MERRY HEART MEDICINE

by Molly Noble Bull

A merry heart is good, like a medicine. But a broken spirit dries the bones.

Proverbs 9:7

We’ve all complained at one time of another. Yet the Old Testament is full of examples, explaining that the Lord doesn’t like complainers. He wants us to be happy in the good times as well as in bad.

Why?

I think being happy even when times are bad proves that we believe the Bible—that we believe that all things work together for good to them that love the Lord.

Making a joyful noise unto the Lord if you just won the lottery is a given. But what if your home burned to the ground, your children are sick or your marriage is in shambles?

Can you make that joyful sound then? Or do other emotions kick in? 

After being rescued from slavery in Egypt and walking across the sea on dry land, the Children of Israel complained about their plight in the wilderness. Some wanted to go back to Egypt. They might be slaves again, but at least they would get to spice up their food a little.

As humans, many of us want spicy—spicy food, spicy movies and TV shows, spicy gossip. The list goes on and on. Yet nobody wants ones bones to dry up.

Doing what God wants us to do when we want to do something else is never easy. God says turn right. We want to turn left. In our minds, it is obvious that turning left is the right decision—to do otherwise would be embarrassing and could lead to a dangerous situation. But faith is doing it God’s way, not our way, and that means trusting Him and making a joyful noise when we don’t feel like it.

The Bible says that the Lord lives in the praises of His people. Think about that for a moment. If you are sad, in trouble or in a dangerous situation and want to be close to the Lord, all you really need to do is praise Him. When you do, He is at your side. Guaranteed.

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My new Christian e-book novel, Cinderella Texas, is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. To find Cinderella Texas and all my Christian novels, write Molly Noble Bull in the search slot. And look for Bedtime Stories for Believers, a book of short stories for Christian adults, coming out as an e-book soon. 

WHAT IS A DOG-RUN HOUSE?

by Molly Noble Bull

Last time, I told about Cinderella Texas, my new lighthearted Christian romance novel set on a ranch in Texas, and the following words are written in the dedication page of all my novels—To God Give the Glory. A Christian message is also found within the pages of Cinderella Texas.

But today, I would like to tell about the cover of Cinderella Texas because the cover came from an old photo of a dog-run house built by one of my ancestors.

And what is a dog-run house?

A dog-run house is one with a breezeway through the middle of it.

Though Cinderella Texas is pure fiction, the house on the cover is real with dog-runs on both the upper and lower floors.

I do not know when the house was actually built. I would guess around 1880, and as I said, it is especially meaningful to me because it came from an actual photo of a house built by one of my ancestors in Del Rio, Texas.

The house is quite unique. 

It was built by constructing two wooden walls about twelve inches apart, and my ancestor filled the spaces between the walls with adobe clay from the Rio Grande River. When the clay dried, the adobe walls turned the house into a sort of fortress.

I visited this house one summer as a small child, and I remember how cool it was inside without air conditioning. Every room opened onto one of the wooden wrap around porches, and I was told that it was always cool in summer and warm in winter. 

As an adult, my husband and I and our sons visited the house, and I discovered that it was still standing. However, the current owner had removed the wrap-around porches. I have not seen it since then, but perhaps the dog-runs will be filled in one day, giving the house two extra rooms.

I am disappointed that the house my ancestor built no longer has the historic western flavor it once had. But I will always remember the way it looked in the picture on the cover of this book. Memories of that summer in Del Rio so long ago will live with me forever.

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To find Cinderella Texas at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, write Molly Noble Bull in the search slot.

CINDERELLA TEXAS, My Newest Novel

by Molly Noble Bull

www.mollynoblebull.com  

             My newest novel, Cinderella Texas, is the retelling of a famous fairy tale complete with a shoe problem for the heroine, Alyson Spencer. A prince-like cowboy is the hero of this modern western, Robert Lee Greene IV—called Quatro. Quatro is a rancher, an oil baron and one of the richest men in Texas, and he is also a widower with two school age children. How could Alyson have guessed that when she couldn’t find a teaching job in Dallas, she would accept a position home schooling Quatro’s children and be paid a tremendous salary for doing it?

            City girl, Alyson, expects life on the huge Greene Ranch in South Texas to be idyllic. She will be living in Quatro’s home along with his children, his parents and his grandfather, and she visualizes a majestic mansion surrounded by well-tended gardens—a swimming pool and servants at her beckon call.

What she finds causes her to want to fly back to Dallas. Quatro and his family believe that modern technology corrupts. The rundown two-hundred year old dog-run house on the cover of Cinderella Texas is the Greene home. The house is without electricity and all necessities of normal American life.

Alyson tries to get out of her teaching contract, but it is unbreakable. How is she expected to teach modern children without a computer and a working telephone? And why is Quatro so handsome and yet so pig-headed? 

Cinderella Texas is available as an e-book and will be published in paperback later. To find it at Amazon or Barnes and Noble, write Molly Noble Bull in the search slot. Cinderella Texas is a lighthearted romance that will make you smile. Maybe it will even make you laugh.      

HELP! HURRICANE SANDY GOBBLED UP MY UPCOMING BOOK

WELL, ALMOST

DeAnna Dodson interviews me, Molly Noble Bull 

DeAnna: 

You have had several books published, Molly. Tell us just a bit about them. How are they alike?  How are they different?   Is there a common thread running through them?

Molly: 

I’ve always been known for writing what some call heartwarming Christian novels. One editor once wrote, “what makes Molly Noble Bull’s books different from some is the humor.” My long historical, Sanctuary, won the 2008 Gayle Wilson Award and tied for first place in the 2008 Winter Rose contest, both for published authors in the inspirational category.

Sanctuary was set in France in 1746 and is about the Huguenots, and it had a more serious tone. Yet even in that novel, there were light moments that I hope made my readers smile.

However, I wrote one book that was really different from what I normally write because it is true. The Overcomers: Christian Authors Who Conquered Learning Disabilities is a non-fiction book written by five published authors.

I wrote most of it, but one of the other four authors is Margaret Daley, current president of ACFW, American Christian Fiction Writers.

Yep, we all struggled with learning disabilities, especially in elementary school. I was dyslexic then and still am today. And yet with God’s help, all five of us overcame.

Speaking of dyslexia, I have a short story in the November 2012 issue of Christian Fiction Online Magazine titled D Is For Dyslexia about an almost twelve-year-old boy who is like me in many ways—except I’m female, of course. To find my short story, click onto the cover of Christian Fiction Online Magazine to the right of this article. Then on the main page, scroll down until you see Short Stories. My story, D Is For Dyslexia, is the second story on the list of two. Click where it says click to read it.

DeAnna: 

How is your new book Cinderella Texas different? What makes it particularly special to you?

Molly: 

What makes Cinderella Texas different is that the publication date was delayed because of Hurricane Sandy, the monster storm. Now I don’t know when Cinderella is coming out.

My book publisher moved to higher ground, and I don’t know when he will be able to return to his office. I don’t even have a copy of my cover yet. I’m sure I will always connect Cinderella Texas with Sandy, and that makes it special. However, when it finally is published, I hope it will make my readers smile, maybe even laugh.      

DeAnna: 

What do you like about writing romances? 

Molly: 

I love happy endings, and I have always loved fairy tales. In my opinion, romance novels are that and more. The more would be humor. I love to read and write funny stuff. I came by this genetically. My father had a dry wit that made me laugh, but on his bad days, he only made me smile. 

DeAnna: 

What are some of the challenges you faced in writing your new book?

Molly: 

The biggest challenge I had with Cinderella Texas and with all my books was polishing. I love to redo novels—look for another word, another sentence or another paragraph that will make it better. It’s hard for me to put my personal seal of approval on any of my books, sometimes almost causing a delay in sending out my final drafts to publishers. But of course, far the biggest challenge with Cinderella was getting it out there despite the storm.    

DeAnna: 

What, for you, is your heroine’s most endearing trait or quality?  Your hero’s?

Molly: 

As mentioned earlier, I am a dyslexic. I once thought I was the dumbest kid in the state of Texas, my home state. So I made Alyson, the heroine of Cinderella Texas, an honor student. Nevertheless, she is like me in many ways. One of those ways was that she is a klutz. The hero calls her accident-prone, and I think she’s funny. To me, Alyson’s vulnerability is her most endearing trait.

The hero has a dry wit—just like my dad. He is also a real cowboy just like my dad and my maternal grandfather. I like real men, and my husband is one. I also like cowboys. I disregarded the song that says, “Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys” when raising our three sons. All three are cowboys today. And our six grandchildren? Well, they are cowboys, too, only three of them are girls.        

DeAnna: 

Did you have to do much research for this book?

Molly: 

No. I didn’t have to do any research for The Overcomers. I merely told what happened from childhood on. I didn’t have to do research for Cinderella Texas either. As I said, my father and my maternal grandfather were ranch managers, real Texas cowboys. What I didn’t tell until now is that I spent part of my growing up years on a sixty thousand acre cattle ranch in Texas, and sometimes other writers of western fiction ask me for background information on ranches and cowboys.

DeAnna: 

How does your personal faith impact your fiction?

Molly: 

My born again Christian faith changed me for the good in every way possible. What was once a poor self-image, because of my learning disabilities, became a good one in the name of Jesus. How can I be a Losers? I am a child of the King of the Universe. How can I feel friendless or persecuted? If God be with me, who can be against me? The theme of The Overcomers is this. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

DeAnna: 

What are some of the ways you weave faith into your fiction?

Molly: 

God is responsible for every breath I take, and I cannot take even one more breath unless He wills it. So, weaving the Lord into my novels is easier than breathing.

DeAnna: 

Do you feel integrating faith helps or hinders your connection with your readers?

Molly: 

I write for a Christian blog called Commandment Keepers. So my Christian belief is available to anybody who does a search of my name on the Internet, and my Bible based Christian views might turn off some. However, my purpose for writing is not to tickle the ears or in this case, the eyes. My purpose is to make the Christian life real, perhaps punctuated by a smile.  

DeAnna: 

Has a reader ever told you how your fiction impacted them? Could you share that with us?

Molly: 

Some readers said my books made them smile, and that makes me happy. Others have said that my books made them think, and that makes me really happy.

DeAnna: 

Is there anything special you’d like readers to know about you and/or your books that I haven’t asked about?

Molly: 

If Jesus tarries and “the creek don’t rise,” Cinderella Texas is going to come out in paperback and as an e-book. When? I don’t know. But if you will return to Writers Rest from time to time, you will be one of the first to know. Again, here is that address. http://writersrest.blogspot.com 

And here is my web address. www.mollynoblebull.com    

My website hasn’t been updated lately, but that is on my “to do” list.

And finally, I love the Lord, and because of Him, I can also love everybody else. 

Please leave a comment. I like to hear from you.

UPDATE:

Since doing this interview with DeAnna Dodson, my publisher returned to his office, and Cinderella Texas will be published on November 15, 2012. More about Cinderella Texas late.

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DeAnna Dodson . . . Historical Fiction by DeAnna Julie Dodson

Also, writing as Julianna Deering, The Drew Farthering Mysteries:  Rules of Murder (Coming Summer 2013 from Bethany House)