Civil Or Uncivil Disobedience?

I'm a former resident of Duncanville, Texas. Two of my three children graduated from the high school there. I happen to think they got a good education, although I continue to take issue with the School Board decision to maintain one huge high school rather than two or more smaller ones--a decision many of us felt allowed a larger pool to feed its athletic teams and band. But that has nothing to do with my opinion of what happened there recently.

When I first saw the clip on local news of an 18 year-old sophomore ranting at his teacher after being sent out of class for being disruptive, my thought was, "He may have a point, but this isn't the way to raise it." I was amazed, flabbergasted, and disappointed to see how many people came to his defense. His mother, a teacher, seemed proud of him for expressing his views the way he did, talking back to his teacher while he held the floor. In TV interviews, he said he wouldn't mind if the teacher lost her job over the incident. Now she's been placed on administrative leave while he's back in class.

 It's heartening to see some members of the media who feel the way I do, but it's disheartening to see how many comments are showing up in support of the rant this student generated.

I have no knowledge of the way the teacher taught or any of the other underlying problems (although I do know that what set the young man off was that his class was given two days to complete an assignment rather than the three given other classes). Frankly, I think that's not the point. The point is how one expresses dissatisfaction. Is this civil disobedience (which Martin Luther King demonstrated) or  uncivil disobedience (which I personally think this young man displayed)?  Wouldn't a word to his mother, a discussion among other students and their parents, an appearance at a School Board meeting, have been more appropriate? And I still wonder why there was a friend so  prepared to take a cell phone video and post it on YouTube.

Weigh in, folks. Your turn.

A Few Announcements

I know, I know...I don't usually blog on Mondays, but there are a few things I want to let my loyal readers know. And, by the way, the guy in the picture isn't me, even though we both wear glasses. (I haven't lost that much hair--yet).

Mark Young is a veteran of over a quarter of a century of police work and a combat veteran of the Viet Nam conflict. His e-books provide suspense and thrills. Mark recently introduced his readers to Stress Test and to me on his blog. I hope you'll stop by and leave a comment, as well as checking out Mark's books.

Fellow author Christa Allan features my post on the life of a published writer, "The Fun Never Stops," on her blog today. Christa's debut book, Walking On Broken Glass, deals with the very real problem of alcoholism, from the perspective of a recovering alcoholic. I'll have to admit the prologue brought me to tears. I hope you'll look into this one, as well.

For those who found this blog through the recent Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt, I'm glad you stopped by. Lisa Bergren, who organized the hunt, is handling the final wrap-up, so please direct any questions to her. But I hope you come back here again.

Tomorrow I'm back to my regular blogging schedule. I'll be posting on... Well, I guess you'll have to click through to see.

(photo via freedigitalphotos.net)

THE CHRISTIAN FICTION SCAVENGER HUNT STOP #14

 (Note: for those of you using Internet Explorer, I've completely redone this post--hope you can see all of it now.)

Welcome to the 2013 Summer Scavenger Hunt! This hunt has 32 stops and runs from May 17 through May 19, 2013 (midnight Mountain Time). You can make the loop, reading unique content from 31 different authors, and if you complete the loop, and fill out the Rafflecopter form at Stop #32, you'll be in the running for an iPad Mini (loaded with all our books), or one of two runner-up prizes---all 31 of our new releases in paperback. In addition, some authors are offering additional prizes, so be sure to read each post thoroughly to be in the running for all that are available. The contest is open internationally.

If you've JUST discovered the hunt, I recommend you begin at the beginning, Stop #1, found here. But you can also begin with this blog, and keep on rolling. Just be aware that you have to have the COMPLETED phrase in order, which you construct gathering the clue at each stop, within 24 hours of email notification from Lisa Bergren that you won. If Lisa doesn't hear back from you with the correct phrase within the time limit, she will move on to the next winner Rafflecopter draws. Ready? Here we go...



R. J. LARSON

I am pleased to host R. J. Larson, author of Christian YA fantasy. R. J.'s books, although they're set in a fantasy world, speak to our own situation, today more than ever. She's the author of...never mind. Let me turn the podium over to RJ and let her tell you a bit about yourself.

R. J. Larson is the author of numerous devotionals featured in publications such as Women's Devotional Bible and Seasons of a Woman's Heart. She lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with her husband and their two sons. Prophet marked her debut in the fantasy genre.
 
Today, R. J. shares with us the steps she goes through to create a book and the world in which it takes place.

CREATING A BOOK IN THE INFINITE WORLD
When I realized I’d been dragged into writing inspirational fantasy fiction, my first, most complicated task was to imagine an entire fantasy world to frame the Books of the Infinite series. Where did I begin? With a continent. After studying maps of ancient countries, including Israel, Egypt, Rome, and Greece, I sketched out a map of my imaginary continent—shown here in parchment and ink by artist, Katharin Fiscaletti, who created all the drawings in this post. 

 


 







With the boundaries in place, I pondered the next step. What sorts of creatures inhabited this new, imaginary world? Legendary beasts, of course. Leviathans. Lindorms. Griffins. And a few creatures unique to this new continent, such as the ferocious, carnivorous Scaln, portrayed here in all its crimson glory. 

 


 



The next step? I imagined my characters. People who might have lived during my imaginary world’s Biblical era. What did they eat? What did they drink? What sort of clothes did they wear? Were there variations in language and clothes between each country? I drew upon my knowledge of ancient lands, and my personal library of history books and decided upon the “look” for my characters, as well as their manners and customs. This world, I decided must be primarily Biblical in flavor, with hints of Earth’s own ancient cultures—leading to more research for details I loved and added to my story. Who knew that the exotic saris of modern India were inspired by the ancient tunics and mantles of Greece?

 


For interest, and because my collection of medieval research books rival any public library’s shelves, the Bethany House team and I agreed to add a bit of medieval flare, which is evident on the cover of King in Akabe’s long tunic sleeves, and his formidable two handed sword, known here on Earth as a claymore.

 



The final result…a unique Biblical-fantasy world that Bethany House Publishers and I hope you enjoy as you read King!












 R. J. Larson's latest book, King, book three in the Infinite series, is described as "fantasy meets the Old Testament," and carries a powerful message. It is available at bookstores or online at Amazon, BarnesandNoble, Christian Book Distributors and elsewhere.


AND NOW, YOUR NEXT STEPS:
Write down this clue: AND
Have it written down? Great! Now head on over to the blog of R. J. Larson,  stop #15, for the next clue!

While you're here, if you aren't already a subscriber to my newsletter, I hope you'll go to the column at the right and sign up right now. I promise you won't be bombarded--maybe three or four issues per year--but subscribers get information and sneak peaks at future books.

And if you haven't read my latest novel of medical suspense, Stress Test, you can read a sample here.http://rmabry.com 

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you'll come back often. And good luck.

Likes And Dislikes

Have you ever wondered how the impression you give may affect decisions of others? Let me give you an example. Recently, Kay and I were shopping in a local grocery when she called my attention to a product that we'd seen on the TV Show, Shark Tank. I  remembered the product and its name because the entrepeneur who appeared on the show seeking an investment was so totally unlikeable. He was brash, condescending, and pretty much gave the impression he was doing the multimillionaires to whom he was pitching the product a huge favor by offering them a tiny piece of his business. When we saw the episode, Kay and I looked at each other and shook our heads.

He didn't get an investor, but now, lo and behold, he'd convinced this 150-store chain to stock his product, probably as a trial. Although I wouldn't have minded trying it, there was something inside me that kept me from reaching for it. He'd made a bad impression on me, and that carried over to his product. So we walked on by, one less item in our shopping cart.

Have you ever failed to buy something, to do something, to engage in something, just because a person associated with it made a bad impression on you? I'd love to hear about it.

NOTE: My next post will (as usual) be about writing, but in a different way. On Friday, I'll be part of a Christian fiction scavenger hunt involving 31 authors, all of them offering one of their books as a prize. I'll be hosting a very interesting blog post about how a fantasy book comes together. And on another blog, I'll be talking about the "tyranny of the shoulds." Hope you'll come back for that one. 

Writing: Changes

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes. I guess there are two reasons that Jimmy Buffet song is running through my head right now. He was in concert in our town recently, and the Christian publishing community is still buzzing about the changes announced by publisher Broadman and Holman recently.

These changes, coupled with the ready availability of e-publishing and the move of some authors to self-publishing or the hybrid model (conventional publishing plus self-publishing), have most of us who write in the area of Christian fiction scratching our heads and wondering where we go from here.

Readers, were you even aware of these changes? Writers, what does this mean to you? As Yul Brynner said, in The King and I, "'tis a puzzlement."

NOTE: If you're a writer and live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, you're invited to the meeting of the DFW Ready Writers tomorrow at 10:30 AM at the Bedford Public Library, where I'll be speaking on "Six Things I Wish I'd Known At My First Conference." Hope to see you there.