I’m writing this next to a picture window larger than the big screen TV I have at home, looking out at the passing north Texas landscape. Shelly and I are sneaking away for two and a half days of sublime retreat in San Antonio at the beginning of Spring Break. In this year of austerity—we’re … More Thoughts from a Slow Moving Train
I’m sitting in our booth, trying to sell books, at the annual national convention for the Society of Adventist Communicators in Columbia, Maryland. At home in Texas, it’s still raining after pummeling us for a week, and I see news reports of massive flooding. Here, I wake up to ice on the windshield. I just … More News from Columbia, Maryland
In writing, dead in never really dead. Stories that are written and rejected might be accepted somewhere else. Other stories that are never published turn up as material in other places and in many cases, other media, such as radio plays, screenplays or stageplays. And sometimes you are surprised. Years ago, at least 30 years … More Born Again
I’ve always wondered about those authors who state that the day after they finish writing a novel they sit down at the keyboard and start typing the next one. It goes hand-in-glove with the idea of just sitting down and looking at a blank piece of paper, and letting that lead you into your story. … More Baptism By Immersion
I am a true believer in epiphanies, those precious, rare events when suddenly a great idea seems to come to you out of the blue. I have actually only had a true epiphany come to me a few times in my writing career. When they happen, it is like a godsend, and in some situations … More How to Have an Epiphany
I’m the kind of writer that likes to have a pretty good idea of where my story is going before I sit down to write. My first book wasn’t that way, and I spent two years wandering in the wilderness before “Star Bounty” (I still cringe as I write this) was finished. It was a … More Listen to Your Characters
Every good idea I ever had, I stole from someone else. It’s a truism I made up and recited time and time again over the years to student writers. The idea is that every idea is not original, but is a synthesis of what you see and hear and experience every day of your life. … More The Price of Being Honest
