for dinner, played a few games of Rummicube, and were safely tucked in bed before midnight. :-) Ah. My idea of a perfect evening.

And I hope you will have a safe and blessed New Year, full of challenges and surprises, learning and living.

To start you off, I'm offering a Kindle-ful of free books, free only until midnight tonight! Here's your chance to snag AFTON OF MARGATE CASTLE, ROANOKE, LOVING SOMEONE ELSE'S CHILD, MY LIFE AS A MIDDLE SCHOOL MOM, and THE CASE OF THE MYSTERY MARK (for kids) free! Happy reading!

~~Angie

Maybe it was made in China . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 11:30:00 +0000

Family theme for Queen's speech - Home - ITN.co.uk

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:11:00 +0000

Family theme for Queen's speech - Home - ITN.co.uk

A big thank you to Leslie Sowell for sharing this link with me--I've always loved Elizabeth II, and I think you'll enjoy this message, too.

A happy Christmas to all.

~~Angie

Dogs Saying Grace

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:43:00 +0000

In keeping with the spirit of Christmas, it's nice to see that some dogs know how to pray before their Christmas (and anytime) dinners:

A blessed Christmas to you!

~~Angie

Birthday surprise!

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:43:00 +0000

It's Angela Hunt's birthday, but you get the presents! Afton of Margate Castle, Roanoke, Then Comes Marrisge, and The Case of the Mystery Mark all FREE on Kindle today!

The Duggar's 20th baby

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:24:00 +0000

I don't routinely follow the show "Nineteen Kids and Counting", but I was shocked and touched by recent photos released by the family after the mother, Michelle, miscarried their twentieth child in her second trimester.

I was touched because the photos show how beautiful and perfect the hands and feet of Jubilee Shalom Duggar were. The family contacted "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep," an organization I have endorsed in one of my books, in order to have a permanent memento of their 20th child. These photos are beautiful, loving, and clearly show how human this tiny child was.

What shocked me was that TMZ called these pictures "photos of the fetal corpse" and even included a disclaimer of their site, saying that these photos might offend viewers. Excuse me? What kind of offense could these little feet cause?

Except . . . it truly might shock and educate those who believe that an unborn baby is a featureless fetus, a creature less than human simply because it has never breathed outside its mother's body. TMZ treated this entire story of the Duggar's action as something macabre and horrible, and I, for one, think their reaction is what's macabre and horrible.

Human life is fully human at conception. There is nothing horrible or shameful about a baby in the womb, even a baby that does not survive in the womb . . . unless that baby is forcibly pulled from the womb with a vacuum machine, a scalpel, or pair of scissors, or a salty solution that burns the baby's skin from its body.

THAT's horrible. That's macabre. And I'm ashamed and shocked to realize that many in our nation have confused these two realities.

~~Angie

Living Adventurously

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:30:00 +0000

In 2006 I wrote the following as one of my columns for the Tampa Tribune and thought I'd share it here, too:

When a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes along, an adventurous woman grabs it. In April 2001, my 275-pound dog was invited to appear on Live with Regis and Kelly. My husband said it was a crazy idea, but we cleared our calendars and flew to Manhattan to bask in our mastiff’s fifteen minutes of fame.

Last week, another unusual offer presented itself: would I like to attend the national premier of The Nativity Story in Hollywood? You bet. I cleared my calendar and spent a few days agonizing over what to wear, then jetted off to Los Angeles to mingle with the glitterati gathered at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Why me? I’d like to think it’s because I’m an adventurous woman, but the real reason lies in my work. I’m a novelist by profession, and last May my publisher offered me a rush project. They had partnered with New Line Cinema to produce books based on The Nativity Story film: a gift book, a book for the advent season, and a novel. My job, if I chose to accept it, would be to turn the film’s screenplay into a novel over the next sixty days.

I leapt at the chance. I love historical fiction, and I had recently written a novel about Mary Magdalene, so first-century research was still rattling around in my brain. And who wouldn’t love to tell the story of what is arguably the greatest miracle of all time?

So in early June I settled down with my reference books and Mike Rich’s excellent screenplay. I was wary at first—Hollywood has made biblical movies before, and sometimes the finished product bears little resemblance to the historical record of Scripture. But Rich’s screenplay was right on the mark—except for a slight tightening of the probable timeline, his script was historically and biblically accurate.

For the next few weeks I slipped into the minds of Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Zechariah. I studied expert works on first-century culture and tried to fill in the missing details of the accounts we read in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. While I wrote in my office, the cast and crew filmed the movie in exotic foreign locations like Italy and Morocco.

After meeting my deadline, I moved on to another project. I tried not to think about the upcoming movie, and when someone suggested that I might be invited to the premier, I laughed and said I wasn’t counting on it.

My novelization of The Nativity Story released in early November, and the film’s world premier took place at the Vatican on November 26th. More than seven thousand people saw the movie, and I’ve heard that the audience burst into spontaneous applause at the moment of the baby’s birth.

Two days later, I attended the film’s national premier in Hollywood. With representatives from my publisher, I walked over the red carpet outside the theater, then we made our way to our seats. I watched, amused and amazed, as Hollywood gathered to watch a reenactment of an amazing story.

For years, my slogan as a writer has been “expect the unexpected.” The Nativity Story fulfills that slogan beautifully, but not by human design. In the story of Mary, Joseph, Zechariah, and Elizabeth, God demonstrates that he delights in doing what he promised, but in surprising ways.
With the words of the prophets firmly in mind, the people of Isra’el were expecting a messiah from David’s lineage, a leader who would vanquish their enemies and secure the peace. They waited for a brilliant, charismatic warrior-king who would cleanse the land of the Roman occupiers and establish his throne on Mt. Zion.

What did they receive? A baby, born among livestock and nestled in a feeding trough. A child safeguarded by an adoptive father from David’s lineage, but far removed from kingly wealth and power. An infant born to a teenaged girl rumored to be pregnant before her betrothed husband took her home to be his wife.

The people of Isra’el were expecting a conqueror—they received a child who grew to maturity and died at the hands of Roman executioners. The world longed for a prince of peace and received a Jewish rabbi whose revolutionary precepts have, as he predicted, divided fathers and sons, mothers and daughters. But for those who regard the manger with eyes of faith, the child of Christmas is everything the world expected and more.

Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and the magi—since I have spent a little time in their minds and hearts, they will never again be icons for me. They are the most adventurous people I’ve ever known.

~~Angie

BOM: The Results/Reader reaction

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:30:00 +0000

I signed Nativity Story books after services at my church last weekend. A young woman who'd already read the novel came up and asked me to sign her well-worn copy. With tears in her eyes, she thanked me for the story . . . and said that though she'd been a Christian for years, she had come to see Jesus in a new light and Christmas would never be the same for her again.

I told her I felt exactly the same way.

I had a great interview with Cindy Swanson about this book. She wrote about The Nativity Story at her wonderful blog, which you can read here.

From Publishers Weekly

It's a difficult task to retell the biblical nativity story in a fresh way—after all, it has been novelized, brought to stage and screen, and is the stuff of endless children's Christmas pageants. Yet this companion novel to the New Line Cinema feature film (which will hit theaters December 1) should find a place on the bookshelf as a fresh and viable retelling. Hunt, the author of more than 70 books and working from Mike Rich's screenplay, refrains from oversanitizing the story, although Mary and Joseph are fairly one-dimensional (there aren't a lot of character flaws here). She depicts their gritty, hardscrabble existence as balanced by the love of family.

As a thoughtful reader would expect, the census trip to Bethlehem is no picnic, but some readers may be surprised that the shepherds and wise men show up at the stable together, unlike in the gospel account. The good-natured joshing among the three wise men provides a lighter note to the chapters where Herod's cruelty is well portrayed. Hunt balances the necessary violence with a sensitivity that will expand her readership. Her rich prose and cultural details utilize the five senses to recreate the familiar story, which spans many points of view and includes a fine subplot about Elizabeth, Zechariah and John. (Nov.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

At this writing, I haven't heard a lot of reader reaction--there are only a couple of reviews on Amazon.com, and they're favorable. But I have been AMAZED at what I've been reading on some blogs about the movie--long debates about whether or not Mary should have experienced birth pangs, people arguing passionately about whether or not the wise men showed up with the shepherds, and whether or not it's even proper to depict a scriptural event in film or fictionalized account.

Shaking of the head here. God often uses story to suit his purposes, and doesn't logic dictate that one must imagine what one cannot ascertain? In my books, I take great care not to contradict what we know to be true (either through Scripture or trustworthy historical records). The rest I fill in as best I can by using common sense and artistic license, in that order.

Of course no one knows that there were exactly three magi; Scripture doesn't count them. But it's logical to assume there were three because they offered three gifts.

Because I anticipated a certain amount of controversy about some elements of the story, I included a Q&;A section at the end of the book to address these issues. My take on the story rises from my "sola Scriptura" background--I do not believe Mary was divine, or a permanent virgin, or sinless, for she said that God would be her savior (Luke 1:47) --why would she need a savior if she had never sinned? I do believe she suffered labor pains, for she was like all the rest of us, even though the child conceived within her womb was the sinless son of God.

That's part of the miracle of the incarnation.

The novel, I should point out, is not a polemic for my point of view. It's a scriptural retelling of the story, pure and simple.

One day in heaven, we can ask our questions and find out whether Jesus had half-siblings or step-siblings or whether or not Mary felt the pangs of labor. Until then, let's endeavor to keep the spirit of unity in the bond of peace.

Tomorrow: Questions and Answers. Leave your question in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them!

~~Angie

BOM: The Editing

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:30:00 +0000

Photo: my book club in 2006, marveling over the fact that I baked . . . a Christmas miracle!

The editing of The Nativity Story was practically painless. My editor said I submitted clean copy (I try my best), and she had only a few queries--in fact, I received the edited manuscript with her queries while I was teaching at a conference, and I think it only took me about an hour to go through them.

In fact, when I handed the manuscript in, I told my editor I felt guilty--I should have suffered more (I usually do). But I was given a great screenplay to work from, the research was a joy (and, in God's sovereign plan, I knew just where to look for what I needed to know--God bless Alfred Edersheim), and the project was a pleasure.

Best of all, the folks at New Line okayed the manuscript without a single change.

Tomorrow: Results and reader reaction. And if you have any questions, be sure to ask them!

~~Angie

BOM: The Writing

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 11:30:00 +0000

The Nativity Story is showing in schools in Virginia . . . very cool.

When the movie came out, my neighborhood book club went to see it together--and I enjoyed the film even more the second time! Maybe I was more relaxed, or maybe this time I wasn't as intent on noticing the differences between book and film. In any case, I highly recommend it. Don't wait--get out to see it at your first available opportunity! Here's a link to a review of the film by CT.

The writing--not much to say here, except that "the writing" went hand-in-hand with "the research" because whenever I came to a new scene in the screenplay, I checked the historical details with my reference books.

In writing the novel, I wanted to honor the structure of the screenplay, and I wanted to stick to the dialogue as much as possible. I didn't want the novel to read like a completely different critter. It is a novelization of a screenplay, so I wanted to respect Mike's excellent work--he had some great lines of dialogue, and they're in the book. But because the screenplay kept evolving (they were filming as I was writing), I also felt free to let the characters speak for themselves. Characters have a way of coming to life, you know, and sometimes they just kept talking.

A screenplay is action and dialogue. A novel is description, scenery, exposition, dialogue, and interior monologue. The advantage of a novel is that the reader and writer can really get into a character's head, so I did. I did constrain myself, however, and didn't let myself get sidetracked or take off in a completely different direction. No new subplots, no additional characters. And the only scenes I added were necessary, I felt, either to flesh out the history or the background of the action in the screenplay. I added scenes of Mary and Joseph dedicating Jesus in the Temple because I felt it was important to the timeline and because I wasn't under the same time crunch the filmmakers faced. Plus, it was historical, and THE reason Mary and Joseph remained in Bethlehem for some time--until the angel told them to flee to Egypt.

This is the only novel-from-screenplay that I've published, and I knew that the final work would have to be approved by the people at New Line Cinema. I knew my job was to respect the screenplay and the film while bringing the story to life in the form of a novel.

When I saw the movie, I noticed that some new dialogue cropped up as they filmed . . . and some scenes that were in the screenplay didn't make it into the movie. I know that's nothing unusual, and I'm glad that I wasn't bound to a time frame or word count in which to tell this incredible story. I admire screenwriters, but I love being a novelist.

Tomorrow: the editing.

~~Angie

Supplemental Edition!

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 11:30:00 +0000

I was delighted when Tyndale invited me to the Hollywood premier of The Nativity Story. That's me walking by the huge movie poster and--who else?--Gary Busey! The red carpet and the Tyndale men.

Visit this link to see a really beautiful music video from The Nativity Story.

I hope your Christmas season is off to a delightful start!

~~Angie

BOM: How the Idea Germinated

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 11:30:00 +0000

This one's easy--the idea didn't germinate. Not in the usual sense, anyway.

A year ago, screenwriter Mike Rich noticed that both Time and Newsweek had feature cover stories on the nativity of Christ. He wrote a screenplay, it was snapped up, and plans were made to produce a movie . . . in just under a year.

In late May 2006, an editor at Tyndale House called to see if I'd be interested in writing a novel based on Rich's screenplay. The catch? It'd be a fast job with a July 31 deadline, because the book would need to release at about the same time the movie opened.

I jumped at the opportunity for several reasons. First, I'm a speedy writer and the story was already plotted. I knew I'd have a screenplay to work from as well as Scripture. Second, I'd just finished Magdalene a few months before, so my first century research was still fresh in my mind. Third, who wouldn't want to explore one of the greatest miracles of all?

I had a few hesitations: if the screenplay followed the pattern of some Hollywood films, it might not be true to scripture. Second, I'd have to please New Line Cinema as well as my editors. Third, it would be a tight deadline, and I'd have to fit this into my calendar.

After praying about it, I felt led to go forward, so I told my editor I'd be willing to start in June--right after I got back from my Alaskan cruise. :-) I hadn't had a bona fide vacation in years, so I was determined to take one.

Before I left for Alaska, however, I went through the first version of the script to see if there were any "red flag" issues. I saw a couple of minor things that didn't seem historically believable, but felt I could work around them . By the time I saw a second version of the script, however, those things had disappeared. The filmmakers were definitely on the right track, so I signed on for the project.

Tomorrow: the research

~~Angie

Book of the Month: The Nativity Story

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:30:00 +0000

From the back cover:

In the simple town of Nazareth, an angelic messenger appears before a teenage girl . . . who finds the courage to believe.

In The Nativity Story, developed from the screenplay by Mike Rich, Angela Hunt fleshes out the characters and histories of the people who lived through the miracles and mysteries surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ. This well-researched story is based on the scriptural account. Journey back through time as you relieve that the characters experienced and celebrate the wonder of Immanuel, God with us.

The movie opens today, so see the film, read the novel, and you'll find there are many differences!

~~Angie

The Nativity Story

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 11:30:00 +0000

As we prepare to move into November and December, I thought I would resurrect a previously-published blog series on THE NATIVITY STORY. You may remember that this movie opened in 2006, but the movie and my novelization of the film are both still available. (The movie is on DVD, of course.)

You may recall that in May 2006 I got a call last May from Tyndale House--the film was being produced by New Line Cinema, and Tyndale wanted to know if I would take the screen play and write a novel from it. A rush job, but I'd just written MAGDALENE, and all my first-century research was still in my head. So I jumped at the opportunity, I loved the script, and wrote the novelization in a matter of weeks. Not such a tough gig--the story was already plotted. (VBG).

Anyway, enjoy this week of videos. And make plans now to watch THE NATIVITY STORY with your family and friends. What a wonderful way to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas!

~~Angie

You Deserve It . . . . Really?

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:07:00 +0000

Lately I've been cringing a lot at TV commercials. First, at the commercials where the wife is portrayed as a genius while the husband is a bumbling idiot (AT&T comes to mind, plus that one where the husband and son are trying to create socks that won't fall down), but lately I've been cringing most at the commercials that assure me that I "deserve" something or other.

I first noticed it in those tacky attorney ads: "Been in an auto accident? You deserve to be compensated for your injuries, so call us today."

I deserve compensation? No wonder our nation has an entitlement culture. How much compensation do I deserve? Enough to pay for my medical bills, or should I swallow this line: "You deserve to be compensated for your pain and suffering."

Hmmm. Who's going to pay me what I "deserve" as a result of suffering through those insufferable commercials?

But the "deserve" line has bled over into other commercials, too. I deserve the best skin care. I deserve the best hair dye. I deserve the finest foods and best hotels (whether or not I can afford them). I deserve, I deserve, I deserve.

And this, right after Thanksgiving? Truth to tell, I'm not grateful for anything I "deserve" because, after all, what I "deserve" is simply my due.

But give me what I don't deserve . . . and then you'll see real gratitude.

I have news for America: we don't deserve anything. We don't deserve the many blessings we enjoy, but we enjoy them anyway. I didn't wire the electrical circuits in my house, I don't purify my water, I don't build the furniture I sit on. I could do nothing if others had not worked at their professions to make a living, and I'm happy to support them by buying their products.

But do I "deserve" those products? No.

My mindset has undoubtedly been colored by the fact that the Greatest Giver of all time gave me mercy and a Savior when I was completely and totally undeserving. My gratitude for that act bleeds over into the other areas of my life.

But listen carefully, and you'll see how we are being told how much we "deserve" in this country. Unless we realize how false that is, we may never dig ourselves out of the ungrateful morass our country finds itself in.

Thanks for letting me sound off.

Stepping off soapbox,

Angie

Checking in . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 02:25:00 +0000

The halls are decked. Already. :-)

I know it's been a while, but I've been caught up in baking (check out the baking blog and the latest macarons!), doing edits for FIVE MILES SOUTH OF PECULIAR, trying to work on my dissertation, and decorating the house for Christmas.

Yes, you read that right. The inside of my house is now officially decorated with garland and red bows, and the Christmas tree stands guard in the living room. I don't usually decorate this soon, but the days ahead are full and my daughter and the Grand Baby are coming to visit around the first of December. So I wanted to have Christmas, and if that means decorating on November 21, well, so be it. :-)

We will wait to do the outside of the house until AFTER Thanksgiving. :-)

For our family Thanksgiving, hubby and I always jump in the car with a few dishes and drive a couple of hours to this little town called Lake Hamilton--trust me, it's small. But they have a lovely old woman's club, and my family rents the women's club so all the aunts and cousins and friends can eat a meal together. We catch up and eat too much, then we play Dirty Santa--a tricky gift exchange, if you've never played it. Then we take pictures, clean up the dishes, and head home until the next year. It's a simple tradition, but I'm grateful for it. Without it, I'd hardly ever get a chance to see many in my extended family.

What are your Thanksgiving traditions? Do you travel or stay home? Do you have a favorite dish that simply must be on the table? Have you ever had Thanksgiving alone? I have, and it's not much fun. So if you know someone in that situation, invite 'em over and pull up an extra chair. You'll be glad you did.

~~Angie

Yes, Women Can Talk

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:00:00 +0000

It's a scientific fact that women talk more than men. After watching this video, you'll think they come out of the womb talking. :-) Too cute! Thanks to Clyde for passing this one along!

(That poor flummoxed father cracks me up!)

~~Angie