suzy, I totally agree. Needing a pick-me-up on a regular basis, I will go to YouTube and search for 'Christian comedy.' Three of my favorites are John Gray, Jeff Allen, and Chondra Pierce. As many times as I've listened to John Gray on getting married and his honeymoon, he still puts me in stitches.

It really is a complicated issue! Jesus certainly did turn water into wine and Timothy is told to take a little wine for his stomach but drunkenness is clearly labeled a sin. We all know the devastating effects of alcoholism which effects so many people. Personally, I think taking the higher road, and setting an example and also, not being a hindrance is the better way to do things. It's not because I'm a traditionalist but because I have an alcoholic in my life. I have seen and experienced the results of my having a glass of wine in front of them. But for that person, it is interpreted as "Well, if they're going to have a drink, so will I!" and of course, it doesn't stop with one or two drinks. Perhaps it is easy to say, why should their problems hinder me? But as Christians we are to walk in love at all times, do unto others, etc. and if I can prevent a Christian who is having a difficult time managing, not slip further, than I have a responsibility to do so. And, I think church activities should be a safe haven for all those who need to live a clean life.

Thanks everyone. I have been going "why didn't I remember that!" at several of your suggestions, e.g. East of Eden (which I read over 20 years ago) and the Golden Compass trilogy, which I have also read (I think I even wrote something about the religious symbolism when I reviewed it). Phaedosia, thanks. It's not going to get published for several weeks yet - I want time to take a look at some of the suggestions I get. I have been posting a weekly reading suggestion on my book blog and this is going to be one of the theme entries, probably some time around June/July. I'll link to the blog below if you want to check it out. Here is a link that might be useful: My blog

Anne Rice Quotes American - Novelist Born: October 4, 1941 Obsession led me to write. It's been that way with every book I've ever written. I become completely consumed by a theme, by characters, by a desire to meet a challenge. Anne Rice When I write something, every word of it is meant. I can't say it enough. Anne Rice Stephen King in many respects is a wonderful writer. He has made a contribution. People in the future will be able to pick up Stephen King's books and learn a lot about who we were by reading those books. Anne Rice Obviously, a writer can't know everything about what she writes. It's impossible. Anne Rice To write something, you have to risk making a fool of yourself. Anne Rice We're frightened of what makes us different. Anne Rice Writers, as they gain success, feel like outsiders because writers don't come together in real groups. Anne Rice The only pain in pleasure is the pleasure of the pain. Anne Rice People who cease to believe in God or goodness altogether still believe in the devil. I don't know why. No, I do indeed know why. Evil is always possible. And goodness is eternally difficult. Anne Rice I thought The Shining was just absolutely wonderful. Stephen King reaches all kinds of people. In the beginning he was just dismissed out of hand, which was terrible. Anne Rice First-person narrators is the way I know how to write a book with the greatest power and chance of artistic success. Anne Rice Evil is always possible. Goodness is a difficulty. Anne Rice I'm always looking, and I'm always asking questions. Anne Rice The world doesn't need any more mediocrity or hedged bets. Anne Rice I can't keep up with Stephen King's output. Anne Rice You reach deep down and bring up what feels absolutely authentic to you as you move along with the book, but you don't know everything about it. You can't. Anne Rice We have to become saints. We have to become like Christ. Anything less is simply not enough. Anne Rice Re-telling the Christian story is the essence of my vocation. That has been going on since the Evangelists in one form or another. Anne Rice I was obsessed with religious questions, the basics: Why are we here? Why is the world so beautiful? Anne Rice I read The Old Curiosity Shop before I began Blackwood Farm. I was amazed at the utter madness in that book. Anne Rice I loved words. I love to sing them and speak them and even now, I must admit, I have fallen into the joy of writing them. Anne Rice When you make his sandwiches, put a sexy or loving note in his lunch box. Anne Rice To really ask is to open the door to the whirlwind. The answer may annihilate the question and the questioner. Anne Rice You can look at the New York Times Bestseller List and you can be pretty sure that the writers on that list don't know each other very well. Anne Rice What I did was take the Jesus of the Gospels, the Son of God, the Son of the Virgin Mary, and sought to make Him utterly believable, a vital breathing character. Anne Rice We need to stop fighting Christian against Christian. I have no time for anything but trying to love other people. That is a full-time job. Anne Rice There may be writing groups where people meet but it's occasional. You really do it all at your own computer or your own typewriter by yourself. Anne Rice The whole theme of Interview with the Vampire was Louis's quest for meaning in a godless world. He searched to find the oldest existing immortal simply to ask, What is the meaning of what we are? Anne Rice The vampires have always been metaphors for me. They've always been vehicles through which I can express things I have felt very, very deeply. Anne Rice The thing should have plot and character, beginning, middle and end. Arouse pity and then have a catharsis. Those were the best principles I was ever taught. Anne Rice The most difficult novel I have had to write in terms of just getting it done was The Vampire Lestat. It took a year to write. Anne Rice That process by which you become a writer is a pretty lonely one. We don't have a group apprenticeship like a violinist might training for an orchestra. Anne Rice My own funeral, I'd like to be laid out in a coffin in my own house. I would like my coffin to be put in the double parlor, and I would like all the flowers to be white. Anne Rice Memnoch the Devil happen to be my favorite of all The Vampire Chronicles. Anne Rice It is tragic that many in America think of us - Christians - as being people who hate others. Anne Rice I'm usually working on my own mythology, my own realm of created characters. Stories in mythology inspire me, though I may not be conscious of it. Anne Rice I'm going to keep on dealing with the supernatural in a lot of ways. Anne Rice I'm fascinated by almost any mythology that I can get my hands on. Anne Rice I'm definitely more influenced by European writers than I am by American writers, there's no doubt about that. Anne Rice I wish we had more visible Christian and Catholic leaders who talked about love. Anne Rice I want to love all the children of God - Christian, Jew, Moslem, Hindu, Buddhist - everyone. I want to love gay Christians and straight Christians. Anne Rice I love New Orleans physically. I love the trees and the balmy air and the beautiful days. I have a beautiful house here. Anne Rice I gave up on the big screen. The Witching Hour was at Warner Bros. for 10 years and it just didn't work out. Anne Rice I feel like an outsider, and I always will feel like one. I've always felt that I wasn't a member of any particular group. Anne Rice I enjoy the Web site a lot and I like being able to talk to my readers. I've always had a very close relationship with them. Anne Rice I do want to go another way - to write something completely different. Anne Rice I do not read the ancient languages, but I am beginning to study Greek. Anne Rice I claim Dickens as a mentor. He's my teacher. He's one of my driving forces. Anne Rice I can't get very far away from Christianity, I can't get very far away from the angels and the saints. I work them in always, in some way. Anne Rice I broke with my religion in college. Anne Rice Dickens is a very underrated writer at the moment. Everyone in his time admired him but I think right now he's not spoken of enough. Anne Rice Invest in a feather duster - the possibilities are endless. Anne Rice I know nothing of God or the Devil. I have never seen a vision nor learned a secret that would damn or save my soul. Anne Rice Very few beings really seek knowledge in this world. Mortal or immortal, few really ASK. On the contrary, they try to wring from the unknown the answers they have already shaped in their own minds. Anne Rice Susan Sarandon Quotes American - Actress Born: October 4, 1946 To know that once you decide to look at life outside of the narrow limits of just your world and start to understand that you can make a difference in very simple ways - in volunteering and all the way up to bigger world problems. Susan Sarandon I'm tired of being labelled anti-American because I ask questions. Susan Sarandon Just because I haven't yet had any project surgery, I'm not going to knock it, because I think women have the right to do whatever they want to their bodies that make them feel good about themselves. Susan Sarandon It is a different world than when I was growing up, and you started to just kind of maintain at thirty-five and just hope you can hope it together. People are a lot more vital than I am and doing all kinds of things and leading really important movements. Susan Sarandon I think I'm an actor because I have very strong imagination and empathy. I never studied acting, but those two qualities are exactly the qualities that make for an activist. Susan Sarandon If you walk down the street and see someone in a box, you have a choice. That person is either the other and you're fearful of them, or that person is an extension of your family. And that makes you at home in that world and not fearful. So really it's very self-serving. Susan Sarandon When you start to develop your powers of empathy and imagination, the whole world opens up to you. Susan Sarandon Children reinvent your world for you. Susan Sarandon We stand a chance of getting a president who has probably killed more people before he gets into office than any president in the history of the United States. Susan Sarandon I look forward to being older, when what you look like becomes less and less an issue and what you are is the point. Susan Sarandon I think sometimes what happens is that all of this feeling out of control manifests itself in trying to control your body; whether it's an eating disorder or talking about getting your nose fixed, as if that's going to be the solution to all the pressure. Susan Sarandon I try to live my life every day in the present, and try not to turn a blind eye to injustice and need. Susan Sarandon I feel my family's needs are a priority. I'm not comfortable with the idea of serving the many and ignoring my family. Susan Sarandon Everyone has a responsibility towards this larger family of man, but especially if you're privileged, that increases your responsibility. Susan Sarandon When I tell people I'm a comedian they say, 'Oh, are you funny?' I say, 'No, it's not that kind of comedy.' Susan Sarandon Making love is like hitting a baseball. You just gotta relax and concentrate. Susan Sarandon It will be great when it's not such a big deal when a woman gets a good job. Susan Sarandon Before our kids start coming home from Iraq in body bags and women and children start dying in Baghdad, I need to know, what did Iraq do to us? Susan Sarandon I was told I had an overabundance of original sin. Susan Sarandon In the U.S., they just want to know who you're sleeping with. Susan Sarandon It's still not easy to find roles that offer more complex images of women. Susan Sarandon The only thing I can talk about is just forgiving yourself, because I do not have everything together. And so I tell people: No, you should see my house, it's a mess. Susan Sarandon The only time I've really been away from my kids to do work was doing Shall We Dance because they both were in camp and it was the first time in twenty years that I haven't been with my kids. Susan Sarandon Now, Tim has been really, really busy, and it's been my job now to kind of deal with everything. And trying to figure out how we balance that, logistically it's a nightmare. But these little jobs make it much easier. Susan Sarandon So I would hope they would develop some kind of habit that involves understanding that their life is so full they can afford to give in all kinds of ways to other people. I consider that to be baseline spirituality. Susan Sarandon I'm a native New Yorker. Everything to do with New York feels like my family. Susan Sarandon You guys ask really long questions. In the U.S., they just want to know who you're sleeping with. Susan Sarandon