Can Christians like 'Twilight'...still?

In honor of the sequel soon to be released Nov. 15th, I thought I'd repost (with some add-ins) one of my very first blog entries. I've also included the address below of the follow-up post "Clarification on 'Can Christians like Twilight?'." Enjoy!

I grew up in a depressed little seaside town in NJ. What else was there to do on a Saturday afternoon, when all the cartoons were over and the matinees have begun. Watch a vampire moviefest, full of every element from a child's storybook, only on steroids. The damsel, beautiful and well endowed, the hero, handsome and...well endowed? The villain,well that's the only difference...he just couldn't help how much he wanted the damsel in distress. Today we call that stalking...in books, it's romantic. Weird but true.

Fast forward 20+ years (that's all I'm giving), I'm a respectable member of society, a wife, a mother and Christ follower...and a closet lover of the Twilight series. So, sad...but is it?

Last weekend, while I was getting my hair done (wonderful treat from my too kind hubby) I was re-reading Twilight when I was jostled by a fellow fan, complete with foils and a familiar red hue to her two eyebrows (she'd just gotten them waxed)!

"I KNOW what you're reading!!!" Her excitement contagious, I began foaming my praise out with her, sounding rather like a couple of rapid animals (I refuse to say 'dogs' here).

She went to get a cigarette out of her purse - proof that waxing is not fun- and turned to leave, but I had to say just one more thing about the books...

"It's not a vampire book...it's a love story."

She agreed, and with hand to her chest, eyes moist, she said, "Can you imagine being loved like that!"

That's when it hit me and my words flowed, "Oh, but we are! Christ's love is just like that love...It's complete, eternal and..." I searched for the word and found it, "sacrificial!"

We both got quiet and she left to smoke her cig. I think I may have gotten a little too fanatical for her taste! lol!

Beloved, anything that reminds us of the love and grace of our Lord and Saviour is good for us. That's WHY we can look in the face of sadness and say, "My God who loves me and ever lives to plead for me allowed this thing to happen, nay even fashioned (Ps.139) this day and time for my good and his glory!

"We are pressed, but not crushed, perplexed but don't dispair, we are persectued but not abandoned, we are no longer slaves, we are daughters and sons and when we are weak we are very strong and neither death, nor life, nor present, nor future can seperate us from the Love of Christ and the Word I need is the Word that was, that put on flesh to dwell with us..."

~ lyrics from Sarah Groves' song "The Word" taken right from scripture. 

There is not a dividing line between the sacred and the secular-(not an original quote) Even a vamp book.

~Here's something you probably never heard before - when the heroine turns into a vampire...Meyer describes her change in such a way that it resonates with the change I fully expect in my new, glorified body! -minus the thirst for blood- that has been satisfied by Jesus Christ, the lover of my soul.)

(Disclaimer - this series is the only one I've read or intend to read of this genre...Twilight Series was written for teens and though has objectionable elements...is clean.)~ True to word, present day 2011, I've still had no desire to read anything else from this genre...wanted to try Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series at one point because it seemed to have a similar theme...just couldn't do it :\

The post below offers some clarity to one of the comments left on the original blog entry. It's a bit involved, so read it as you have time.

http://mirrorsandwindowsnow.blogspot.com/2009/11/clarification-on-older-post-can.html

And the votes are in!

I have been exceedingly tired this past month. I feel rather like my broken mainframe computer, continually turning on and shutting off, trying to fix something I can't. Something I know is broken, but have no way to re-program or reboot to make things work properly. And even though I'm up at 3 am now, I feel like it doesn't matter how much sleep I get...I'll still be tired. I need to ease up on the caffeine, I think.

Well, the last of the big boy publishers emailed my agent: rejection.

The one from Thomas Nelson was so very kind. They said they held on to my manuscript so long because it was a hard decision to make; they even hinted at working with me in the future, once I'm published, that is. I hope so, too. Through-out this process, I've fallen in love with TN. They seem like such a great group of believers. Sincere...from the former CEO president, Michael Hyatt, who gives great publishing and leadership advice on his blog, to the editors who took the time to write a note of encouragement to' nobody' they knew.

But in the end, a "No" is still a no.

Now, I am not a big dreamer. Too realistic, I suppose. That said, I was surprised at how taken back I was, how disappointed. I kept having to remind myself  "It's not like someone died!" I find myself cringing at names from my story, Jacob and Judah especially. Passing by Lifeway Christian Bookstore on the highway is difficult. I look away. And...Please laugh at this, because it's pretty silly...I don't like signing my name right now...if you can't think of "why", well...Bless You!

And yet, this past week, I've chided myself. I've chided myself for not taking the time to dream BIGGER. Sure the disappointment has been keenly felt...but the wonder of the moment...of having MY WORDS, MY 1st STORY enjoyed and wrestled through by the elite of the Christian Publishing world...that moment is gone...whereas the result of their decision will remain, no matter where my writing journey takes me. And of that, I am profoundly moved and I hope instructed.

I've learned not to dream less, in a pitiful attempt to save myself from heartache, but to dream more, to savor the moment of hope and possibility, before they chance to slip away from me.

The tale of Dinah "Numbered Among the Stars" is not ready to be shelved just yet. I'm going to do some minor editing (thanks to my critic partner and my becoming-dearer-almost-daily-friend, the amazing author of "The Red House, Almost a Memoir" ~available on Amazon.com, Charmaine Davis) and then my agent will query some smaller publishers. She believed in me enough to put an unpublished author in the big boy publisher's rink...In this, I will always be humbled by her faith in me. Thank you, Dawn.