Maxwell 21: Deliberately Hiding the Truth Again

[Granwych]

2 hours ago, crawfishgirl said:

She mentions that she and her "team", i.e, immediate family, create the ideas for the books.  I assume that they also suggested the ideas for her Moody series.  It would be tremendously helpful if she started at least occasionally looking elsewhere for ideas instead of the same place each time.  It would help to freshen up the stories and expand her style.  It's sad that she is not allowed to grow at all.

I fear that Sarah has no idea whatsoever about book ideas.  Every thought or plot has been flogged to senselessness already. 

Unless she did a series about Stepford families.  Then she's all set---

[Anonymousguest]

Character profiles are a new thing? Holy cow. That explains a lot. My daughter had to write character profiles when she took a kid's writing class in 4th grade. 

My kids had to do mini biographies and character studies on characters in  books they read in literature classes. Never having to do things like that, or read classic literature means Sarah never gained the skills of thinking about a well developed character. 

[kpmom]

3 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

   Or does she have an inkling that Myers-Briggs (strangely popular with Fundies) is (very) loosely based on Jungian theory?

 

Apparently the MBTI is exactly what she used, according to a response to a commenter.  I had no idea it was popular with fundies.

She also tried to figure herself and her family out using the MBTI.  That was probably, uh, very interesting.

 

 

[Palimpsest]

4 minutes ago, kpmom said:

I had no idea it was popular with fundies.

It definitely seems to be gaining ground with Fundies who think they are intellectually blessed.  It could be approved by Steve because he came across it in a business setting, where it is frequently abused. 

She could have been studying enneagrams though. 

I'm afraid that I'm in the camp that thinks the MBTI is pseudo-science.  It has all the flaws of a self-report test and it has no scientific validity, but people think it is brilliant because of Forer Effect.  

[Hane]

My first thought was that everybody in Sarah’s “reading support group” is afraid to hurt her feelings, so all she gets is positive feedback.

Sarah can’t get involved with a real writers’ group because she would most likely run into people who aren’t the “right kind of Christian”—or even Christian at all. 

It’s especially telling that her most positive reviews are for all the things her books DON’T have: conflict, cussing, less-than-perfect behavior. Heck, these folks have no trouble with the fact that the Moody kids have absolutely no friends outside their immediate family—not even cousins, not even a carefully vetted child or two from their church. 

A bit OT: In the Moody freebie Sarah released a while back, I was bugged by her minimal descriptive skills:  The kids “do schoolwork” or “have Bible time.” Virtually nothing about what they’re actually learning or reading. Her books are designed to address a closed system of families who conduct their lives exactly the way the Moodys/Maxwells do, so perhaps even minimal exposition is rendered unnecessary. (This self-absorption is in line with Miss Raquel and her magnum opus “Life’s Choices,” in which our heroine “made her breakfast in her usual way,” which was what? Toast? An omelet? The carcass of a random critter she speared in the back yard, then skinned, gutted, and roasted on a spit?). These folks are their own most important audience.

[nausicaa]

4 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

And that too explains so much.  Sarah desperately needs a writers group to bounce ideas off and get decent critiques.  She also needs a professional editor, not just a copy editor, to improve her books.

I hope she has found a new copy editor.  There were so many errors in Summer with the Moodys I lost count.

Most of all, she needs to read. Every single comp title for Christian children's books. She should be checking out stacks of YA and children's books from the library. Good ones, bad ones, old ones, new ones. It would also behoove her to read some of the literary canon too. (Aside, do you guys think Sarah has ever had to read an entire Shakespeare play? Does she even know who Huckleberry Finn in?)

And yeah, she desperately needs a professional editor. But that is too similar to actual real learning, and I think it would be such a blow to Sarah, because any decent professional editor would just tear up a Moody book.  I don't think Sarah has the ego Steve has, but he didn't teach his kids how to take constructive criticism at all. They are gods in their own little world. It's honestly the most damaging part of these insular upbringings in my opinion. 

[Alisamer]

The best book she could ever write is a tell-all about how she escaped Maxwell.

[Jana814]

1 hour ago, Alisamer said:

The best book she could ever write is a tell-all about how she escaped Maxwell.

I'd pay good money to read a book like that. 

[Palimpsest]

3 hours ago, nausicaa said:

I don't think Sarah has the ego Steve has, but he didn't teach his kids how to take constructive criticism at all.

One of the few good things about the Maxwells is that they believe in positive reinforcement.  They do.  To a fault.  They praise each other fulsomely for the least little thing.  

As with everything, they take it to extremes.  They reject even constructive criticism from "outsiders" as though it were from Satan.  

We have good reason to believe that Steve protected Sarah from all criticism of the free Summer With the Moodys on Amazon.  He was very active in the review section until Amazon, in its wisdom, deleted his posts.

I never reviewed Summer With the Moody's (my input would have been redundant) but I know the highest rated constructive criticism (last time I looked) came from one of us.  It was  kind but still very honest about the problems with Sarah's writing.  Sarah could have learned from it, but I doubt she ever saw it. 

Steve was very busy aggressively denying any grammatical errors.

I marked that review as useful.  You know who you are, Free Jingerite.  I do too but I am not telling.

That said, there are some reviews on Amazon for Summer With the Moodys that border on the cruel.  I choose to believe that they are not from any of us.

[johnhugh]

Steve, with the help of the girls and me, makes up a huge batch of burrito beans every few months that we freeze and defrost for Sunday lunches.

lol

[freejugar]

Quote

 “No. That’s too much noise for an opossum. I imagine it’s a cougar! Time is of utmost importance. We must wake Dad."

bahahahah! this is ridiculous

[Anonymousguest]

12 hours ago, nausicaa said:

Aside, do you guys think Sarah has ever had to read an entire Shakespeare play? Does she even know who Huckleberry Finn in?)

No, absolutely not, she's never read any classics. Some missionary stories and Christian biographies at most. She claimed to have read fiction on a recent blog post when someone else suggested she read for inspiration, but I assume that is only children's books maybe?

I used to post on the old mom's board back in the day, Sarah must have been an older teen/young adult at the time and Terri went on extensively about why they did not allow their children to read any fiction at all. People asked about Shakespeare and this or that classic as if they couldn't quite believe her. That and their stance on sports we what made me realize they were a bit crazy. 

[Granwych]

7 hours ago, Anonymousguest said:

No, absolutely not, she's never read any classics. Some missionary stories and Christian biographies at most. She claimed to have read fiction on a recent blog post when someone else suggested she read for inspiration, but I assume that is only children's books maybe?

I used to post on the old mom's board back in the day, Sarah must have been an older teen/young adult at the time and Terri went on extensively about why they did not allow their children to read any fiction at all. People asked about Shakespeare and this or that classic as if they couldn't quite believe her. That and their stance on sports we what made me realize they were a bit crazy. 

"A bit crazy" is far too kind.  Dangerously insulated from real life is more like it.  I'm really concerned for the kidults in Maxwell land.

[Lgirlrocks]

That’s so sad that the kids and grandkids are so sheltered. My family sheltered us as well but nothing like this. I played with the neighborhood kids and had friends from church. I also slept at relatives houses that weren’t Christian like we were. Those were some of my best memories. I couldn’t imagine only spending time with my siblings. I am the only girl. 

[picklepizzas]

That post was tragic. really grim. i can't even snark because it was too sad. a writer with no ideas.  

[Black Aliss]

On 6/11/2018 at 9:09 PM, SPHASH said:

Do they realize how much landfill space they are wasting by using paper plates?

One of the great things about being fundie is knowing the lord is coming soon so no need to worry about overflowing landfills, poisoned air, poisoned soil, poisoned water, etc. Use it up or it'll all be wasted on those heathens that don't get raptured.

[Eclipse]

On 6/13/2018 at 12:24 PM, Anonymousguest said:

Character profiles are a new thing? Holy cow. That explains a lot. My daughter had to write character profiles when she took a kid's writing class in 4th grade. 

My kids had to do mini biographies and character studies on characters in  books they read in literature classes. Never having to do things like that, or read classic literature means Sarah never gained the skills of thinking about a well developed character. 

Yeah but you don't need to do character profiles when your characters are really just badly disguised exact copies of your family members, the people in your family that you see all day, every day because you don't go to school or see anyone else. 

[nastyhobbitses]

I can laugh at Lolly the Fucking Clown, or the ridiculously bland food, or the Elusive Pizza Cutter, but this post was just sad. Sarah is 36 years old and is blogging about the Writing Process I learned in third grade as if it's a really innovative way to write a book. She's trying to put a positive spin on the fact that she has no real ideas for what to write about. I think I need to watch or read something original and well-written (The Good Place, something by Terry Pratchett) to cancel this out. 

[MamaJunebug]

2 hours ago, nastyhobbitses said:

I can laugh at Lolly the Fucking Clown, or the ridiculously bland food, or the Elusive Pizza Cutter, but this post was just sad. Sarah is 36 years old and is blogging about the Writing Process I learned in third grade as if it's a really innovative way to write a book. She's trying to put a positive spin on the fact that she has no real ideas for what to write about. I think I need to watch or read something original and well-written (The Good Place, something by Terry Pratchett) to cancel this out. 

I agree so much but want an “I agree” emoji that looks sad. So I just up-arrowed it.

In my retirement I have been able to recommence playing music and drawing and painting. In PoorSarah’s honor, I’m going to start writing creatively.  I wrote (reported) for a living for 30 years and thought I was over it — but @nastyhobbitses plan to read something well-written as a remedy against Sarahsadness has finally and totally persuaded me to write as my own antidote. 

That poor kid. I wonder where her actual talent lies, what she would’ve enjoyed doing and become really good at, had not Steveri forced her into the writer/photographer role. 

[Hane]

@nastyhobbitses and @MamaJunebug, I’m one of those who shakes her head sadly at folks who sincerely ask writers, “Where do you get your ideas?” I want to cry, “You poor thing—you mean you don’t have any ideas?”

With Stevehovah’s blind insistence on separating himself and everyone in his family from their true interests and talents (to keep them from becoming “an idol”), he’s ended up with a lot of unhappy, boring/bored people who aren’t good at anything. 

[Alisamer]

3 hours ago, Hane said:

@nastyhobbitses and @MamaJunebug, I’m one of those who shakes her head sadly at folks who sincerely ask writers, “Where do you get your ideas?” I want to cry, “You poor thing—you mean you don’t have any ideas?”

With Stevehovah’s blind insistence on separating himself and everyone in his family from their true interests and talents (to keep them from becoming “an idol”), he’s ended up with a lot of unhappy, boring/bored people who aren’t good at anything. 

I agree. I haven't actually FINISHED writing anything other than short scenes, but I have tons of ideas and tons of stories started. I will say that I didn't really get my own original characters going well until I started collecting dolls, and now I have a whole crew all with their own (thankfully related, that's how I limit my collection) stories. I really want to get back into writing and try to finish something, but there's so much else to do!

I don't understand how Steve can read ALL the Bible (not just the old testament) and still be so terribly afraid that if anyone enjoys anything too much they'll go to hell. God gave everyone different talents, so everyone can be good at and enjoy a variety of things. Instead, Steve takes away anything anyone enjoys too much, and makes them plod through doing things they are just OK at, if that. Sarah has to write books, whether she's good at it or enjoys it or not, and of course the books are just as bland and boring and unenjoyable as their lives. Wouldn't want anyone else's kid to ENJOY reading fiction, would we? Especially since Sarah and her siblings weren't allowed to read any themselves.

[OhNoNike]

New blog post about kittens. 

The text Nathan sent is so badly written, I had to re-read it several times. 

[mango_fandango]

They named one of the kittens Tigger. So someone knows about Winnie the Pooh...

[PennySycamore]

Probably one of the wives or Teri.  Winnie-the-Pooh's been around since the mid-20s.

I watched The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh yesterday with two of my grandchildren.  I fact we watched it twice.  Tigger was introduced and then they had to try to de-bounce him. 

 

[tabitha2]

I do hope they get the cats fixed. I know some of this type don’t believe in fixing even animals and/or don’t want, have the money so they don’t but the Maxwells won’t want to deal with litter after litter and they do take good care of their animals I give them that.I can’t see them trying to run over Arnold or the new babies with a sled and thinking it is just hilarious