The Jesus Boy (The Lightbearer Series, Book 1) by Sean Elliot Russell. 291 pages. Amazon.com Services. As an author, I’m in the business of writing to tell stories. As a Christian, I’m in the business of writing to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the world. I always consider it a blessing when … More Review: “The Jesus Boy” by Sean Elliot Russell
Stolen Shroud by Daniel Westlund. For the Win Publishing. 334 pages. I’ve said in this blog before that one of my biggest criticisms of Christian fiction is that writers either focus on the spiritual aspect without the story, or the story aspect and lose the spiritual aspect. It’s hard to do both effectively. I think … More Review: “Stolen Shroud” by Daniel Westlund
“No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.” —Helmuth von Moltke the Elder I’m a lifelong fan of the Oakland/Los Angeles/Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders. And for those who have followed the NFL for the past two decades, our team has seen better days. One of the comments I get used to hearing after a loss is: … More Great Ideas, Poorly Executed
Daclaxvia: Book 1: Nascent by D. John Cliffson. Self-published. 294 pages. As I have mentioned here before, I belong to a thread on Goodreads of Speculative Christian Fiction authors who trade books and end up reviewing and critiquing each other’s books every few months. I have two lined up in the next two months, and … More Review: “Daclaxvia: Book 1: Nascent” by D. John Cliffson
I am a regular contributor to Quora.com, the website that answers all your questions and asks you to contribute answers–if you have any. As a decades-long writer and someone who teaches writing, you can guess what I answer questions about. One of the questions that I get frustrated with are people who continually ask how … More Writing and the Value of Downtime
The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914 by David McCullough. Simon & Schuster. 698 pages. So, here’s the question. Do you ever really like an author, read a couple of his books and really, really like the way he writes? You find a book that he’s written that you haven’t … More Review: “The Path Between the Seas” by David McCullough
Time Tunnel: The Twin Towers by Richard Todd. New Orange Media. 308 pages. This was a book that I received free from Goodreads in a giveaway. I got it the same time that I received several other books, was writing my own book, and was busy teaching classes. So it promptly got put on the … More Review: “Time Tunnel: The Twin Towers” by Richard Todd
Last week I wrote you about the trauma involved in losing Cooper, my dog of 13 years. He was a good dog and was my companion in many activities throughout the years. He will be missed. A few days later, my daughter Melissa came to stay with us. She lives in Denton, Texas, about 1 … More The Replacement (at least he thinks he is!)
If you’re like me, you’re sequestered in your house, waiting out this whole coronavirus scare like it’s some giant snowstorm that has blanketed the whole world. Wait and see, wait and see. It’s easy to be caught up in what we can’t do, where we can’t be, and who we can’t be with. But having … More What are you grateful for?
In our very expansive backyard, we have a section of lawn that has been designated a pet cemetary. We own two acres and have lived here for 22 years, so not only do we have the space, but over the years, we have accumulated quite a few plots for family pets. I’ve meant to write … More Pet Cemetery
