So this morning I’m lying in bed with my laptop (which looks disarmingly good in a wig—but never mind), and I think, “Gosh, I don’t feel like thinking. I know! I’ll go see what other people are thinking.” But that threatened to blossom into something no longer about me, which I of course find unacceptable. So I reached the natural compromise, and decided to think about what other people think about me. This is really one of my favorite things... Read more
I am too much aware of death and of its fanged bastard cousin suffering whose knowledge of me is, after all, intimate and who has ever taken pains to counsel me. But today is Thanksgiving And so away you ghosts and goblins endlessly chewing at my walls Away, please. For my wife sleeps on the couch before me having eaten her fill of what on this day God saw fit to bequeath us. Outside our door the weakened light retreats and the nerveless cold... Read more
1. The Pilgrims were: a. an exceptionally boring rock band from Kidneypool, England. b. a sure way to kill any party. c. the least fashionable sailors ever. d. Christians who fled England in rebellion against Henry VIII’s forbidding of pew cushions. 2. The first thing Indians thought upon meeting the Pilgrims was: a. “Why are these people the color of our gums?” b. “Sun. Black clothes. Cool! Human popovers!” c. “Okay, these guys are turkeys.” d. “Bummer. There goes the neighborhood.” 3.... Read more
I’m always really pleased (and, frankly, surprised) by how many people read the posts I do on the how-to’s of writing. I’m freakishly enthusiastic about All Things Writing, so it’s gratifying to share that enthusiasm with others. My last post, A Would-Be Writer Asks: “MUST I Go to College?” made me think of a job I took earlier this year doctoring a novel. If you don’t know, “doctoring” a novel means taking someone’s novel and either outright fixing it yourself,... Read more
This morning I received an e-mail from an aspiring author. “I am currently paying the bills with a job in telecommunications,” he wrote, “but ultimately would love to make the transition to being a full-time writer. From your experience, how much would a formal education/bachelor’s degree help me to make this transition? Having been to college for two years already (even though that was over 10 years ago), I can certainly understand the benefit of formal instruction. But I’m wondering if... Read more
Hello, friends! Me: Speed blogging. When: Now. Why: Wife off work entire forthcoming week. Whoo-hoo! Visiting local wineries today to buy Thanksgiving wine. She now in shower. Me now on/in bed, BLOGGING AT WARP SPEED! Do I enjoy going to winery tastings? No. Nein. Nyet. Why not: Weird business model: Stand; sip; get stared at; feel pressure to buy. Plus, prodigious pretentious potential powerful put-off. Wife, though, LOVES whole atmosphere of wineries. May be burgeoning wino. Must monitor. Thanksgiving! Always... Read more
Yesterday a young woman sent me this email: I have a question that I’ve been researching for quite a few days now, with not much success. Recently, my husband tearfully confided to me that while he trusts fully in Jesus for his salvation, he finds it hard to feel the love for God that Christians often speak about. He is a man of integrity—he is kind, compassionate, and generous. He is knowledgeable in the Bible and believes that it is... Read more
I spend five or six hours every day exploring Christianity with non-Christians. Doing that—being someone whom non-Christians trust enough to do that with—necessarily means being consistently honest about those aspects or practice of my faith that I have every reason to understand will be difficult for non-Christians to accept. One thing I never do when talking to non-Christians about Christianity is employ as final proof that something is true the fact that it’s in the Bible. Christian theology desrves better... Read more
As of this precise moment, 99 people have joined my Facebook Fan Page—99 people who’ve been willing to step forward, and boldly proclaim to all who for some reason happen to see that page that yes—yes!—they have no particular reason not to claim that they’re not especially repelled by my writing. Whoo-hoo! ♥ 99 fans of my blog on my page; 99 fans of my blog; you take one down, pass him around; he wakes up and pounds you right into... Read more
This is the second part of A Vulture Tried to Eat My Face. Having beaten myself into exhaustion ascending a mountain I had no place on a shadow slid across my path before a lord of the sky descended to hover just out of arm’s reach a vulture, majestic and hideous head cocked blinking its oily black eyes at me unabashedly curious “Oh, my God!” I thought, “Look alive!” so I straightened a bit and picked up my pace, a bit... Read more
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