I wasn’t really sure how to title this particular blog posting. It’s true I am going to talk about the end of a book series, but it’s more than that. I have a larger story to tell. I’m in the process of completing/publishing book four of The Heretic Series, my Christian suspense novels that deal … More How to End a Book Series
This morning I read through the last few chapters of my latest book project. What at one time was a pipe dream, then a half-cocked dream, then a cobbled-together concept, then an ugly step-child is now almost ready to meet the world. Funny how that works. Sometimes it doesn’t, but boy, when it does, I … More The Miracle of Creation
I’m sitting here in my easy chair, nursing my wounds after a tree got back at me yesterday for cutting off one of its branches. I thought I had positioned myself safely, but when the branch broke free, it smacked me square in the face and broke my nose. I ended up going into the … More A Little Cake, A Little Humble Pie
Writing is a solitary pastime, or so I’ve been told. You spend a lot of time staring at either a blank page or a blinking cursor, wishing words onto a page. “Writing is easy,” said journalist Red Smith in 1949. “All you do is open a vein and bleed.” From my experience, writing can be … More Why You Should Never Write Alone
The hard thing about writing Christian novels–and this is a self-imposed standard, mind you–is that for the novel to be good, it has to (1) have a good story, and (2) have a spiritual message. That’s not always easy to manage, and one finds many Christian novels out there that are good in one or … More Shuffling the Cards
Losing My Voice to Find It: How a Rock Star Discovered His Greatest Purpose by Mark Stuart with Robert W. Thompson. 256 pages. Nelson Books. Sometimes you find a really good book when you go to a library or bookstore. And sometimes a really good book finds you. When I was almost through with this … More Review: “Losing My Voice to Find It” by Mark Stuart
After a year of not writing, I am back in front of the keyboard, working on book #26. I use the term working loosely for two reasons. First, because like most writers, I am finding every excuse in the book to procrastinate and do everything else but write. I tolerate that to a certain degree … More Shaking off the Cobwebs
It’s been a year since I left teaching, and I miss it. One of the things I miss the most is my student writer’s club that met every Thursday, Rough Writers. We’d get together and plan events, do writing exercises, and most importantly, critique each other’s ongoing writing projects. What I got a kick out … More Why You Should/Should Not Write a Book Series
Open Season: The First Joe Pickett Novel by C. J. Box. 323 pages. Putnam Books. This isn’t the first time that I picked up a book because I watched a movie or TV series. But usually I waited until I was done with the viewing before I turned to the book. In this case, my … More Review: “Open Season” by C.J. Box
1919: The Untold Struggle of Adventism’s Struggle with Fundamentalism by Michael W. Campbell. Pacific Press Publishing Association. 124 pages. 1922: The Rise of Adventist Fundamentalism by Michael W. Campbell. Pacific Press Publishing Association. 144 pages. It was my honor the last few years of my tenure at Southwestern Adventist University to share the campus with … More Review: “1919” and “1922” by Michael W. Campbell
