An oxymoron – a figure of speech in which opposite or contradictory ideas or terms are combined. (e.g., thunderous silence, sweet sorrow, Shaker romance)
I always do seem to do things the hard way. Let me explain.
Many years ago when I started writing, romances were the thing. You know what? Romances are still the thing. People love reading about people in love – especially if the romance hits a few bumps and challenges along the way. So, since everybody said the way to write books readers wanted to buy was to write a love story, I decided I’d give it a try. Surely I could write a Harlequin romance. After all, I’d written some historical books with romance a part of the story.
What difference did it make if books categorized as straight romance are books I rarely pick to read? I like romance. Who doesn’t. But I want the romance stories I read to be mixed with history or mystery. But I wanted to branch out. Find a new source of writing income. I was a struggling writer wanting to see my name on the covers of more books.
So being a bit arrogant or perhaps desperate I wrote my romance and sent it off to my agent. She was not a fan. She crushed my hopes with this succinct question. “Exactly what are you trying to write here?” Obviously, she skimmed over all those touching romantic moments between my characters. Sigh. That ended my foray into the “easy” world of romance writing.
Not that I quit writing romance. I just went back to writing the kind of romances I enjoyed reading. Those mixed with history or mystery. That brings me to those oxymoron romance books I mentioned earlier. Shakers believed in celibate living. They did not believe in romance between a man and a woman. All were to live as brothers and sisters. Marriage was considered a sin that had to be overcome. So you can see that Shakers and romance don’t go together.
Shakers were a unique people who separated from the world and lived in their own villages. While their worship was free spirited, everything else about their lives was highly regimented. They wanted to have unity is all things and established many rules for their members to do things alike. They believed God was part of their work as well as their worship. They thought working with their hands was an even better way to worship than the singing and dancing at meetings.
My first Shaker book, The Outsider, was published in 2008, but I actually wrote the first version of that story twenty some years before it became a book readers could hold in their hands. I wrote it after my first two historical romances were published by Warner Books. I hoped it would be the third historical romance they published, but they turned it down. Everybody turned it down. An odd twist was that my agent sent it off to Harlequins who liked the story but said it was too religious for their needs. Eventually, the story ended up on a reject shelf in my closet.
Years later, after I published Scent of Lilacs, my editor came to visit and as an aside said she wished she had time to visit the restored Shaker Village near me where tourist can go to see how the Shakers once lived and worked there. When I threw out the fact that I had written a book about the Shakers once, she asked to read it. I pulled that book off my reject shelf, rewrote it, and eventually it was published.
It turned out that it was the right time for the story. The Outsider got bookstore interest and found readers.
Have you ever had to be pulled through a door of opportunity? I think the Lord opens up doors for us all the time. Sometimes we’re not looking. Sometimes we don’t want to see the doors. And sometimes we see the doors but don’t want to go through them. That’s the way I was with the Shaker books. The opportunity was there–a big garage door open, but I had to be pushed through it with my heels making skid marks all the way through. I didn’t want to be a Shaker writer. Not stuck writing just one kind of book. I wanted to write whatever story I wanted to write.
But when my editor held out the enticing carrot of more readers discovering my books and then perhaps being ready to read whatever else I might write in the future, I agreed to write more Shaker books. Books with romance, oddly enough. Shakers did fight against such romance in their villages, but it did happen. Members fell in love and left the Shaker villages. My characters did the same in their own unique ways.
The Shakers talked a lot about gifts. One of their most familiar and oft quoted sayings is “Tis a gift to be simple.” We all have gifts. The Bible assures of that. Some with the gift to preach. Some to teach. Some to sow the seed. Some to reap the harvest. Some to sing. Some to write. Another Shaker saying was “Learn to do one talent well, and others will be given you.” Perhaps writing those Shaker stories opened up doors and ideas to many more stories I have been able to share with readers like you.
One of those Shaker stories was The Innocent that is still on e-book sale for 99 cents for a little longer on Amazon. Grab it soon if you want to read Carlyn’s story.
Also, my giveaway chance to win one of my Shaker books or one of my Rosey Corner books is still going on. Just leave a comment on this post to be entered. Each time you comment on a new post before the deadline to enter (September 1, 2026 at midnight EST), you get an additional entry. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. Any comment will do to enter.
Do you think the Lord blesses us all with unique gifts and talents?
Comments 1
In my case ,your editor was correct! The Outsider was the first book of yours that I ever read.It was sitting in a pile of books in my house,I honestly don’t know where it came from. People in my life always pass books so it could have come from several different sources.
Once I read that book, I was hooked, I became an Ann Gabhart fan! People always ask me which of your books is my favorite and I always say, the last one I read, but honestly River to Redemption is the one that has stayed with me the most.I think because it has so much sad truth though out it.
I am so glad I picked up that book, but even more glad that you and I became friends.