Introducing author Dina Sleiman

Over at Inkwell Inspirations, we recently celebrated fellow Inky Dina Sleiman's debut novel, Dance of the Dandelion. I'm reprinting my interview with Dina here, and including some questions and answers I wasn't able to include the first time. Dance of the Dandelion published by Whitefire Publishing is a work of inspirational fiction, set in Medieval England. I'll be giving away a copy of Dina's book to one person who leaves a comment and their email address so I can contact them. Just leave your comment before midnight on November 1st, 2011.

Dina is a multi-faceted woman who both inspires and fascinates me. In part it’s the wisdom and beauty in her blog posts, in part her poetic nature, and in part it’s the love and joy that shines through her when she’s worshiping and celebrating through dance. Not surprisingly, these elements are infused throughout Dandelion.

“Life is a dance, from the swirling cosmos circling earth, to the subtle harmony of bodies, to the measured cadence of minute particles hidden deep within…”

~~ Dina Sleiman in Dance of the Dandelion

Dina, your poetry is magical, and I absolutely love the poem at the beginning of the book. You incorporated a lot of poetry into this book. Can you tell us a little bit about this?

I fell in love with poetry in college when I had teachers who really helped me to "get it." It's such a lovely form. I define it as the art of words. Like a sculptor uses clay or an artist uses paint, a poet uses words to create a work of beauty. After finishing my M.A. in Professional Writing, I continued to take M.F.A. classes in poetry through a local university. At the time, the head of their poetry department was a Christian man who helped me to understand how to properly convey spiritual themes through poems. He also taught me about the medieval mystics, who are now my very favorite poets. They had such amazing intimate relationships with Christ, and they inspired a collection of poems I wrote in 1999. Several of those poems were published in small journals.

That is part of the reason I chose the medieval period for Dandelion. So it was only natural for me to include some of my poems. I changed them slightly to better fit the medieval form used by poets such as St. Francis of Assisi, St. Catherine of Sienna, Thomas Aquinas, and Hildegard von Bingen. Initially I used actual poetry by these historical figures, but I quickly realized there were too many issues with copyrights since I wanted to use contemporary translations. I also wrote some poetry specifically for the book in the style of the Islamic poet Rabia of Basri. You'll have to read the book to see how I incorporated that.

As for the poem in the beginning, at first it was just part of a prologue. Due to some changes in the structure of the book, the editor and I decided the prologue wasn't needed. But I couldn't bear to lose that section. We decided I should rewrite it as a poem. I'm very happy with the results. I hope I'll be allowed to start all of my books with poems.

What is your favorite historical setting to write in?

Definitely Medieval. I’ve tried to think of stories I would like to write set in America, and my mind always runs directly to hard to market topics like slavery, the oppression of the Indians, the early days of the American theatre. Maybe someday I’ll write something like that. I could also see myself writing in the Biblical era.

When did you begin writing?

Probably in 5th grade when I penned a short story about a Venetian alien who came to earth. By high school I was in love with fiction, and knew I would want to write novels at some point. In college I discovered you could actually get a graduate degree in writing, and I couldn’t dream of anything I would rather do. But after earning my Masters, I spent the next twelve years primarily raising (yes, I know it’s supposed to be rearing, but that’s just weird) my kids and being involved in church ministry. Finally, in 2006 I felt that God was guiding me to get serious about my writing. That’s when I wrote the first draft of Dandelion—which would be nearly unrecognizable at this point.

What is your favorite historical setting to read?

The main thing for me is that I want to feel like I traveled somewhere new and learned something exciting. So once I’ve read a few books in any given time and place, I’m ready to move on to the next. Prairie. Been there and done that with Jeanette Oake. Gold rush. Check. Clearly, I am not the typical Christian fiction reader. I love books set in India, Africa, and China. One of my all time favorite ABA romances was set in Afghanistan and India. I love history, but I don’t really enjoy research and nonfiction very much. For me, novels are a lazy way to learn history. LOL. I’m only partly serious. I feel like in a novel you can really absorb the culture and mindset of the people on a deeper level.

I will admit, though, that I do read anything I can get my hands on set in the middle ages.

Could you explain your "tagline" and the meaning behind it?

My tagline is: Dance with Passion. Because I write in several genres, I wanted something that would really capture me. My first try was “Lyrical stories that dance with light.” I shared this with marketing expert, Jim Rubart, in a class one time. He said it was too long, and I should focus in on dance since that’s really different and interesting. I tried out Dance with Passion, and it worked.

I’ve been leading dance worship ministries in churches for most of the last seventeen years, so dance has been a huge part of my life. For a long time, it was the way I best connected to God and entered into his presence. Dance provides an amazing opportunity to discover intimacy with Christ and to worship him with your whole being.

To me, Dance with Passion means to seize life. To do everything with all your might and heart. It means to live free from burdens and hindrances and to flow in the Holy Spirit’s unforced rhythms of grace. I think this is the message that shines through all of my writing.

Once I decided on the tagline, I dragged my husband to the beach for a photo shoot of me dancing along the shoreline. I then built my whole website around this concept. Jim Rubart heartily approved. LOL.

Are there any more medieval books in your future?

Good question. Anytime I write a book, the characters and settings stick with me. So I do have more ideas for medieval novels. Unfortunately, writing them is not necessarily the best career move for me right now (unless of course Dandelion picks up and sells like crazy—so if you like it, be sure to spread the word.)

What I might do, is work on some YA medieval romances. Sounds like this would be a better market for the time period. And, it will allow me to make my characters younger, which is actually more historically accurate.

Dina's lovely family
Her beautiful daughter graces the cover of Dance of the Dandelion

What can your readers expect next?

My next project is actually a contemporary series. Book one is called Dance from Deep Within. It’s the story of a veiled Muslim, a blonde ballerina, and a bi-racial hippie chick. All three are returning college students. They meet over a group project on diversity and search together for meaning and truth. On one hand it is sort of issue driven, but at the same time, each girl has her own romance and story arc, which keeps the plot exciting. The genre is very different than Dandelion, but the themes are similar. In it I explore worship, intimacy with Christ, and inner-healing just like in Dandelion, only against a contemporary backdrop.

I can’t wait to read your next book, Dina. Thank you so much for answering my questions today. I wish you much success with Dandelion, and with your writing career. In the meantime, I want readers to know that Dance of the Dandelion is lyrical, magical, and lovely. I didn’t want to stop reading, even when I’d reached the end.

I’ll leave everyone with the scripture quote Dina used in her book, and a link where you can view some of her awesome dance and worship videos.

“We played a flute for you, and you did not dance…” 

~~Matthew 11:17

http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhee
http://www.youtube.com/user/muzeshn#p/u/13/bLO3w8FMnl0

You can visit Dina's website at: http://dinasleiman.com/
You can visit Whitefire Publishing's website at: http://www.whitefire-publishing.com/

Loved It, Loving It - A Different Sort of Book Review

Loved It:

Megan’s Hero – by Sharon Gillenwater 

I've been waiting o get my hands on this book ever since I first heard the storyline, and more-so after reading the first two books in this series. I just finished it, and am happily satisfied. This book was well worth the wait. Will Callahan, Megan Smith's hero, truly lives up to his title in this incredibly romantic story. And for all of you who read the first two books, the rest of the Callahan crew are on hand to help Megan through her crisis. I don't want to give too much away, since I'll be doing a complete review of this book at Inkwell Inspirations on July 9^th. But you should know I absolutely loved this book and if you like homespun romance that makes you sigh, you will, too. 

The Lightkeeper’s Ball – by Colleen Coble
Set in California at the turn of the last century, this is also the third in a series. I've enjoyed all of Colleen Coble's contemporary suspense novels, and though historical, this series also has a generous amount of suspense woven in. I truly enjoyed this book, the setting, the suspense, and I especially loved the way the heroine, Olivia, throws herself into the goal of discovering the truth behind her sister's death. I also loved the discovering Olivia's secret goal and her longing to fulfill it. I will be doing a full review at Inkwell Inspirations on June 25^th.

Witness on the Run – by Hope White

Hope White is one of the newer authors at Love Inspired Suspense, and I'm so glad she's there. Her novels are true romantic suspense, and I can't wait for more from her. After Robin Strand witnesses a murder, she suffers a head injury and amnesia. Jake Walters, former Homeland Security agent, now private detective, is just the hero to come to her rescue. Since I look forward to well-written Love Inspired Suspense novels each month, I can't help but hope there are more to come from this author.

Lawman-with-a-Badge – by Laura Scott 

Another premium Love Inspired Suspense by another fairly new author, and I can't wait for more by Laura Scott. This is the story of Megan O'Ryan, former crime scene investigator. Her sister was a victim of the St. Patrick's Strangler, and she helped convict him of the crimes. But someone's trying to kill her, and it appears to be the work of the the St. Patrick's Strangler himself. This is truly is an edge of the seat suspense, reminiscent of the old days of Harlequin Intrigue when they had M.J. Rodgers, Tess Gerritsen and Vickie York writing for them. 

…and speaking of Tess Gerritsen…

The Boneyard – by Tess Gerritsen 

Though not a Rizzoli and Isles story, Dr. Maura Isles is featured in the opening chapters of this book set in Boston. Not nearly as graphic in the forensic sense as the usual Rizzoli and Isles books, this story takes an interesting twist that I've never seen Tess Gerritsen do before. She skillfully and seamlessly weaves two stories together: one in the present, and one in the past where there’s a killer on the streets of 1830s Boston. To my knowledge, this is Tess Gerritsen’s only historical novel, and though it’s not Christian fiction, I felt as if I was reading a novel by Julie Klaasen. The other day at the Inkwell, Anita Mae Draper mentioned in a review how a particular book stuck with her for days. This one did the same for me. I was so caught up in the story, in the historical details, in the characterization, I did think about this book for a long time after reading it. I even woke up a couple of times while on vacation, thinking about it. I don’t often read books a second time, but this one, like Julie Klaasen’s books, begs to be read again.

Loving It:

Dance of the Dandelion – by Dina Sleiman 

I'm currently reading this book, which is not yet available in the print version. I wanted to make sure and tell people about it now, though, because the e-book version is available right now and you can download it for less than $4. That's a great deal, especially for this book, which is beautifully written in Dina Sleiman's trademark lyrical style. She has a touching poem at the beginning, which is a lovely prelude to the book. The cover is gorgeous, and especially special because Dina's daughter is the cover model. Even though I'm reading this on my Nook, I still can’t wait to hold the print version in my hand and celebrate with my fellow Inkwell Inspirations sister on her first sale. Hopefully I’ll be bringing you a full review and interview with this inspirational (literally and figuratively) author very soon. What I can tell you now, even before I've finished this book, is that Dina is destined to become one of my favorite authors.

Making Waves – by Lorna Seilstad

Just in time for the debut of her second book, Great Catch, I’m finally getting to read Lorna Seilstad's first book, Making Waves. It’s been on my virtual TBR for quite some time, and I’ve actually anticipated reading it for even longer...actually since the day I saw the cover in the publisher’s catalog before it even came out. I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but when I saw the cover, I knew instantly it was a book I wanted to read. In the two cases where I've bought a book based solely on the cover, I was absolutely right. Courting Miss Adelaide by Janet Dean, and this one, Making Waves. Both covers feature heroines in jaunty hats with a hint of spunkiness in their facial expressions; and both books feature lively heroines and great plots. I'm thoroughly enjoying this book, and looking forward to adding Great Catch to my TBR.

And since I mentioned them...here are the covers from Lorna Seilstad's upcoming book, Great Catch, and Janet Dean's Courting Miss Adelaide - highly recommended if you haven't already read it!