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.
Christine's website link is: http://www.christineschaub.typepad.com/
The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764200607
2 comments:
I read "The Longing Season" and was somewhat disappointed. It was interesting to read about John Newton's life, but the biggest problem I had was..it was boring. I'd always heard how exciting his life was, but "The Longing Season" had me longing for some action. The biggest problem was the romance...or lack of. The central plot of the story is the intense love between John Newton and Mary Catlett, with the possibility of romance between Catlett and Viscount Alexander Todd.
The problem with all that was Schaub did a very poor job establishing the "intense love" between Catlett and Newton. It was all based on a few letters and very brief flashbacks, but a series of detailed flashbacks fleshing out that childhood romance would have made me a believer.
The book isn't without merit. Schaub does a great job with the setting and her dialog is excellent. I learned a few things as well. If Schaub had put as much effort into creating a "real" romance between Catlett and Newton as she did alluding to the possibility of a romance between Catlett and Todd, the story would have been much better.
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