Looking back, I see that if anyone was
going to write romance novels in my family it would have been me because being
raised by a mother who everyone thought would play the piano in a philharmonic orchestra,
I was awakened, soothed, and encouraged, by wonderful music from the Grand
Canyon Suite to opera, and everything in between, to my favorites which were musicals
like Kismet, Camelot, and all the others to numerous to mention here. We had
sixteen feet of 78’s and from them and my mother, I learned about music while I
ate, did my chores, homework or housework because music was like breathing for
all of us. I speak about music here because many have mentioned the lyricisms
within my books.
Yet even while the cadence of music was
impacting what I would someday write, the idea of writing anything to this
dyslectic artist whom listeners lauded as ‘a teller of tails divine’ was not
what I aspired too. For having learned nothing in school during my formative
years except to try to look to busy to be called upon by my teacher, and to be
sure to have a whopper to tell dad when he asked, “What’s the good word?” so he
would not feel that there was something terribly wrong with silent me, being a
writer of anything was something I never thought I’d be.
Here I’ll share with you that when, or
perhaps I should say if, God orchestrates your life as he did mine, you’ll find
that the very thing you could not do, is the one that defines you! So yes, as
that song written in 1938 by Ben Oakland in collaboration with Oscar
Hammerstein II, called “I'll Take
Romance” says,
“I'll
take romance
While my heart is young and eager to fly
I'll give my heart a try…”
“I’ll
take romantic writing,” is a truth I admit. Please do not confuse with romantic
writing with romance because romance is a fine thing to wish for, and I believe
each of us years for that relationship or experience that will define and
affirm us. But romantic writing is very much like applying layers of paint onto
a canvas and then waiting for the work to become real because romance in the
abstract is cold, distant. Rather than igniting or soothing the reader it can cause
them to yearn for something fine, it can also do the opposite and make them
pine away rather than seek after.
Therefore,
I believe as with everything one undertakes, the writer needs to know why they
write, and for whom. Then they must ask themselves why the reader they write
for would choose their work. The answer to that last question will tell the
writer if they are to write romantic stories. I know this because I have lived
it. Other writers can answer these questions easily and many others too.
However, the romantic writer true to their innate desire to go boldly into the
story that isn’t altogether formed is the ultimate romantic.
Add to this the desire to do something for
the Lord and you’ll understand why I changed course when one of the three women
I was going to write about…and being honest with you, she was the least
important character of the three, started to tell me her story. I remember it
now as if I had just heard fifteen year old Naomi ask her mamá in Spain if she could tell me
her story. And I can still hear PaTisha ask her if I could be trusted with
their secrets.
Of the six books that comprise Naomi’s
faith journey, three have been published. All have received accolades, which
some reviewers have laid at my feet. Yet I know that these sweet Christian
romances with a Messianic twist and a hint of history were written because God
appointed me a scribe for him, and knowing the blessing of following the
Messiah, whom I love, I serve him with this work and keep faith with what Naomi
continues to tell me for she is truly a romantic in spite of all she has gone
through.
Naomi
and Chaz know that miracles really do happen, for
at a friend’s wedding they reaffirmed their love and are Beginning Anew! Yet
there are consequences that the couple must face. Will Chaz love and protect
his wife? Will Naomi learn to trust Chaz? Find out in the first novel of Paula
Rose Michelson’s four-book saga, The Naomi Chronicles.
Previously,
in Book 2 of Casa de Naomi: The House of Blessing,
Naomi’s journey from pain to faith where she dealt with her husband’s rejection
of her, and Chaz discovered that secrets were kept from him, and began his own
journey of discovery that enthralled readers. While their friends planned to
use Nicco and Lucinda’s wedding to bring Chaz and Naomi together again, God had
His hand on this star-crossed couple.
Before
that, Book 1 of Casa de Naomi: The House of Blessing let readers experience Naomi’s journey from adolescence to
womanhood, from frightened isolation to heiress with a mission, and
responsibility many would shirk placed upon her shoulders, and kept them
guessing especially when they realized that Naomi guarded two secrets. When
Naomi married and fell in love with Chaz, she decided to tell him about
herself. Before she could, Lola, a teenager she rescued from immigration,
revealed her secrets. Hearing Chaz’s hate-filled words, and seeing many in
Spanish Harlem turn away from her, Naomi fled.
Paula Rose Michelson is the wife of Lutheran Pastor, and Chosen People Ministries field
Missionary, Ron Michelson. This Messianic author of faith books founded LAMB
Ministries, which helps women recover from trauma and abuse through the
effective use of Scripture and prayer. She asked God to give her a unique work,
and while praying about the lost tribes of Israel, she believed the Ruach
HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) called her to write about the hidden Jews. She wrote the
Casa de Naomi: The House of Blessing and The Naomi Chronicles Books because of
her heart response to that commission.
Beginning Anew; The Naomi Chronicles, Book
One is now available at:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20696651-beginning-anew
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