I remember my Catechism classes often mentioned temptation. We had the picture of the snake wrapped around the Tree of Life on the wall, tempting Eve who then turned around with an apple pie and tempted Adam. Of course, like many men he couldn’t resist a piece of pie and the rest is history. Temptation, we were taught is the thing of the devil and must be avoided at all costs—or we would be sorry. But is that true? In my life, I’ve given in to temptation lots and been happy about it. I believe that temptation isn’t always a bad thing. Am I wrong? Do the women on the Titanic regret not giving in to the temptation of that French pastry after dinner? I’ll bet they do, and really where was the harm, in the overall scheme of things?
Temptation, like many things in life is a balance. Of course none of us wants to “give in” to serious temptation—we don’t want to kill or harm anyone, steal, lie if it will hurt another, or any of those kinds of things. There lies a problem because often, we don’t know if what we want to do will cause harm to someone else. You want to go out partying and then drive home? You could end up killing someone in an accident, though when you gave in to the temptation of having that extra tequila, killing someone wasn’t your intention. And that’s why I think accepting the temptation of doing something requires thought. Reason, not emotion.
Hubby went to two different military schools—a high school and college. He maintains that the first thing to do is read the rule books thoroughly, so you knew what the rule was and the penalty for breaking it. Then you could decide if the punishment was worth the joy of breaking the rule. He never did anything that made someone else get into trouble–though he did sometimes join someone else if he liked what they proposed and could march the penalty tours. He actually did quite a bit of marching, but most always he decided ahead of time that doing so was his decision to make. He wasn’t an emotional rule breaker, he carefully considered what he wanted and what he was willing to pay for it. Had Jack been in the Garden of Eden, he would have baked the pie, eaten it himself and not gotten Eve involved. And he certainly would have had some chocolate confection while on the Titanic.
Put in our terms, we’re all acquainted with what is generally accepted by publishers and editors. If we want to write a first person POV novel but obey the rules by not writing in first person and we are accepted by an agent, then avoiding that temptation was a good thing. If we give in to the temptation of writing in first person and are not accepted, then at least we knew the penalty of being a free spirit. But what if we give in and are then accepted by an agent, and are published and become a NYT best selling author? Then breaking the rules paid off.
So is temptation a good thing or a bad thing? I maintain, if
you’re rational about it, it’s a relative thing. Accepted after weighing the negative and positive sides, temptation is not always a bad thing. And it can be fun!
Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.
Dee
One Woman Only: The Good Man Series, Book 2 Jonah’s story! Can a simple mechanic rekindle with his high school love? She says no, but Jonah loves a challenge!
I know many people bemoan the work that goes into hosting or visiting family at the holidays, but I am not one of them, except in one respect. First, about my family holidays.
wonderful! I understand how that might not be so if there is too much selfishness and too little care evident. That is if folks don’t get together to share the joys of the season and instead make it obvious that the day is about them and not everyone else. Believe me, I have been at family events where there is too much drinking or arguments spring up or one person is expected to do all the work. No fun. Not like family. If this is your situation, you might have to work harder at enjoying the holiday, but it can still be done.
large the kids have grown, with how each of us is getting more frail in our own ways or stronger. It gives us a chance to laugh with one another and maybe to cry, while sharing the load of what makes us cry. It provides a chance for photos with sparkly backgrounds, that we can examine later and smile over.
snarled traffic. This is the number one reason why no one in our family gets together on holidays—it’s too darn much trouble.
I’ve always considered myself a pretty fast writer—when I write. I mean, I could eat lunch at work and still knock out a thousand words. I have written a 90K word book in a month. But the one year I tried NANOWRIMO, I choked. Couldn’t write 300 words in a day. Couldn’t get through a chapter in a week. Couldn’t… Well, couldn’t finish NANOWRIMO.
NANOWRIMO, but I did not. The discipline that NANOWRIMO gives you is a good thing, but when faced with it I turned out to be the biggest wuss ever. It’s not for me, I’m afraid. But for those who thrive under the NANOWRIMO pressure, more power to you! Enjoy the month. I’ll be cheering you on from the sidelines.
Generally, I love doing research for books. Since I write contemporary romance (mostly), I usually only have to research towns where my characters live, street names and store locations and such, if I’m trying to keep it real. But I have written few historical romances, too, and for those, research becomes a little harder. And more interesting in a lot of ways.
wanted my heroine to live. I love maps and they are one of the things I research for most books.
points. I still was easily distracted but not to where three clicks on a screen can take me to different universes, not just a small digression. Still, what did we do before the Internet?? I wouldn’t go back…
I’ll admit it. I’m cheap. So to ask what I would pay someone else to do in my place is kind of a hard one. There are plenty of things I don’t like to do—dusting, vacuuming, spring cleaning, cleaning the bathroom (notice a theme here?)—but would I actually pay someone money to do them for me? Hmm. Maybe. It’s all relative. How much are we talking here?
care of the lawn. I spent m childhood mowing the grass, but I sure don’t want to do it now. We have a postage-size lawn area, but it’s still worth it to pay a young man to fertilize, trim and mow the grass. Now there is less chance of meeting up with a snake, being injured by a stray rock, or getting sunburned on my neck. Win-win all around!
I’m not a big one for the idea of time travel. Don’t get me wrong, I love history and the future intrigues me. But one step wrong in the past and I might not be around for the future. Am I right? And going into the future, I might learn a few things I wish I hadn’t found out. It would be very hard to live in the moment if you knew what the next moment was going to bring. Nope. Not in favor of time travel.
through with rivers and near the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, was rife with malaria. In fact, malaria did as good a job fighting for the new country of America as the soldiers. Half of the British army had been struck down with the disease, whereas the American army, having mostly grown up in the region, had immunity. I would love to see the surrender of General Cornwallis to General Washington, and to feel the enormity of our accomplishment. A small, upstart country with a generally ragtag army of farmers, had beaten the premier nation in the world. We had beaten the King.
In current time, I’ve walked the battlements of Yorktown. I saw where the cannon were placed, where our forces and the French bombarded the British, and where the Brits fought back gallantly but without success. I could imagine the cannon fire being heard in nearby Williamsburg, and I’ve walked those streets, too. That part of Virginia is filled with history, and you can’t help but feel it as you stroll the cobblestones of Duke of Gloucester Street or stand on the battlements facing the York River.
I don’t think there is anything more debilitating than fear. It’s a major factor in what holds people back and keeps success just out of reach. And the sad thing is, fear of whatever, is hardly ever real. That is, the reality of what we fear often never comes to pass.
only car. “What?” I practically screeched. “Do without a car???” I hadn’t been without my own transportation since I was sixteen except during my first three years of college. A car was independence, not just a vehicle. I was afraid to be without. What if I wanted to go somewhere?? Jack convinced me, however. The day we gave up the car, a weight fell off my shoulders. If there was a car alarm sounding, I knew it wasn’t my car. Pay the meters? Not us. And guess what. There was a cheapy car rental place about four blocks up the street. I think in a year and a half we used it twice. Fear would have added a burden to our time in the city if we had kept the car for those “what if?” times.
I think it would be very hard to write and never put yourself in the story. I mean, who knows us better than us? And even if we don’t want to, little bits of ourselves find their way into what we write, almost whether we want them to or not.
because that’s more fun, and strangely, enough, looking back, I write heroines most often who look like what I’ve always thought I’d like to look: taller, slimmer, red hair and green or bright blue eyes. Sometimes real life is not so magical but we all have dreams and I like to add mine to my books.