Friday, December 24, 2021
Christmas, 2021
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
A Modern Settiing
I saw this on another FB post (thanks, Dan Walsh), and had to post it. Every time I look at the picture, I see something else that makes me smile. Then I realize, He's with us today, the same as 2000 years ago. Merry Christmas.
Friday, December 17, 2021
Writing: Publish A Christmas Book?
For those authors with contracts from a publisher, the choice has already been made for you. Your editor, or the publisher, or someone will decide whether you should write a Christmas book, contribute to a volume of Christmas stories co-written by others under contract to the same publisher, or even if your book (which may or may not have a Christmas theme) should be published in December.
For those who, for one reason or another, have chosen the "indie" route--those publishing independently--these same avenues are open to you, except that you alone will be responsible for making those same decisions, and more. You feel like an NFL cornerback, whom I've heard described as "being on an island." The difference, of course, is that your decisions may follow you for a long time, while the cornerback has a new chance in about 45 seconds.
Honestly, I was ready to give up my writing (again), but my wife--my second blessing--kept saying that she thought I had another book or so in me. I tried the premise she suggested, and it just didn't work. But when I threw out that premise, I didn't completely start over, because I had gotten to know the characters, and--by and large--I liked them. So I took it further, and pretty soon a novella had taken shape. And, since it wasn't Christmas-themed, I made the decision to release it in January.
As my Christmas present to you, the Kindle version of Medical Mystery will be available for 99 cents until the official release date of January 18, 2022. I hope you'll enjoy it. Despite all the problems I had to solve to get it ready for publication, I enjoyed writing it. So maybe my wife was right. We'll see.
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
What Has Christmas Become?
As we hurry, hurry, hurry, I find myself asking, "What has Christmas become?"
We hurry to get the cards out, some of them going to people we hardly know, but they sent us a card last year, so we'd better send them one. We hurry around, checking items off our lists (either physical or kept in our heads) and keeping track lest we spend a dollar more on the gift for A than on their sibling, B. We hurry to get the gifts wrapped and delivered, already planning the menu for the Christmas dinner and wondering whether everyone will show up. What if there are more...or less?
The churches do their part, of course, with Cantatas and Christmas music, but the spirit of the season often gives way to the secular once we leave their confines and step into the world once more. Someone (I don't remember who, or exactly the phrasing) suggested that we take a step back and reflect once more on the gift that came down to all mankind, a gift that keeps on giving if we'll only receive it. All the rest of the trappings pale in significance when we truly consider the ramifications of this gift.
So Happy Birthday, Jesus! And Merry Christmas to you all.
Friday, December 10, 2021
A Texas Christmas
I've had several requests to republish this. Hope it makes the Christmas season more real for you. It did for me while I was writing it.
Tuesday, December 07, 2021
The First Christmas Without Them
It's been over 20 years now since the death of my first wife, but I still get requests for this piece that I wrote after my first Christmas without her. I've remarried and my wife has showed me that it's OK to smile, but it's still a tough time. I've been gratified at the continuing ministry of my book, The Tender Scar: Life After The Death of a Spouse. Despite having had multiple novels and novellas published, this work of non-fiction remains the most satisfying among them all. I hope this piece ministers to those who are finding this season especially tough.
Friday, December 03, 2021
Writing: Don't Try To Write The Lost Chord
I hadn't thought of it in years, and had to look in Wikipedia to be sure of my facts. It's a fascinating story, and I recommend that you read it sometime. But the thing that stirred these recollections in my mind was encountering some words from one of my early books, words that I did not recall writing, but which touched my heart when I read them. My writing has always been of the style that is not planned out. I set down the high points of the story, populate it, and see where it takes me. But I am convinced that along the way, God has a hand in what I commit to paper, if I just give Him the freedom to do so. And sometimes the words are His, not mine.
The point of this is to be conscious of what we write, but not to the point where we are so anxious to write something "memorable. " It's not just to put down on paper some words that will touch someone an editor or agent, but rather to let God help us put down those words which may be just the ones that will touch a reader at some point in the future. In other words, don't try so hard to write something memorable to your own glory, but always for His. Or, as the author's notes in all my books conclude, Soli Deo Gloria. Because, after all, that's why we're writing--or should be.