I blame my fiction addiction on Nancy Drew.

My mother (bless her heart) taught me to read well before I started school. I was reading devouring Nancy Drew novels one right after the other by the time I was in first grade.

We were supposed to wear our Halloween costumes to school, but somehow I missed the memo. (I've been missing memos ever since, BTW.) Mrs. Sloss, my elderly first-grade teacher, took pity on my poor, un-costumed self, and asked me what character I wanted to be. I think I shocked her when I said "Nancy Drew."

Mrs. Sloss taped a roll of masking tape to a pen to create a magnifying glass. That was my costume for the annual elementary school Halloween costume parade. No one knew who I was. Surprise.

While that is not necessarily a pleasant childhood memory, Nancy Drew and her adventures are. I clearly recall visits to the local bookstore, asking if the most recent Nancy Drew novel had arrived. Some things haven't changed... nowadays I find myself perusing the new releases at the local library.

It wasn't enough for me to read the Nancy Drew mysteries. I needed to act them out. I enlisted my best friends, Geri and Deanah, as George and Bess, and we set out to solve Nancy-style mysteries on the playground of Bolitho Elementary. At home, I snatched drinking glasses away from my parents' hands to dust for fingerprints (long before they were finished with their beverages).


At one memorable point, I convinced my mother that my best friend (Geri) and I would be perfectly fine with being tied up and gagged in the cellar of our house. God bless Geri. She endured far more than any best friend should have had to endure. We managed to loose our bonds, of course, and escape. To this day, my mother is traumatized by the fact she tied us up in her basement, at my insistence. (It's all right Mom, we turned out OK.)

What was it I loved about Nancy Drew? Was it the plot? The characters? The suspense? Or was it simply the familiarity of each and every story, knowing Nancy would emerge victorious, no matter how threatening the villain or how desperate the scenario? 

What stories marked your childhood?

For more "N" posts in the A2Z take 2 meme, click here..

I just wasn't inspired yesterday. Nothing. Nada.
I even tried to put something together.

Sometimes (all the time) I forget that my creativity, like my willpower (see this excellent series of posts from "The Art of Manliness about willpower) is finite. If I write a couple thousand words worth of local newspaper articles, plus a blog post, my creativity is pretty tapped out unless I make a conscious effort to recharge.

Fiction writing is different than blogging and journalism. When working on a fiction project, it's easy to get lost in the story and (excuse the cliche) go with the flow. When writing newspaper articles, you're locked in to interview quotes and facts you need to be able to back up. Creative writing skills are exercised in the form of segues, intros and conclusions to keep the reader's interest. If your article is about something as enticing as a board meeting, it can create a creative vacuum, a sort of verbal "black hole."
Blog posts are even more challenging, because they have a tendency to be a sort of "upchuck" of whatever is in your brain at the moment. Ew. Sorry for the visual.

That's why themes and memes are helpful (especially ones you didn't come up with yourself ... God bless Patty Wysong). Like the writing prompts you remember from high school English composition, themes and memes give you a place to put pencil to paper, or fingers to keyboard – a starting place for the race to "the end."

And so ... it's Tuesday night. I was "supposed" to post yesterday morning. At least Wednesday is already scheduled.
*sigh* 

When I was little, I did battle with the elementary school librarian to be permitted to read the books reserved for the upper elementary school students. I had to read the first page of "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" out loud to her. (That was the particular book I wanted to read at the time.)
When I succeeded, she sighed heavily and released me from the Dick and Jane, See Spot Run shelves to the "big kid" books. I never looked back, always reading ahead of my age group. I bypassed Sweet Valley High for M.M. Kaye and Jude Devereaux before I was out of junior high.

We've met the Alpha males and Beta boys. And we've loved them in spite of their faults and weaknesses. Sometimes we've loved them to our own detriment: The woman whose Alpha male is an abuser, or the Beta boy who wants a momma more than a partner in life.

Most of us love heroes who display both Alpha and Beta qualities... we like 'em rich and powerful, and sensitive and considerate at the same time. No wonder romance is the top-selling fiction genre. Where else can you find the perfect man?

All kidding aside, I believe what we're seeking is not a random compilation of an Alpha and a Beta. I believe what women want, and what men, down on the inside, dream of being, is Omega Man -- the ultimate hero.

In the Greek alphabet, Alpha is the first letter and Beta is the second. Omega is the last letter, the end. Jesus is called the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He's also referred to as the "last Adam." Adam was the original Alpha male with some definite Beta boy tendencies ... where WAS he when Eve was being deceived by that snake, and why the heck didn't he 'just say no' when she handed him that fruit? Hello, Beta boy bad choices.

So now you might be thinking, "That's discouraging. I mean, I can worship Jesus, I can serve him, but I don't have to deal with his temper if I don't get dinner on the table on time, or nag him to pay the bills or change the oil in the car. He's Jesus, my husband is NOT."

Here's the good news: The seed for your Omega Man, his blueprint, resides in the spirit of YOUR man. He's the perfect, ideal man for you, just like writers create the perfect, ideal heroes for their heroines.

Writers, do your heroes ever do things that make you cringe? Of course they do! That's what creates conflict! Fiction without conflict is BORING. What do you do about characters who misbehave? You write them out of their bad choices, or narrate them through their innate character flaws.

"That's fine, but my life isn't a romance novel!"

It can be.

Ps 45:1
My heart is stirred by a noble theme
as I recite my verses for the king;
my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
(from New International Version)

Isa 54:5
5 For your Maker is your husband--
the LORD Almighty is his name--
(from New International Version)

2 Cor 4:13
13 It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,
(from New International Version)

That man you love... what do you say about him? How do you see him in your mind's eye? What you see, and what you say, is what you will ultimately have.

You are the gardener for that Omega Man seed. You're the carpenter with the blueprint.  The ultimate hero, the man we WANT to see in the pages of our books and at our kitchen tables, he really does exist. Whether he remains locked between the covers of a romance novel or comes to life is, to a degree, dependent on you.

Obviously, you aren't allowed to manipulate your man (that's witchcraft) or try to push and nag him into behaving a certain way (that's just obnoxious). But you do have the power to change what you think, what you believe, and maybe most importantly, what you say about him.

Will your human husband rise to perfection in this lifetime? Probably not.
Are you perfect? I know I'm not! But wherever he falls short of the mark, you can look to your Maker to fill in the gaps. (Look closely at what Belle is painting in the picture below.)


Valentine's Day is coming up, and as many will be disappointed as those who are thrilled by the annual celebration of love and romance. Want to have the best Valentine's Day ever? Start thinking about Omega Man, about your ultimate hero. Speak those characteristics into the life of your man. Build him up with your words and your thoughts instead of tearing him down. Stop comparing your husband to your hero, and start comparing your hero to your husband. That paper man pales in comparison.

And if you're single this year, remember, God sent you the ultimate "Be Mine" in the form of His Son.


      "For God so loV ed the world,
             That He gA ve
                   His onL y
                   BegottE n
                         SoN
                    T hat whosever

• p.s. Stop by and leave a comment between Aug. 31 and the end of October to be entered to win one of several fabulous prizes!