P.W. Stone and the Missing Kingdoms: A Christian Fantasy Adventure Novel by S. C. Easley. Wind Born Publishing. 387 pages. This is the next to last in a series of speculative Christian books I am reviewing because of my contact with authors on Goodreads. I’ve had some good luck with the titles that I’ve read, … More Review: P.W. Stone and the Missing Kingdoms by S. C. Easley
Face it. Sometimes writing is hard work. Actually, a lot of times it’s hard. When you have to drag yourself out of bed early in the morning to have some time to work on that novel, that’s not always so fun. When the words don’t come, that’s not fun. And when you’re sitting in front … More When the Story Comes to You
What If?: The World’s Foremost Military Historians Imagine What Might Have Been. Edited by Robert Cowley. Berkley Books. 416 pages. I’m a big fan of speculative history. On the other hand, my daughter, the purist, rolls her eyes whenever I talk about What if the South had Won the Civil War or What if there … More Review: “What If?” Edited by Robert Cowley
Every good idea I ever had, I stole from someone else. –Me I mentioned Paul McCartney recently, and the documentary on Hulu about him and his life with the Beatles. In it, he talks a lot about the ideas that came to them that ended up in their songs. Sometimes it had to do with … More The Source of All Ideas
I’ve been writing a long time. Two dozen published books, a handful of awards, and several hundred articles and short stories published leads my students and fans to ask a lot of questions. And one of the questions that comes up pretty often is: “Where do you get the ideas for your books?” Well, the … More How It All Starts
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again, there is nothing new under the sun.” –Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV. Pretty much every writer has been asked the question, “Where do you come up with your ideas?” And the answers range from the honest, “I have no idea,” to an explanation … More How to Come Up with an Original Idea
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
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
A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life by Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman. Simon & Schuster. 320 pages. I previously finished reading a 900-page novel that became ponderous in the last few hundred pages, so it was a delight to pick up this smaller book. And even though Amazon says it clocks in … More Review: “A Curious Mind” by Brian Grazer
The Great Adventure 