Nancy Moser

Continuing with our Top Ten Series featuring my favorite authors:

#9: Nancy Moser

I’ve written about Moser a number of times here at Little Nuances. In January, I wrote a post about how I took one of her classes at a writers’ conference in 1998 and that it really gave me hope as a writer. In May, I wrote a post about the way a scene from one of her novels made me think about the way I recorded my thoughts. I’ve mentioned a few of her other books here as well.

I became interested in her work after the release of her first novel: The Invitation. Here’s the basic plot that comes from a review on Amazon.com: “Four strangers receive invitations to a small Nebraskan town…no explanation, no signature, no RSVP information. Add to that a number of supernatural incidents and “coincidences,” and these four strangers are on their way, willing or not. Of course, a number of unexpected invitees show up as well.”

I was drawn immediately to this book because Moser’s four main characters are flawed, or, in other words, real. I followed them on their journey for that entire novel and for two sequels (the trilogy is called “The Mustard Seed Series”—and the other two books are called The Quest and The Temptation) and I can still remember quite a bit about each character. Julia was a reluctant politician. Del was a pony-tail wearing former priest who had walked away from the ministry. Walter was a businessman who had lost his way. And Natalie was a writer who just couldn’t let go of her manuscript long enough to let anybody help her improve it.

I read and enjoyed one of Moser’s stand alone books called The Seat Beside Me about how lives are linked and ultimately changed after a plane crash. Then I read a two-book series (A Steadfast Surrender and The Ultimatum) by Moser about a woman named Claire. She’s an artist who feels called to sell everything, including her art studio, to follow God. I love the way Claire struggles to make sense of her calling. And then I read another two-book series (Time Lottery and Second Time Around) by Moser about people who get a second chance to fix something in their past by going back in time. This is a fascinating series that made me wonder if I’d take such a chance if given the opportunity. I also read a book called Crossroads by Moser and I wrote a post about it.

Just recently, I purchased two of Moser’s latest novels, but I haven’t read them yet. Hopefully that’ll happen soon. I love the way she portrays struggle in her characters. And she isn’t afraid to show them for who they are—mistakes and all. I’ve been able to identify with many of her characters in my own struggles. That’s why I’ve purchased every novel she’s written (except for a series that was bit too girly for my taste).

Re: HTML Coding Help

I figured out a coding fix so that the date will appear with each post—even when I post more than once a day. If you sent me an e-mail trying to help, I really appreciate it.

The Power of Memory

I’m still reading Pat Buchanan’s State of Emergency and one chapter in particular really has me thinking. The chapter is entitled “What is a Nation?” He points out that two basic definitions exist.

The first one, held by our current president and neoconservatives at large, says that a nation is her common set of abstract ideals, like freedom. The other camp says that a nation is her common language, faith, culture, and memory—or as John Jay said in Federalist No. 2: “Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people—a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in manners and customs…”

We could argue about which definition is right (for the record, I’m in the second camp), but I don’t necessarily want to do that here. Instead, I want to talk a little more about the power of memory. Buchanan makes this statement in his book about Stalin. “Stalin yet knew that men do not die for secular creeds like Marxism or Leninism, but for the ‘ashes of their fathers and the temples of their gods.’”

Memories are powerful. Whether it’s rubbing shoulders with a co-worker who has become a blessed confidant, or with a best friend in a coffee shop on the weekend, or with a spouse in a hospital room who pledges unending support against a common enemy like cancer—those who “do life” together form bonds (and memories) in the trenches and it causes them to go the extra mile for each other.

I was a teenager when my grandfather died, but watching the way my grandparents interacted for the last year and a half of his life can only be described as beautiful. Sometimes they laughed about their struggles. Sometimes they said things to each other that only the other person could have possibly understood. And I’m guessing that sometimes they cried together.

We’re all in the process of forming bonds and making memories with people. When we recognize this, life takes on added meaning.

HTML Coding Help

Any techies out there who know how to get the date to appear on multiple posts on Blogger within the same day? I know it has something to do with these tags:

<BlogDateHeader>
<$BlogDateHeaderDate$>
</BlogDateHeader>

I’ve tried removing them and using this tag:

<$BlogItemDateTime$>

But this only produces the time for each post.

What am I missing? Do I need to remove the <BlogDateHeader> tags? If so, what tags do I use to get the date (and time) to appear in every post—even if I post more than once per day?

Blog of the Week

A big thanks goes out to K. over at Weird Cake for naming Little Nuances as the Blog of the Week. I really appreciate that!

Christmas Thoughts

I finally bought a new tree this year—the kind that comes in three sections and all you have to do is to connect them and the branches just sort of fall into place—and I love it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have quite enough garland to make it all the way to the bottom, but that’s probably a good thing since my cat, Midnight, loves to chew on it.

Here’s picture of the new tree (notice Midnight hunkering underneath it—just waiting for me to turn my back):

As a single guy, I’ve always considered putting up a Christmas tree as an act of defiance against the part of me that would prefer to wait until I could really “start living” (read: marriage). But I just won’t give in to that voice—partially because I don’t believe a person has to be married to “live,” and partially because if I gave into to it once, I’d be prone to do it many other times and I don’t think I’d like the result.

Besides, I love Christmas. I wrote a post last year in which I explained how I buy one new ornament each year as a way to commemorate whatever happened in my life each particular year. This year, I bought this ornament:

Yeah, it looks a lot like Midnight:

Nothing special happened with her this year, except that maybe I grew even more attached to her than ever before. That was enough to buy an ornament in her likeness. We have an entire daily routine worked out and I'd lost without her.

And today is when people who purchased a copy of my Christmas devotional book, The Experience of Christmas, will hopefully begin reading it. The book has a reading for each day in December and I just love the idea of playing a small part in bringing families together to celebrate Christmas.

Have a great weekend everybody!