BJ Hoff's GRACE NOTES

Blue Bloods--All about the Family

The Columbus Dispatch recently published an interesting (and very positive) article about the one TV show I'll make an effort to see: Blue Bloods. Have you watched it? It's an exception to almost any other police drama ever televised--and over the years I've watched most of them. (Predictable. Stereotypical, I know--Irish policeman's daughter, etc. I admit to a certain preoccupation for this stuff.) 

But as the Dispatch pointed out, this isn't your typical police procedural/cops & robbers show. Nor is it the usual "Irish cop/gangs, and gutter-mouth" dialogue. As the Dispatch made clear, what anchors Blue Bloods and draws over 13 million viewers to it each week is the FAMILY. Especially the family DINNER. Every episode has the entire family gathered at least once around the (usually Sunday) dinner table, and the issues discussed there almost always make a "point" or include some questions relevant to today's culture. No matter how subtle the relevance may be, it's the kind of discussion worth having.

I love the dinner scene. Perhaps because as a former band mom, I still remember how difficult it was to gather everyone together at the same time for a meal. But it was important to us, and we managed it as often as possible.TV families don't often bother with something so "mundane" as a family dinner. 

A number of other needed ingredients go into making Blue Bloods the quality show it is. It doesn't hurt that every actor has been perfectly cast for his or her part. No mistakes here. I also appreciate the fact that no episode is overloaded with the usual Hollywood sleaze and gore-fest. And you LIKE these people. You actually enjoy spending an hour a week with them. The family, by the way, consists of the police commissioner, a son who's a detective, another son who's a beat cop, and a daughter who's a prosecutor--and their children. Also, the wonderful Len Cariou plays an important role as the grandfather. 

The most appealing aspect of the series, for me, is the way it centers on the family. The last line of the Dispatch article ended with a quote by Donny Wahlberg, who portrays the detective son of the police commissioner (Tom Selleck), a quote that really nails one of the weaknesses of today's TV: "It's the family you don't see on TV anymore ... Everybody's so busy trying to create the most outlandish family on TV, they forgot about the traditional family." 

Well, the "traditional family" is still out here, and grateful we can still tune in to a show like Blue Bloods.

The Gosnell Trial

I hope by now you've heard about what's going on with the Gosnell trial and his chamber of horrors abortion clinic. If you haven't, it's not your fault. You see, today in America the media allows us to know only what they want us to know. And what goes on during the nightmare of after-birth abortion is definitely not on their need-to-know agenda for the average American. However, thanks to an article by Kirsten Powers, a columnist, blogger, pundit, and political commentator, the word has begun to leak out about the unspeakable acts committed by Gosnell and others. Once the article by Powers appeared, other bloggers and journalists began to publish related information--information so horrifying its details are, to say the least, difficult to read. 

I've linked to one of those articles, but I should  warn you that it's not for the squeamish, Let me also add that the information now beginning to surface is information we need to know, no matter how difficult it is to take in. Keep in mind that the Gosnell abortion clinic isn't alone in what Planned Parenthood and the liberal media refuse to label as "murder" or "infanticide." This is an area that, if you learn enough about it, will stun you, and--hopefully--make you cry out for justice. If justice can even be defined for these abominable practices. 

This is more--much more--than a violation of human rights (although it's certainly that) or a sensational crime story. This is raw, unconscionable evil. And for those who possibly have never believed in evil before now, the appalling facts about the practice of after-birth abortion may--no, should--change your mind. 

This is simply one article, but if you genuinely care about this major media cover-up--which is only one of countless other cover-ups--just go to your favorite search engine and type in "after-birth abortion." You'll be amazed at the information availble, though most of it is being withheld by the media. 

I apologize in advance if what you learn troubles you. On the other hand, what we're not learning troubles me. In truth, it even frightens me. We have a media that continually insists on and pushes for their in-your-face "right to know." Why, then, is that same media so reluctant to extend that right-to-know to the rest of us?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/04/10/philadelphia-abortion-clinic-horror-column/2072577/

 

 

Were You There?

Patrick Mead, good friend and one of my favorite writers, has given us much to think about during Easter Week. I expect that this particular piece of writing will stay with me for a long, long time. Read it at his TentPegs blog. 

http://tentpegs.patrickmead.net/?p=1894

 

BJ

 

February: Endings and Beginnings

I won't be sorry to see February end. Even so, I'm choosing to see this ending as a beginning. I've already written (on Facebook) about my husband's most recent major surgery, from which he's still recovering. Yesterday we had to have our one remaining furry family member (Ember-Kitty) put to sleep because of an incurable illness and the distress it was causing her. We "rescued" her eleven years ago, and she was a very special part of our family. Then today the company hosted my husband's "official" retirement party. Another ending--but also, I have to believe, a beginning. It was a heartwarming and an admittedly emotional experience, not only for him, but maybe even more so for me. Being married to a man so much-loved, respected, and admired by so many others, reading and hearing their gratitude for what he's "taught" them, and watching the open display of affection by so many, and even the tears shed at his departure, had me fighting for composure more than once. 

No, I won't be sad to say good-bye to this month, but I'm not going to dwell on the endings that have transpired during it either. I'm simply praying that God will turn those endings to new and welcome beginnings. And I pray He'll do the same for you.

BJ

Why Downton Abbey Works for Me ... When It Shouldn't

So ... I've been watching Downton Abbey (anyone out there who isn't?). I came to it late, but am finally caught up as of last night. Don't worry--no spoilers here. Actually I had already caved and bought the first two series DVDs so we could watch it straight through and avoid any spoilers.

I confess that it's set in one of my least favorite periods for novels or films. I probably wouldn't have gone past the first episode of the first season except for two things: the characterization and the acting. Oh, the plotting is great, too, but plotting alone never holds my interest very long. Too many unexpected twists and turns actually annoy me. But I haven't found one character in this who isn't "memorable"--and the acting so far is stunning. It seems to me that whoever cast this crew must be a genius. Each actor perfectly fits the role. You simply forget you're watching a group of actors, and given that they're living their lives in the Edwardian and post-Edwardian age, that's quite a coup!

BJ

What a Character!

As a reader, have you ever come upon a fictional character who makes you a little crazy? Maybe he (she) is unpredictable and, at least early in the book, a bit insufferable. Hot-tempered, yet gentle with animals.  A tendency toward arrogance, but likable all the same. A character you can't quite figure out but also can't put out of your mind. A mystery, a puzzle, a challenge. 

Did you know that writers sometimes encounter this sort of frustration with a character in their own stories--a character they created? True for me, in any event. For example, in my Riverhaven Years series, Jeremiah Gant (the kind of character I refer to as the "anchor" of a story) throughout the entire trilogy kept me scratching my head on a regular basis. A riverboat captain turned carpenter. A loner turned lover. A seeker who settled. Each time I thought I'd nailed him, he'd show up with a new personality trait as if to say "Oh, yeah? Well, watch this." At times he displayed many of the dual character traits I listed above--and then some. Yet he was great fun to work with!

I think in every one of my stories there's a character--sometimes more than one--who tries to keep me guessing ... and usually succeeds, at least for a part of the story. Stranger still, I've come to realize that, even though these are the story people who tax my patience the most and continually challenge me to keep up with them, they're also the ones I most enjoy working with. 

Jonathan Stuart of my Mountain Song Legacy kept me on my toes because at the begining of the series he was physically weak and ill, but he was a rock in terms of his faith and spiritual depth. He often presented me with a difficult personality to balance. I had to constantly be on guard to prevent him from taking on an aura of "saintliness" or "martyrdom."

Morgan Fitzgerald of my Emerald Ballad series at times could be a terror to work with. A vagabond, a poet, a statesman, and a rascal, there were times I just wanted to shake some sense into him, but it would have been a losing battle.

Probably the character who provided me with the greatest struggle, however (and at the same time possibly the most enjoyment), was Jack Kane, the Irish newspaper magnate of my Song of Erin duet. He's too complicated to define, but if you've read the books he dominated, you no doubt understand why I'd put him at the top of the list!  

So when you're reading one of my novels, be assured that at some point in the story, both reader and writer are probably thinking, "Now why did he do that?" At the same time I try not to wonder what my editor (Nick Harrison) thinks about these ... "diverse" ...  characters who periodically invade his life.

BJ

 

A New Year's Eve Prayer

Lord, save us from stumbling over the rubble and debris of the past . . . Set us on a new road with a new hope for the future.

("For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11)

Readers: Here's a Gift for YOU, at a Great Price

Have you finished your shopping, or are you still looking for a last-minute gift? Something for an avid reader, maybe? Just found out that Harvest House Publishers is offering the e-Reader version of one of my most popular novels at a fantastic price:

*Song of the Silent Harp,* Book 1 of my Emerald Ballad series, can be downloaded starting tomorrow, Dec.22 through Jan.2, 2013, for only $2.99 at Amazon.com, B&N Nook, Apple, Sony Reader, etc. 

Song of the Silent Harp begins the five-book saga of three friends raised in a tiny Irish village devastated by the Potato Famine of the mid-1800s, as they struggle to survive and hold onto their faith during Ireland’s darkest days. The story of a friendship, a faith, and a love that crossed the ocean--the saga of many of our own ancestors who fled their homeland and helped to build America. This is Book One in the series that first brought the story of the Irish immigration to the CBA marketplace.

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“A riveting story, with realistic Irish characters and lots of hardships make this a fascinating historical read.”
—CBA Retailers + Resources

“The struggle to survive, against impossible odds, will touch your heart. After reading The Song of the Silent Harp you will be forever changed.”
—TheReadersCove.blogspot.com