Husband, father, communication professor, frustrated writer and novelist. I love Jesus, my wife and kids (and grandson), kayaking, football and science fiction.
I am currently writing what I consider the worst book I have ever written. But on the other hand, I am writing it. After all, according to Anne Lamott, writers have to give themselves permission to write a “shitty first draft” (her words, not mine). Because if you don’t give yourself that permission, in many … More Dealing with Ugly Stepchildren and Other Realities of Writing Life
The Afghan Campaign: A Novel by Steven Pressfield. Broadway Books. 354 pages. I don’t know how many years it’s been since I read Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield’s great book about Leonidas and the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae. But that’s when I realized that Pressfield had a great talent for providing rich detail in telling … More Review: “The Afghan Campaign” by Steven Pressfield
Plague Year (The Plague Year Trilogy Book 1) by Jeff Carlson. 346 pages. JVE Books. I’ve read a lot of dystopian novels over the past few years, and admittedly, there are a lot to choose from. Part of the reason is because they are so popular in the YA genre, and for a while I … More Review: “Plague Year” by Jeff Carlson
Firestorm (Destroyermen Series) by Taylor Anderson. Roc Books. 464 pages. This isn’t actually alternate history, which should give my daughter some relief (since she’s both a history and English purist); it’s more like an alternate worlds story. But it’s the sixth book in this series by Taylor Anderson. The crux of the story is about … More Review: “Firestorm” by Taylor Anderson
Today, is November 30, the last day of National Novel Writing Month. I’m supposed to be completing my 50,000-word novel today, but I probably have 14,000 words written on Tesla’s Ghost this month. Instead, I am philosophical about it. I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo, not because I had anything to prove–I’ve won five times … More Grateful
Please indulge me. I am learning how to put together interactive maps using Excel and Google Maps with my Reporting I class. As an example, I am using a map of the locations that Shelly and I saw this summer. If you click on each location, you should be able to see a photo from … More Interactive Map: Alaska Cruise
The Runaway Prophet (Morgan James Fiction) by Michele Chynoweth. Morgan James Books. 308 pages. Writing Christian suspense isn’t easy. As someone who writes and reads it, I am constantly looking for good examples of others who do the same. The problem is that some writers get caught up in sharing the spiritual aspects of the … More Review: “The Runaway Prophet” by Michele Chynoweth
I don’t write romance novels, nor do I read them, although some of my books do include romance elements in them. For the most part, I write suspense novels, Christian suspense to be exact, but I try to include a little bit of everything in there. I always try to balance out suspense with humor, … More Why Good Relationships Are A Bad Thing
Well, not literally. But essentially, my latest project has me writing what equates to two books at once. And it’s not easy. In Tesla’s Ghost, I tell the story of a secret notebook kept by Fritz Lowenstein, the assistant of Nikola Tesla recording strange goings on that happen as the famous inventor and his team … More The Challenge of Writing Two Books at Once
I had one of my prodigies writing a blog recently in anticipation of National Novel Writing Month, stressing over the rule of writing a 50,000-word novel during the 30-day month of November. She finally came to the conclusion that she should use it to help her finish projects she already had started and wanted to … More By Hook Or By Crook OR… Git ‘er Done
