The Sermon on the Mount

One last stop in Galilee. After our boat ride, we hurried on to the beautiful gardens where Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is commemorated.

Much of Galilee is lush and tropical like this. Our guide told us the Israeli's planted six million trees at the birth of their country to commemorate the six million of their brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers who were slain in the Holocaust. Since then, they have planted an additional 100 million trees. It is beautiful!

Here I am on the path through the garden.

I was honored to read the Beatitudes from Matthew 5 to the rest of our group.

Here's the Sea of Galilee from the Mount of Beatitudes. We were constantly drawn to it.

Since this is our last stop in Galilee, I'm going to share a poem I wrote years ago. I found the first draft and cringed a little, but then I found a revision that I'm pleased to share with you today. 

Walking on Water

If I could paint

the boatload of apostles

on the Sea of Galilee,

the wind,

the boisterous waves,

I wouldn’t paint Peter walking alone.

I wouldn’t paint him sinking in fear.

I wouldn’t paint, “O ye of little Faith.”

I’d paint the Savior catching him.

I’d paint them walking back to the boat—

together.

I’d paint the dry sandals and robes,

of the eleven tucked safely away in the ship.

I’d paint their faces longing 

to be out there with the Lord--

like Peter. 

Have a very happy New Year! There's about 24 more hours left to nominate CAYMAN SUMMER for the Whitney Award. And don't forget to enter my Christmas Week Giveaway. You have until January 3rd for that.

We Danced Where Jesus Walked

The highlight of our first day in Israel was a boat trip on the Sea of Galilee. This beautiful, freshwater lake is where Jesus calmed the storm and on another occasion walked on water.

I love Peter because he tried to join the Savior. Peter had enough faith to get out of the boat. The rest of the apostles kept the firm wooden keel underneath their feet. Peter failed, but the Savior caught him. Good lesson for all of us, don't you think?

Swimmers in the Sea of Galilee.

Here's our boat coming in to pick us up. Archeologists found a wooden boat buried in the mud of the lake that they believe dates to the time of Jesus near here. There is a museum that displays the excavated boat. Our boat was modern, but built of wood and reminiscent of boats that plied these waters in Jesus' time. 

Here's me and my husband waiting to board our boat.

A good view of the old-fashioned boats. 

Don Perry, again, reminding us of events that took place on this sea. You can see the interior of the boat.

View from the boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. It was breathtaking.

Here I am with the Galilean hills in the background.

When we got out on the water, after Don spoke, we sang, "Master the tempest is raging," and then sat and enjoyed the peaceful place. Our hosts, who were Hebrew or Israeli, played some lovely music.

Another boat on the water.

We had several minutes to ponder enjoying scared music, but then our hosts got us all on our feet. We stood in a big circle and danced to, "Hava Nagila." (I know I'm spelling that I'll wrong. I'll have to look it up!) The dancing was so much fun. So now, I can say, we danced where Jesus walked!

Wooden floor of the boat--perfect for dancing!

The sun was setting as we returned.

Quite some time ago, I wrote a poem about Peter walking on the water. I'll try to find it and post it tomorrow.

Don't forget to enter the Christmas Week Giveaway! The New Year is just three days away. Wow, 2012! Are you ready for it?

Capernaum--Where they Believed

Three more days to nominate CAYMAN SUMMER for the Whitney Award. Anyone, anywhere can nominate until December 31st. And don't forget to enter my Christmas Week swag giveaway. I promised I'd send out Michael and Leesie M&Ms when it was cold, so I didn't have to worry about them melting. Here's your chance to get a bag of your own.

Today I'm giving you a tour of Capernaum. Jesus lived here for eighteen to twenty months. Instead of trying to kill him, the people of Capernaum believed!

Capernaum had a population of 10,000.

Capernaum was a fishing town and sits on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. We fell in love with the Sea of Galilee and the beautiful hills surrounding it. 

Here I am by the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum.

This is the view from Capernaum.

Capernaum was a large, prosperous town. Fishing from the fresh waters of Galilee was a key industry.

It was Peter's home town. There is a giant church built where they think Peter's house was, but there are also lots of ruins of buildings made with black, volcanic rock. They say these structures date to the time Jesus walked the streets here. 

 

Jesus found his first disciples here. He called five of them to be apostles--Peter, James, John, Andrew and Matthew. Standing in the ruins of this once thriving town, you can almost hear the Savior say, "Follow me, and I'll make you fishers of men." You know, he said that to them after he'd miraculously filled their empty nets with more fish than they'd ever seen. And they forsook it all and followed him. Their lives would never be the same--but that's true for everyone who meets the Savior. He transforms a handful of fishermen to mighty apostles, water to wine, and makes of us something far greater than anything we could have ever imagined.

 

Jairus also lived in Capernaum, and when Jesus was rushing to his house to raise Jairus' daughter from the dead, the woman with an issue of blood touched him. Don, our guide, told us that if you were bleeding you couldn't go to the temple. Jesus healed her spiritually as well as physically. And the word that is translated as "daughter" meant "one of the converted ones." 

 

These are millstones. Jesus could have sat in this very square, held a child on his knee, and told the people it would be better to have one of these stones hung around your neck and be cast in the nearby sea than to offend one of His little ones. We are all His little ones.

I would have liked to spend on day in Capernaum wandering, pondering. It is beautiful, and even though the parking lots was crammed with HUNDREDS of buses full of pilgrims like us, it was a place of peace, but we had a boat to catch! I'll share that tomorrow. 

A Tour of Nazareth!

Before I tell you about Nazareth, I have a big favor to ask. CAYMAN SUMMER is eligible for the 2011 Whitney Awards. I just need a few of you who loved it to nominate it. Anyone who doesn't have a financial stake in it can nominate it by filling in this simple online form. The deadline is December 31, 2011. Thank you!

Our ship docked in Haifa--the third largest city in Israel. One quarter of a million people make Haifa their home, most of them Hebrew. Some Arab. Our guide used these terms. He was a Christian Arab from Cana. He smiled and said he was the Lord's neighbor.  As you can see, Haifa is a busy, modern city. Our guide told us 7 million people live in Israel. One million are Arab Moslems, and a 100,000 are Arab Christians. If I understood our guide correctly, an additional 3 million people live under the Palestinian Authority. Three million people visit Israel every year--70% are pilgrims.

Haifa, with the port and Mediterranean Sea in the background. Can you spot our ship?

Haifa is in the north--in Jesus day this was called Samaria. In Old Testament times these were the Northern Tribes--the ten who were lost. 

On our way to Nazareth, we stopped at Mt. Carmel where this statue of Elijah depicts his triumph over 450 priests of Baal. Mt. Carmel overlooks the Valley of Megiddo. 

Elijah chopping of an evil priest's head. He didn't mess around!

 At the time of Christ, Nazareth was a small, insignificant village. Mary and Joseph lived here with only 400 people. Nazareth had only one viable spring to provide water. Other nearby villages had about 20 springs. Today, Nazareth is a crowded Arab city of 70,000 people. Thirty percent are Arab Christians. The rest of the population are Moslems. Our guide said there is a good relationship between the Arab Christians and Moslems in Israel.

Nazareth streetscape

We walked through the bizarre to get to the Synagogue Church where the Savior first preached.

This is the Synagogue Church.

Here's what it looks like inside. Old stones. No windows. A table in front where the scrolls could be read by the rabbi. Pictured is one of our guides, Don Perry, a professor of Biblical Hebrew from BYU. He studied Hebrew in Jerusalem at the Hebrew University and is one of the scholars who is working to translate the Dead Sea Scrolls.  The church isn't two thousands years old, but it is built on a site where history records an old synagogue stood.

 Jesus grew up in Nazareth. He began His ministry in a synagogue that looked very much like this. When he stood up in this synagogue and read from the sacred Torah scrolls, his neighbors got so angry they wanted to kill him.

Jesus miraculously escaped the angry people in Nazareth and went to Cana. Cana was a large aristocratic city with a population of 3,000. Jesus performed His first miracle, turning the water to wine for his mother at a wedding, in Cana. Jesus also lived in Capernaum. We didn't visit Cana, but we did see Capernaum. I'll share that visit with you tomorrow!

Don't forget to enter my Christmas Week swag giveaway.

Christmas Week Giveaway!

Merry Christmas! I'm back online. I missed everyone. I went on a Southern Mediterranean cruise (Turkey, Cyprus, Israel, Egypt) in November and was traveling again this month. I didn't get a contest organized earlier in the month, so I'm holding a M + L swag giveaway this week to finish the year out with a bang!

I have 20 more bags of Michael and Leesie M&Ms that I'm happy to mail around the world. Let's keep it simple, post your email address and Christmas greetings to the CAYMAN SUMMER family below. Entries without emails will be disqualified. One entry per person.

The giveaway runs until midnight, January 3rd!

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and are looking forward to  a wonderful new year. I hope to have good news to post soon. My agent is vigorously marketing both SLIPPED and MY ONLY LOVE--plus looking for new markets to introduce Michael and Leesie and Beth, Scott and Derek, too.

I had a fantastic time on my travels. I'll try to post highlights this week--especially of the places I visited in Israel--since it's Christmas time!

All my love,

Angela

SING ME TO SLEEP Wins USA Best Books 2011 Award!

Celebrate good times!! I just found out SING ME TO SLEEP won for YA Fiction in the USA Best Books 2011 Awards sponsored by USA Book News. YAY!!! Dance and sing. And blog.

I did a marathon revision session for SING ME TO SLEEP, the Musical yesterday. I polished it up and sent it off to my collaborator, award-winning composer, Harriet Bushman, from London, England. We're hoping to produce it in 2013. Harriet wrote the music for "Beth's Song" and "Take me Home" so you know the music will be fantastic.

Would you like to read some? Here's the opening scene. It's a big, up-tempo dance number. Do you think I captured the scene? Writing it as a musical play is so different from a chapter in a novel. You have to sacrifice a lot of details, but it's fun to imagine it on the stage while you write.

SING ME TO SLEEP

adapted from the novel, Sing me to Sleep by Angela Morrison

Book by Angela Morrison

Lyrics by Angela Morrison

Music by Harriet Bushman

ACT I

Scene 1

Setting:            The halls of Port High School, designated by a row of lockers or locker flat.

At Rise:            Lights up on row of lockers, HIGH SCHOOL KIDS, COLBY, HORSEMAN2, milling in the hall before the first bell rings. COLBY is the center of everyone’s attention.

                                    (Song: “WE’RE COOL, WE RULE”)

COLBY

I BUST MY BUTT TO MAKE PORT HIGH THE BEST

ALL GUYS

            SATURDAY’S GAME WE’L FACE THE TEST

GIRLS

            DON’T WORRY, GUYS—YOU ALWAYS WIN

ALL HIGH SCHOOL KIDS

            LET’S DO IT ONE MORE TIME!

           

WE’LL BE LOST COLBY WHEN YOU LEAVE

COLBY

            I GOTTA GRADUATE—AND BE FREE!

ALL HIGH SCHOOL KIDS

            WHO WILL TELL US HOW TO WALK AND TALK?

COLBY

            I’LL SAY IT ONE MORE TIME—

            I’M COOL

            I RULE

            THERE’S NO PLACE TO HIDE FROM ME

            FOR LOSERS CRYING

            IT AIN’T RIGHT.

ALL

            WE’RE COOL

            WE RULE

            WE KNOW WHAT TO WEAR AND DRIVE

            NOT LIKE LOSERS CRYING

            IT AIN’T RIGHT.

(Enter HORSEMAN1 with THE OFFERING. THE OFFERING wears only white briefs, black socks and tennis shoes.)

COLBY, HORSEMEN 1 & 2

(stick a bike chain through THE OFFERING’s underwear and chain him to BETH’s locker while singing)

           

NOWHERE TO HIDE FROM US, NOWHERE TO RUN.

PLACES PEOPLE THIS JOKE WILL BE FUN!

THERE SHE IS—WE’LL GET HER

ONE MORE TIME!!

ALL

BETH THE BEAST POLLUTING OUR HALL

SHE’S DAMN UGLY AND TOO DAMN TALL

FREAKS LIKE HER SHOULDN’T BE

ALLOWED TO BREATHE.

WE’RE COOL

WE RULE

THERE’S NO PLACE TO HIDE FROM US

FOR LOSERS CRYING

IT AIN’T RIGHT

WE’RE COOL

WE RULE

WE KNOW WHAT TO WEAR AND DRIVE

NOT LOKE LOSERS CRYING

IT AIN’T RIGHT

REMEMBER OUR FUNNY PLAYGROUND GAMES?

BROKEN GLASSES—SUCH A CRYING SHAME

VIPER, FOUR-EYES, SQUIRREL FACE CAN’T BE

ALLOWED TO BREATHE!!!

AND SCOTT THAT HYPER KID GLUED TO HER SIDE.

WE KICKED HIM DOWN, HE RAN HOME AND CRIED.

COLBY

ACT NATURAL—PLACES—PEOPLE

ONE MORE TIME!!!

(Music continues under the action and dialogue. ALL take up natural places at lockers or in groups talking. Enter BETH, left. She walks hunched over, hiding behind her hair, watching her feet. Everyone pretends to ignore her, stares after her when she walks by. Ad lib, suppressed sniggering.)

                                    (BETH sees the OFFERING, rushes up to him.)

BETH

Are you okay? Did they hurt you?

(BETH touches THE OFFERING’s arm. He pulls back and stares at it like its going to turn to stone.)

THE OFFERING (frightened)

They said to tell you I’m the offering. They said the Beast requires a sacrifice every full moon.

                                    (ALL gather behind BETH, laughing and catcalling.)

COLBY

Dude, the Beast’s got a mate.

BETH (ignoring the crowd behind her)

It’s okay. We’ll get Mr. Finney to bring his bolt-cutters. I don’t eat freshmen for breakfast.

THE OFFERING

That’s not what they said you’d do.

ALL

(Explode with laughter. Music up. During the song, BETH tries to escape but they won’t let her. Lots of pushing back and jeering. BETH keeps her head down, fighting back tears. BETH ad libs, “Excuse me.” “Let me go, please.” “Guys, come on.” etc.)

WE’RE COOL

WE RULE

THERE’S NO PLACE TO HIDE FROM US

FOR LOSERS CRYING

IT AIN’T RIGHT

WE’RE COOL

WE RULE

WE KNOW WHAT TO WEAR AND DRIVE

NOT LOKE LOSERS CRYING

IT AIN’T RIGHT

WE’RE COOL

WE RULE

THERE’S NO PLACE TO HIDE FROM US

FOR LOSERS CRYING

IT AIN’T RIGHT

WE’RE COOL

WE RULE

WE KNOW WHAT TO WEAR AND DRIVE

NOT LOKE LOSERS CRYING

IT AIN’T RIGHT

(Song: “BONES BLOOD AND FLESH” ALL continue to sing “WE’RE COOL WE RULE” in the background.)

BETH                                                                        ALL

YOUR WORDS—                                                            WE’RE COOL

WHY DO THEY DEFINE ME?                                    WE RULE

WHY DO I BELIEVE YOU?                                                THERE’S NO PLACE TO HIDE

YOUR FACE.                                                                        FROM US

YOUR LIPS, AND YOUR FINGERS—                        FOR LOSERS

DON’T SPILL THEM ON ME.                                    CRYING IT AINT RIGHT

I’M BONES, BLOOD AND FLESH                                    WE’RE COOL

NOT CLAY TO BE POUNDED                                    WE RULE

AND SCORCHED IN THE HATE YOU FEEL            WE KNOW WHAT TO DRIVE

I BLEED WHEN YOU WOUND ME                        AND WEAR

JUST LIKE THE PRETTY GIRLS DO                        NOT LIKE LOSERS CRYING

IT AIN’T RIGHT!

                          

YOUR WORDS—

YOUR LIPS AND YOUR FINGERS

                                                                                    WE’RE COOL

                                                                                    WE RULE

                                                                                    NO PLACE TO HIDE FROM US

                                                                                                                                               

(BETH gets frantic, trying to break free, plugging her ears. Enter SCOTT and MR. FINNEY, carrying bolt cutters. MR. FINNEY menaces bolt cutters at the crowd and shoos them away. BETH breaks free, almost falls, SCOTT steadies her. The crowd continues to sing  or hum “WE’RE COOL WE RULE” as they saunter off to class. MR. FINNEY goes to THE OFFERING to cut him free.)

COLBY (encountering BETH)

Get out of my way, you damn ugly beast!

(Curtain or black-out leaving BETH and SCOTT in front of curtain or in a spotlight for Scene 2. Everyone else exits.)

In Scene 2, Beth and Scott sing a duet that covers the second half of chapter one--the Beauty and the Beast scene. It's a huge contrast to this--fanciful and dreamy, with some funny parts, too. I'm traveling the next two weeks, but if I get a chance, I'll post some of that scene next. 

SING ME TO SLEEP Released in Brazil!

CANTE PARA EU DORMIR, SING ME TO SLEEP in Portuguese is out just in time for Christmas! 

Summer 2010 I sent a few books down to bloggers in Brazil, and because of all the hard work those bloggers did promoting SING ME TO SLEEP, a year later, the Brazilian edition was released. Here's the cover.

Lais, from Fracky.com.br, already reviewed it. She told me they did an excellent job with the translation. I'm so happy to know that. Lais said, "I received from publisher soon as it was released and read again (and I cried again, of course). . . . [T]he translation to Portuguese was perfect, didn't lose the essence of the book."

I can't wait to get my own copy of it! I'm always amazed at how hard all you wonderful bloggers will work for books you believe in. I'm so thankful so many of you continue to believe in mine! 

SLIPPED - Meet Jag!

To celebrate finishing SLIPPED again, I want to introduce you to Jag, my intoxicating villain. At least he starts out as villain. This is a romance. You know he's not going to stay like that. Okay, here he is. Everybody says he's my hottest hero yet. What do you think?


from SLIPPED, Chapter Four

[If you missed my post of Chapters 1-3, go read that first! When Meg accidentally timeslips, she falls from the top of the tower. Enter Jag.]

The crowd around me seems to magnify and shrink. Bigger. Smaller. The arguing continues louder and louder. My moans increase. “Oh, God,” I pray again, “save me.”

Then a face is quite close to mine. At first I think it is Byron—that I have somehow dragged him down to hell with me. The young man has dark hair, long but straight, not curling like the lord’s. Not dripping from the rainstorm. His eyes are golden brown like a jungle cat’s. His handsome, dark face is youthful but serious. There is nothing soft, pampered or boyish about him.

He is not Byron. The poet is surely safe in the tower back in Switzerland with Rosalyn. And I am here—purgatory? This is no Heaven. My body, rather than lying inert in my former existence, is broken and bruised, unable to move, in more agony than I can describe.

And this boy—for the young man seems to be quite close to my own age—is speaking. “What the hell are you doing here?”

I try to turn my head away but can’t move it. All I can manage is to close my eyes to block him out. Why are any of us thrust down to Hell? Perhaps I read one too many forbidden novels. He curses me in English—though he uses a strange accent. My only answer to him is an uncontrolled moan.

“Can you move?”

I moan, “No.”

Without warning, he pours a vile substance between my lips. I choke and sputter. He raises me to a sitting position. I scream with pain, but he holds me upright. “Swallow it.” He takes a cup of wine a wiry crone offers and puts it to my lips. I swallow.

“Relax. Remember T3-DV takes a minute to get into your system.” He spits the words at me in disgust.

“What—”

“Don’t play dumb with me. Shut up. You’ve made enough of a scene.” He places an arm under my legs, supports my back with the other, and lifts me off the ground.

I wince but bite back the shriek from the painful jarring. A soothing warmth begins to emanates from the center of my body. I catch sight of an odd-shaped boot dangling high on a scaffolding above me. I blink and look again. My mind is clearing. Yes, that boot is most like Byron’s. I turn to my captor. “Stop!”

He ignores me.

I gaze up at the scaffolding searching for the boot again but see only the faces of dirty men leering down at me. Imaginings. Foolish vision. As if Byron would come for me.

My rescuer carries me out of the courtyard. “How did you find me?” His angry face frightens me.

I cower—hide my face against his chest. The warm feeling spreads throughout my body dulling the pulsing pain.

“You must be a new recruit.” His voice seethes with menace. “No one I knew in the corps is fool enough to time slip from the top of a tower that is under construction in the target era. The place must have gone to hell since I left.”

I am confused by his constant references to Hell as if it is another place from where we currently exist. Me a recruit? To the corps of Hell? Time slip? Target era?

“Your gown is early nineteenth century—more than five hundred years off.”

I am bewildered, so I remain silent. He continues to carry me across the courtyard.

As we progress, strength and vitality flow into my extremities. I begin to feel self-conscious for my face presses hard against this young man’s muscled chest. The beat of his heart pulses beneath my cheek. His strong arms support my body. An exotic and beautiful scent emanates from his person. I breathe deeply and impulsively cuddle closer to him. I always wondered what Mrs. Austen’s Marianne felt when Willoughby carried her from the field. I now know. I fill with desire for my strange rescuer. My lips are close to his neck. It is all I can do to stop myself from pressing them against this angry stranger’s skin. I pull away from the sweet temptation. Stare at his scowling face. Inhale the intoxicating aroma of his breath.

My hand lifts. A finger touches his smooth tanned cheek. He scowls and clenches his teeth. I draw my hand back, capture it with my other hand, writhe with shame that I desire this creature who obviously loathes my existence. This is Hell for sure.