There must be stormsCan you imagine living in an area where it never rains? No storm clouds ever blot out the sun? Each dawn perfect. You could plan your picnic not concerned about the weather.  No, mud no fuss. Children could play outside with no worry about lighting. No windstorms. Nothing to trouble you or your family.Everything would be great…for a while. Soon flowers and other plants would begin dying. Sources of water would diminish and then dry up. Instead of life being ideal, it would become a struggle to survive.The landscape would become a desert where no human could live on a permanent basis.Some years ago an individual in the publishing industry stated she didn’t like the fact that someone was murdered in one of my books. Yet in each Christian’s life, there are storms. Times of conflict, strife and problems. It is how we deal with these tribulations that defines us as believers.So a novel must have conflicts. These struggles may be as minor as a person’s everyday life or as immense as the death of a loved one or a person’s own life in jeopardy.
We all have problems. Financial difficulties, conflict with our spouse, differences with our supervisor or coworkers. It is how we deal with these problems which will enrich or destroy our life.  A life without challenges would be boring. In the same manner, a novel with no tribulations would be uninteresting. It is we handle these conflicts is that makes the story.   Thus, the story becomes interesting to the author and the reader. Yes in each life and novel storms must come.